Scott Cvs For Items Issued Before Notice: "Catalog Values Are For NH Items Beginning With Xxx"?

Is there a general or specific guideline for Scott Catalog Values of items numbered below xxx when the notice says: "Catalog values are for NH items beginning with xxx"?

For example, Netherlands Antilles Scott #23 VF is listed at $4.00 for mint. The notice at the beginning of Netherlands Antilles says the values for NH items begin with number 166. So, what would the catalog value be for a MNH #23 VF? Thanks,

It varies by country, catalog and supply. Often Scott will double the value if MNH for a stamp that is cataloged as MH, but not always.

For Antilles, Scott also says that values for unused examples of 1-44 are for stamps without gum. If you have a stamp with gum, especially MNH, it will be valued considerably more. How much more?... market determines.

CONTRARY to the two replies above:

It would be considered a damaged and altered stamp worth much less than $4.00. However, if you soaked off the gum, it would have a catalog value of $4.00.

No I am not nuts but #23 as well as most other Scott numbers nearby were NGIA in other words they were not gummed stamps when issued (No Gum As Issued).

For the pre-1940+/- stamps issued with gum, the Scott Classic often has the price for early OG NH mentioned.

I see. Good to know. I was wondering about that note. Thanks for the correction. Usually Scott mentions stamp issued without gum or the reasons for why the stamps would be valued without gum, like acidic gum. I guess they didn't in this case.

Actually the situation with gumming is more complicated than that. The NVPH (Netherlands Speciality catalogue) says only that some of the stamps before 1923 were issued without gum, not all of them. Unfortunately it doesn't say which.

In "Manual of the Stamps of Netherlands, Netherlands Indies, Curacao, and Surinam" by Schiller and de Kruyf (1940) it says explicitly that the last printing of number 4 and 5 was issued gummed, as were 13-17 and 19-23.

The NVPH catalogue gives the catalogue value of 23 never hinged as three times the value of hinged.

Jan

I built a substantial collection of Russia/Soviet stamps and this catalog question arises in that area frequently. In that case the market, for whatever reason, generally settled on a multiplier of 2.0 to 2.5 of hinged. I asked a well-know dealer why no MNH values in Scott and was told that MNH was a very rare occurrence, the stamps being popular and snapped up pre-mounts. It also turned out that a lot of "MNH" was actually regummed. I mean a LOT and I can attest to that from personal and painful experience.

Scott no including MNH values may be a blessing in disguise if it dissuades collectors from pursuing stamps in a minefield of regumming.

For our less-experienced friends, I'll also mention that regumming is often not an isolated condition, solely intended to capture the MNH fetishists. It can also hide a multitude of other problems.

If you think, "well, it's just regummed, no big deal" - and you still want to buy it - triple check for other conditions.

Regumming and reperfing often go hand in hand. Regumming can be used to cover a filled thin or a repaired tear, or to throw you off the trail of a washed cancel or faked overprint.

[qActually the situation with gumming is more complicated than that. The NVPH (Netherlands Speciality catalogue) says only that some of the stamps before 1923 were issued without gum, not all of them. Unfortunately it doesn't say which.

In "Manual of the Stamps of Netherlands, Netherlands Indies, Curacao, and Surinam" by Schiller and de Kruyf (1940) it says explicitly that the last printing of number 4 and 5 was issued gummed, as were 13-17 and 19-23.

The NVPH catalogue gives the catalogue value of 23 never hinged as three times the value of hinged.

Jan][/q]



Without definitive explanations of which stamps and when, nor a simple definitive method to determine which stamps are a third printing coupled with how much regumming is done, one can easily understand why Scott Catalogues avoids this minefield. Plus the worldwide catalogues are general, not specialty. That is even true with the so-called US Specialized Catalog.

I went back to the NVPH catalogue and see now that they do say which stamps were issued without gum, but it is certainly not very obvious. Much of this information is in Scott.

For the curious, the following Netherlands Antilles stamps were issued without gum:

Scott: 1-12, with the exception of 4 and 8 with perforation Comb 12½ large holes;
Scott: 18, 25 (when perf 13½x13), 26, 43, 44, 73

Jan