Also i've been watching and priceing that set over a few years and made my own idea whats its worth and the true value .Also the set used was sold about a year ago and I was out bid .

WRD3 -----You got me mistaken some how with other bidders ,I don't nickel and dime my bids and my attitude to bidding is if your going to beat me your going to "bled" doing it because what you see is not my top bid and my hand doesn't go up and down at auctions it goes up and stays until my price is hit.Im not a one tick bidder or run if there is three or four bidders .Im buying because I like the item not what some one else thinks its worth or its resale value .Im buying entertaiment and relaxation .There are many stamp lots that im outbid on every year and then im thinking about them all summer how nice it would to have that lot .....right now im sorry I didn't bid higher on a Iceland stockbook which was loaded with interesting material but so be it ,theres always next year .....paul

I GOTTA HAVE IT ----is something that ignores what most of you talk about "when bidders know the value" means something different to each one of us. How do you put a value on something like a $10.00 item that you been looking for for years .Are you going to lose it for $12.00 or $20.00.Bid it up higher and let the pureist cry about it ,but your happy the day it comes in the mail and you add it to your collection ,what is the value to your joy?

Here is my story -----A few year ago David B. and I had a discussion about the postage due set of stamps of WALLIS and FUTUNA ISLAND with the "FRANCE LIBRE" overprints ,twice since that time I tried to purchase that set mint but it when higher than the stated catalog price of $300.00 and last year the set appeared someplace used again it went for over the used catalog of $300.00 .I detemined the set is extremely hard to find used and there is a strong demand for it,so the next time I'll bid a few hundred over catalog ,so what is its value to me or to some block head who looks in the catalog for price and will tell me what the true value is .

http://cgi.ebay.com:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250194306401&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

My concern will be with the USPS.
My impression is that many non-US mail services are more "collector conscious" than the US.

Looks like I pay my money and take my chances.

Why doesn't my boldface html work like everyone else's.?

As you and everybody else knows im a worldwide collector and don't get into the highly specialized fields or studies but that doesn't mean I can't identify simple forgeries .Such as wrong color cancels ,all hand roller cancels ,the "V" {vormittag}and "N"{nachmittag} ,all ring cancels with gutters and modern types that were not introduced before 1929.My references and inventory of proper cancels can give me a good idea of whats right and wrong but not as perfect as the German experts ......paul

infla-alec, thanks for the listing showing the two varieties.
I'm not sure I'll go that far, but it's worth keeping in mind.
And if I fail miserably at my translation effort I'll probably come back to you to take advantage of your offer of help.

afeht - I liked your forensic evaluation of faked postmarks below and hope I can remember them when the need arises.

In the Canada small queen issue there was a gaggle of faked so-called fancy cancels some 20 years ago applied to unused (no gum) 3c values. A telltale sign of these was how the ink bled thru the paper to show up on the reverse side. Also they lacked the proper pigmentation.

There was also an episode of likely-fradulently cancelled Quebec Tercentenary stamps which appeared in one or more Stolow Gold Medal mail sales that bore postmarks with the country name of Lichtenstein !! (sp?)

And there is a current Canada auction catalog with copies of Jubilees and Quebecs with "post contemporary cancellations" some which are identified as such. These 2 examples of efforts which take unused stamps without gum and of little value as such and trying to give them value as nicely cancelled used stamps.

CSI-raff

Katrina,

How does one know? It's in those little things. I've seen thousands upon thousands of these stamps, singles, on covers and on pieces, I've looked at them through magnifiers, I smelled them, I slept (OK, had no sleep) with them.

As a rule, the paper Germans used to make covers and postcards in this particular period transfered to the paper of many genuinely used stamps a kind of very pale yellowish-ocher tinge, barely noticeable but distinct.

Also, a postmark applied to a stamp already affixed to the letter, apart from not being bluish-gray, has a distinct deepness in the middle of its lines, and fuzziness on the edges of its lines. If a postmark is applied on the stamp lying on a hard surface or on a single sheet of paper on the table, it loses these characteristics.

Most fakers were canceling sheets manually, striking frequently and similarly each time, after which then separated the stamps also in a hurry, without bending along the perf line. This also affects the distribution of ink and the form of perf ends in subtle ways.

