Great Grandfather's US Stamp Collection

I'll be there.
With the WF, determining the perfs should be the easiest place to start. Sometimes watermarks are hard to see (especially on orange stamps) and sometimes only a small bit of a watermark shows making it hard to determine if single or double lined. Be warned that a large % of many WF coils are fake (easier to detect on pairs than on singles)
I would hold off in spending money getting stamps certed till you get more experience when you may be better able to ID some of them as more common and not worth certing.

Oiman, Nothing really to add other than it is nice to see someone making an effort with an inherited collection to learn and not just asking "how much?"

Obviously, you have been given a pretty nice collection with some monetary value; but I (personally) appreciate you taking time to learn. I say that as most people simply want to turn collections in to dollars. I hope you continue to learn and appreciate your collection.

This thread is one that I'll enjoy checking in on (and provide advice if possible although there are many more folks with better knowledge here than I.)

Cheers,

Andy

I will continue to update, but I am starting to post more in other places in the forum.

However, I wanted to bring attention to this perf Scott 24 on the left. It looks like a piece of hair got on the print towards the back of Franklin's head placed in a general vertical position, but I think it's a printing error. Looking into it more, there were a few positions on various plates that resulted in errors like this. If I understand the one here correctly, it could be 52R8. I think there is also a faint curly line going near the C on the bottom too.

It doesn't appear to be particularly rare or valuable, but it's showing me the variation between stamps even printed on the same plate.

Oiman, those "errors" are really not errors at all, but just normal etching and/or printing variations. That is what makes it possible to plate these older stamps


Peter

There are 1c experts on this forum - post it in the US Classics category. (they might ask for a higher resolution image of just the left stamp)

So an error is something normally not present, while a specific mark on the same position is a variation (and thus is repeatable/more commonly found). I zoomed in on the variation Franklin here but I can also post it in that popular perf thread

A scratch or nick on a plate is there for the rest of the life of the plate and produces what is known as a constant plate variety.

A crack will also be there for the rest of the life of the plate, but it can grow over time.

I think the 3rd picture down might help;

https://www.stampcommunity.org/topi...PIC_ID=48616

that exact post was how I first recognized the curl actually, great minds think alike!

Wecome Oiman,

I am a member of the Rhode Island Philitelic Society, the oldest stamp society in the country. Do not sell your collection without a wide variety of opinions. This site will help you in many areas to guide you and explain your options. As stated, you do have an awsome start as to what could be an exciting collection of historical and interesting philitelic material.

I did recieve the following message from the President of the RIPS today.

Hi all,

Just a reminder that the auction has been rescheduled to Saturday July 13th at the church, we will start at 2pm.

If you are bringing lots please arrive at the church by 12:30pm so Chet can assign lot numbers, viewing will start at 1pm.

Please have your lot slips filled out before you arrive if possible.

Michael.

If you are from the area and interested in going to this meeting I can share the Churches address with you. Do not just agree to sell your collection without more knowedge. As they say, knowedge is power!

You may want to go to this event if only as an observer and not a participant.
Do not be to anxious to sell your collection. Time to relax and learn. Get more than one opinion on you holdings before you make a decision.

I actually laughed out loud reading that!

To piggyback on what Zebra wrote on the previous page, the line indicates where the full sheet was divded into two panes. Note the vertical line in your stamp:

Now have a look at this image, from the original 1951 Harmer sale photographs of a full pane of 200. This excerpt is of the upper RH quadrant of the left pane of stamps.

The line you see was engraved into the plate (two panes of 100) indicating where the full sheet of 200 was to be divided. There is a similar line at the bottom of the plate, not illustrated.

Now, that photo excerpt is of a printing from Plate 4, the Type I design of the 10c, of which only a relatively small number were printed. Your stamp is Type II (Scott 68), printed either from Plate 15 or 26. Though I'm not aware of photos of fulls sheet of either of those plates, there exist examples of Type II stamps printed from those plates which exhibit the same line, and all have straight edges on either the left or the right.

• If the straight edge and line occurs on the left, that's position 1 from the right pane
• If the straight edge and line occurs on the right, that's position 10 from the left pane

At the end of the day, what you're looking at in your stamp is an example from a miscut pane.

[Edited to add the following image and info]

From the 2023 Siegel Sale of the Gilbart collection, here's a similar example, opposite positioning. Sale 1292, Lot 25, Scott #68, described as a straddle pane example that straddles the left pane.

Very cool information about the 68! It is certainly an interesting stamp, and it doesn't appear to be super common which is probably why it's in the collection.

@rimstamps there is no intention to sell the collection right now so do not fear.

Glad you like! Actually, used examples of #68 are common, but top-row straddle pane margin examples like yours are not (especially with the beard).

Not sure as well if these are worth keeping?

When you have been saying "worth keeping" you appear to mean worth money. As a collector they are collectible. Have you hit the jackpot no.