Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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09:58:48am
If you are serious about collecting US I would suggest investing in a Scott's US specialized catalog. You can probably find used copies on line. The early Washington's and Franklin's can drive you crazy - colour shades, perforations, watermarks and many of them have several types. I've taken close to an hour / stamp back in the days when I had lots of patience. Best of luck and you really do need a good identifier. There are online options but I find a book easier.
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smartsmarter has a section on id'ing WF stamps.
https://stampsmarter.org/features/SQL_Wa ...
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A very successful stamp dealer I know once told me that she just won't bother trying to ID most of the early Washington/Franklin issues. My own U.S. collection, in a Lighthouse album, has lots of holes in those pages.
Bob
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03:18:06pm
If I had it to do over again I might do that part of my collection differently. My wife and I spent many hours on these early Washington's and Franklin's and it really was a major job. I have most of these stamps but if I was starting now I probably wouldn't have to patience for it. It was fun at the time but it wouldn't be now. I also have many varieties of these stamps that took a lot of time and effort as well. It really is a lot of work and if you decide to go for it, go slowly and carefully. The worst part IMHO is a tie between the watermarks and the colour shades! Good luck! Don't be turned off by what I say, look at it as a challenge!
EDIT: I just did a quick count. My US Harris Liberty album shows 198 of the classic Washington/Franklin stamps from 1908 to 1921 leaving out some of the grossly expensive ones. Of these 198 stamps I am missing 15. Every once in a while I'll pick one up here, usually from the ones posted by Greg. I've also picked up some on E-Bay but you really have to trust the people you buy from. But of these 15 stamps all of them are quite pricey! It took many hours to ID those stamps, I'd really hate to guess how many!!!
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Julie,
some people, me for instance, never master these stamps (they're called Washington/Franklins, because they are all pix of one or the other, each in up to 15 different varieties, based on color, plate, type, perfs, etc.).
Until you are ready to devote serious time to this specific group of about 250 stamps with only two pictured individuals all looking almost identical, i wouldn't bother (and I still don't).
Others suggest a catalogue, like Scott, or Al's suggested URL. Those are essential to start, but it's still a lot of work and not for the faint of heart or eye sight
David
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The other risk is that they are subject to mischief such as trimming perfs off inexpensive varieties to create a coil, etc. and dealers are also prone to not identifying them properly.
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This sounds like....fun....
Mike
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If you're really going to dig into this issue (definitely not for the faint of heart), I've found this book to be absolutely indispensable. You'll wear the pages out and wind up buying a second copy before all is said and done.
Not sure of the best source, but there are copies available on Amazon.
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I have the three Martin A. Armstrong books, and they combined with the Micarelli book is what I use for identification.
David
Ottawa, Canada
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10:23:16am
Again the key is patience!! I only use Scott's US Specialized and find that sufficient for any US material, except odd stuff like precancels, of course. I doubt if I could do it now but I remember my wife and I long ago spending hours and hours on this material - watermarks, perforations, types of printing, colour shades and stamps with several design variations. I found telling the difference between un-watermarked and single line watermarked to be especially annoying at times. With single lined sometimes only the very end of a letter would show. Also some of the colour shades were very similar, especially the versions of "red". But with time and patience it can be done. Good luck!!!
ADDITION: My gut tells me that there is some trimming of perfs to manufacture coils or imperforates. Be very careful to look for size differences and also check edges for traces of remaining perfs.
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Here is a scan of a transparent templet I just picked up. It can be ordered from
Mr. Steven R. Unkrich
sunkrich01@gmail.com
Included with this templet are two more templets showing the single line and double line watermarks.
This is another transparent templet I bought at Trenton Stamp & Coin about twenty five years ago.
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Along with the Armstrong , Micarelli and Schmid books this 19 page booklet is also in my library. There are some stamps that are still difficult for me to identify, especially heavy cancelled or single line wmk.
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08:50:56am
How do I know what variant I have ?
