Its only in the past few years that a common language will develope with all the mass electronic communications and cross border trading.

I assume that the 1999 in your handle refers to the year you became an eBay user, and not the year you were born, in which case I would feel really inadequate in my stamp knowledge (not that I don't anyway!)

Does anyone have or seen a "soak-ability" list by Scott # for US stamps?

I'm talking which to soak or not, techniques, etc., similar to the Soak-o-meter (?) stuff I recall having seen in Linn's.

Is there a preferred method for extracting a plate block from a pane?

My first instinct is to use the surrounding stamps and then trim close rather than attempting to separate along the “perfs” in the backing paper.

While surfing up the names of some US Naval vessels I found that some are decommissioned and some are "struck" from the lists.
Now I need to find out the difference.
Usual situation. Research leads to more research.

Receiving Ship Cancel vs. a normal ship's cancel?

What your not watching is the poor quality of the stamp ,your looking at the price of a Mercedes Benz and buying a Chevy .Both have four tires and a steering wheel but when the time comes to sell your in for a surprise ......besides welcome to the board ,let us know about your collecting interest .....paul

But this transaction with N.Y. STAMPS just caught you ,which also happens to everybody sooner or later.You got caught believeing in the Christmas Fairy .Lets look at this transaction .

Any collector viewing that auction would walk away from a listing that says----AS IS .

You were buying a rare and valueable stamp for a cheap opening price

Why would a establish and knownledgeable seller be selling a expensive stamp cheap?

What were you thinking ,the Christmas Fairy was letting you bid on a stamp that other experience collectors past up.

My quess is that you were bidding against other con artist who thought they could remarket that stamp and make a profit ,because most collectors smelled a rat .

Did it ever cross your mind that maybe a young clerk listed that stamp and didn't know what reback is ,but your blaming the owner who maybe never saw the stamp.

sit back and have a few more drinks of Yellow Tail

.....paul

But since it yet to go before a judge and a hearing yet to be establish .I though it would be better to give the final settlement before the meter for legal fees gets too high and they will come to the same conclusion AS POSTED HERE .

FIRST----The settlement will be private with all parties signing off not to disclose the details .

SECOND-----Ken Lawrence will get his public apolgy from all parties.

THIRD -----He will get his legal fees covered by the society .

FOURTH ------The society will have to make room for him and other conciderations .{what they are I don't know because I don't know the guy or like him,but he knows his stuff}.....paul

Is this real?

The penciled date (1855) was not done by me.

As the SARGENT -OF-ARMS {as appointent by the then reigning STAMP GODDESS } .Usally I will let them mouth -off and the rantings run their course ,then start slapping the same old clowns around ,this has been going on for years and guess for now I'll let them blow off steam . But welcome anyway ....paul

Saw a nice exhibit a few weeks ago and thought of you .My wife and I attended the FLOREX 2007 stamp show in Florida ,there was a major exhibit of NEW ZEALAND One Penny Dominion.It had history,flaws and oddities,1909-1926 it was done by a Peter Leaming nice exhibit.

ON THE SUBJECT of experts ----You missed a posting by me a few weeks ago about a collector/dealer who specialisted in one U.S. stamp much like you .He sent in a stamp to be expertisted as a new variety but it was rejected,but it was rejected by the expert committee.He did his own research and discovered it to be a new varity and went back and kicked the experts in the head and they issued a new certificate as a real vatiety.Matt H. natural wrote the correct story without the kicking part and that maybe is more correct.But what im saying is do your own research and let us all know your decision and the out come.....paul

should be an easy Google

re Alaska Emergency Airmail: I think there was a lapse in the air mail contract(s) for carrying air mail from, to and across Alaska, so the US army was pressed into service to fill the need until civilian flights resumed. My AAMCs are elsewhere but I think they are even listed in there. There are as I recall quite a few, lots of different cachets, I have seen them in the $3 to $12 range.

jeff-raff

Anyone have an idea?

Glen Bird

Thank you both for responding.

The thing a maket manipulator wants to do is buy a huge holding quietly and slowly over time and after a decent inventory is established then hype the idea to others so they can continue in the price rally .After that the public would catch on and drive the price even higher .This is the place the original holder needs to unload and haul in the profits. But human nature that it is and the dream of even higher prices catchs most investors until the price collapses under its own weight .

So to manipulate any market one needs to know inventory,have the money,start the ball rolling ,feed and inform other investors ,get the public excited and then have the smarts to cash-out before the market tops out .No simple task .........paul

The way I fiqure it there are about 60 complete sets that show up in stamp auctions each year and another 40 sets that exchange hands each year not at auctions . So about 100 complete sets change hands amoung the the 10,000 serious stamp collectors of U.S. MATERIAL.

If the turn around of a average collection is every 20 years .My quess is that there are about 2,000 complete sets out there . Some sets have turned around every few years and others locked away for many years . JUST A GUESS.

Mailing stamps in a glassine with a cardboard stiffener first class is usually the way to go. Personally, I cut up manila folders. And at this time of year, I am not adverse to using last year's Christmas cards.

You might want to hold off listing until after the first of the year. Not many buyers on at this time of year. After Jan.1, flush with cash, buyers will return in droves.

Sounds like a beginners collection or more accurate a accumaltion .Unless you can show a scan of any older better stuff.

Would have to say its all beginner material and the best you can hope for is 2 cent each, with the mint U.S. getting face if sold in a shoe box lots on e-bay .

1. hinges...depends on the brand. If they are Dennison(pay attention to the spelling) they are very good and in demand here on eBay. Either use them or sell them. Any other brands, you may just want to trash them.

2. on paper stamps...probably not worth your time to soak them. Sort them by countries and list them as such.

3. foreign stamps...if a mess of stamps, they sell just as well in the US. Again sort by country or just sell by weight.

4. not really

5. scanning backs...only if there is a nasty hinge remnent or in the case of a stamp where a NH copy is much more valuable than a mint,hinged stamp.

6. toss 'em

7. see answer to questions 2 and 3.

Hope this helps some. Come back and ask more questions.

First describe what you have, are they albums {what name or type},are they stockbooks with rows for placing stamps , any glassine or cards with stamps mounted, are they boxes or bags of stamps .

We need to establish what was spent to build that collection,any price list or invoices from dealers,were do you think the previous owner got the stamps . How are they arranged can give us a clue what the collector was doing .

Someone will offer information ,please try to give a better description and I will post later were I can answer .....paul