Washing off the gum in warm water usually lightens up the color of the stamps a bit, and the presence of dissolved gum in the water often gives the fake used stamp a slightly dull, lusterless appearance, it loses its initial burnish (probably, as a result of sum mild chemical reaction between the color ink and the dissolved gum). These things usually don't happen to genuinely used Inflation stamps.

Finally, many genuinely used stamps retain something of the cover surface on their back sides: threads of paper stuck to little patches of remaining gum, or just a faint texture reflecting the texture of cover paper.

If you want to go ahead by yourself without expertizing, start with buying a Michel guide to Inflation period postmarks. I think you won't even need a dictionary.

Katrina,

IMNHO:

The 2 mil on 20o mark on your scan has normal postmark ink color; it's a contemporary fake anyway (real cliche applied by a dealer after December 1923).

The other stamp, 250 thousand on 200 mark, is a later fake with the bluish ink.

Embroidered stamp from Switzerland (2000)

• Frank Sinatra Stamp This Spring
  
• John Hotchner: "The Value of History On Stamps"
  
• More 2008 Stamp Programs
  
• #10 envelopes in "Fun FDCs"
  
• and a new "Internet & Stamps" on obnoxious advertising ploys

matt-in-AZ

In that recent lot of covers from your club, are there any 3c PSEs from 1958 - 1963 that are conceivably third class use?

thirdclass-raff

Awwwww. come on MITCH only boring people get bored.
you surely just mean you aren't interested in inflation items, or stolen / misplaced collections, or catalogue vs. retail/wholesale prices of stamps, or Jeff-raff's attempts at humour (good one Jeff-Jeff!).

... and away goes trouble down the drein

(reference to old Roto-Rooter jingle)

laff-raff

"less value" isn't a phrase I understand .

My business friend who lost $10,000 in diamond tip concrete dilling bits from his concrete cutting business purchase his stuff back for $600.00 dollars no questions asked .....paul

The return address inside with the return order form to purchase packets of stamps is ARSHAK MOVSESSIAN B.R. N. BAGHDAD-IRAQ . or just scan it for your records . Stamp dealer at the railroad station .....paul

I live and learn!

Actually, I would never buy a ring anyway!!!

Colin the skinflint

Here in the UK we have a BBC TV programme “Watchdog” which takes up any dodgy sellers/workers etc on behalf of the aggrieved party. A couple of weeks ago it was the Inland Revenue sending the details of one person to another of the same name – I think IR had given them the same National Insurance number too! And a week later it transpired that the IR had sent the full details of all 25 million, yes 25 million families who received child benefit, including their bank details to their auditor on CD’s by post, not once, not twice, but three times by post, unregistered, and all 3 lots had got lost somewhere!!!

But that is just background to show that this TV programme is taken notice of. Last night they were examining an eBay transaction by a jewellery firm with 3,000 = feedback, 98% positive. The complainant had paid over £1,000 for a ring and was dissatisfied when it arrived and left negative feedback. The firm offered to upgrade the ring if they sent another £1,000 + but said they would only give a refund if the complainant removed their negative feedback.

”Watchdog” had eBay UK’s Trust and Safety manager there and interestingly he was on the side of the complainant and said the firm had been suspended from eBay. I can’t remember all the details but I think the complainant got his money back.

So what value feedback if the baddies insist they will only give money back if you remove negatives? (I didn’t know this could be done) Does the USA have a similar programme that monitors bad transactions? Certainly the complainant got better treatment once eBay safety was criticized on TV! Actually, I would never buy a ring at that price, unseen over the Internet!

Colin the Cautious

Experts and serious collectors get their knowledge by handling hundreds if not thousands of those inflation stamps and having books about forgeries and bad dates {bad meaning--- both fakes and stamps cancelled outside of the postal useage dates .}

NEW COLLECTORS AND NEW READERS ---Here are samples of correct cancels during that time period . GERMAN CANCELS ....paul

Just as a note I think the whole state of Florida is up for sale or at least thats what the realty broker was offering .Housing there was bad real bad .{over-built ,over sold to Northern carpet -baggers who used paper to purchase their investments }

I'm trying to purchase a Switzerland 5fr mini-sheet of the 2000 embroidered stamp (Sc# 1075a).
I can't seem to locate any dealers of Swiss stamps who I might be able to purchase one from.
I can find a few singles, but no sheetlets.

My wife does a LOT of embroidery and I thought this might be an item of interest to her.

Would someone point me to a dealer of Swiss stamps, please.