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
21 Dec 2023
09:58:48am
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
If you are serious about collecting US I would suggest investing in a Scott's US specialized catalog. You can probably find used copies on line. The early Washington's and Franklin's can drive you crazy - colour shades, perforations, watermarks and many of them have several types. I've taken close to an hour / stamp back in the days when I had lots of patience. Best of luck and you really do need a good identifier. There are online options but I find a book easier.
2 Members
like this post.
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
smartsmarter has a section on id'ing WF stamps.
https://stampsmarter.org/features/SQL_Wa ...
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
A very successful stamp dealer I know once told me that she just won't bother trying to ID most of the early Washington/Franklin issues. My own U.S. collection, in a Lighthouse album, has lots of holes in those pages.
Bob
1 Member
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
21 Dec 2023
03:18:06pm
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
If I had it to do over again I might do that part of my collection differently. My wife and I spent many hours on these early Washington's and Franklin's and it really was a major job. I have most of these stamps but if I was starting now I probably wouldn't have to patience for it. It was fun at the time but it wouldn't be now. I also have many varieties of these stamps that took a lot of time and effort as well. It really is a lot of work and if you decide to go for it, go slowly and carefully. The worst part IMHO is a tie between the watermarks and the colour shades! Good luck! Don't be turned off by what I say, look at it as a challenge!
EDIT: I just did a quick count. My US Harris Liberty album shows 198 of the classic Washington/Franklin stamps from 1908 to 1921 leaving out some of the grossly expensive ones. Of these 198 stamps I am missing 15. Every once in a while I'll pick one up here, usually from the ones posted by Greg. I've also picked up some on E-Bay but you really have to trust the people you buy from. But of these 15 stamps all of them are quite pricey! It took many hours to ID those stamps, I'd really hate to guess how many!!!
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
Julie,
some people, me for instance, never master these stamps (they're called Washington/Franklins, because they are all pix of one or the other, each in up to 15 different varieties, based on color, plate, type, perfs, etc.).
Until you are ready to devote serious time to this specific group of about 250 stamps with only two pictured individuals all looking almost identical, i wouldn't bother (and I still don't).
Others suggest a catalogue, like Scott, or Al's suggested URL. Those are essential to start, but it's still a lot of work and not for the faint of heart or eye sight
David
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
The other risk is that they are subject to mischief such as trimming perfs off inexpensive varieties to create a coil, etc. and dealers are also prone to not identifying them properly.
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06:49:56pm
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
This sounds like....fun....
Mike
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
If you're really going to dig into this issue (definitely not for the faint of heart), I've found this book to be absolutely indispensable. You'll wear the pages out and wind up buying a second copy before all is said and done. Not sure of the best source, but there are copies available on Amazon.
3 Members
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
I have the three Martin A. Armstrong books, and they combined with the Micarelli book is what I use for identification.
David
Ottawa, Canada
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
13 Jan 2024
10:23:16am
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
Again the key is patience!! I only use Scott's US Specialized and find that sufficient for any US material, except odd stuff like precancels, of course. I doubt if I could do it now but I remember my wife and I long ago spending hours and hours on this material - watermarks, perforations, types of printing, colour shades and stamps with several design variations. I found telling the difference between un-watermarked and single line watermarked to be especially annoying at times. With single lined sometimes only the very end of a letter would show. Also some of the colour shades were very similar, especially the versions of "red". But with time and patience it can be done. Good luck!!!
ADDITION: My gut tells me that there is some trimming of perfs to manufacture coils or imperforates. Be very careful to look for size differences and also check edges for traces of remaining perfs.
Login to Like
this post
re: How do I tell what variant I have?
Here is a scan of a transparent templet I just picked up. It can be ordered from
Mr. Steven R. Unkrich
sunkrich01@gmail.com
Included with this templet are two more templets showing the single line and double line watermarks.
This is another transparent templet I bought at Trenton Stamp & Coin about twenty five years ago.
3 Members
like this post.
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re: How do I tell what variant I have?
Along with the Armstrong , Micarelli and Schmid books this 19 page booklet is also in my library. There are some stamps that are still difficult for me to identify, especially heavy cancelled or single line wmk.
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