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April 27, 2007
Not all inverts are good deals
I recently had the frustrating experience of having to tell a reader stamps he paid about $1,000 for are worth considerably less.
He wrote to me a few days ago after coming across the Dec. 27 entry on the blog about the popularity of the U.S. Elvis Presley commemorative, saying:
“I have a sheet of inverted St Vincent Elvis Stamps that I bought from Windsor House International in California for about a thousand dollars. Did I get ripped off? They said they would try to sell them at a show and they would get 3 percent of the sale. I can’t get ahold of them now. Can you tell me what they are worth and should I hold on to them.�
I hadn’t heard of the stamps, but my first thought was that his fears might be justified, and a Google search seemed to confirm that. Here’s my answer to him:
“Your inclination that you might have been a victim seems to be correct. I found this Web site that says such items are generally considered printers waste prepared after the original printer’s stocks were sold in bankruptcy. I can’t verify this, but the person who owns the site seems to know what he’s talking about. It’s at least a starting point for further research.
“A Google search for Windsor House International, which I assume you also tried, found nothing. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. (I did find an ad from Shop at Home TV offering the stamps for $349.98 and some possible listings on eBay, although those might have been for the properly printed stamps.)�
I’d advise anyone who collects the stamps of St. Vincent or who is interested in error stamps from other countries to check out this Web page before buying such items. Unfortunately, according to the page, letters to the postmaster general about the matter remain unanswered — possibly, the Web site owner, Peter Elias, speculates, because “the chances of these stamps ever being used for actual postage in St. Vincent are fairly slim and … they are thus not defrauding the St. Vincent Postal Services.�
He also mentions similar difficulties with the U.S. stamp issued for former President Richard M. Nixon.
As Elias says at the end of his discussion of these inverted centers and a batch of other reputed St. Vincent errors:
“As they say: Caveat emptor - ‘let the buyer beware.’ �
Posted by jweigle at 10:59 PM
April 17, 2007
Inverted Jenny resurfaces
A copy of what is probably the most famous U.S. stamp ever — the 1918 24-cent airmail stamp with the airplane upside down (Scott No. C3a) — has resurfaced.
Linn’s Stamp News reports in its April 23 issue that the stamp, which had not been seen since the full sheet of the inverts was sold by the post office, has been authenticated by the Philatelic Foundation of New York.
The newly found stamp was in position 13 on the original pane of 100 stamps (that is, it was the third stamp in the second row).
The stamp was submitted by the Robert A. Siegel auction house. It was consigned to the firm from an estate, and the original collector, “long deceased,� as Linn’s put it, was not identified.
“Until the rediscovery of the stamp, the hobby had no image of it and no idea of its provenance (history of ownership), although who owns the stamp is being kept private,� Linn’s writer Rick Miller said.
The discovery means that there are now images of 98 of the original 100 stamps.
Copies of the stamps sell for thousands of dollars in auction, and as Linn’s put it, “The stamp is well-centered horizontally but is vertically off-center. Most collectors would still be more than delighted to have it in their collections.�
Linn’s is the only weekly stamp newspaper in the United States. Portions of it can be viewed for free online here. Regular mail subscriptions may be ordered online or by writing to Linn’s Stamp News, P.O. Box 29, Sidney, Ohio 45365-0029.
If you want to read the full story of the Inverted Jenny, see if you can find a copy of “Jenny!� written by George Amick and published by Linn’s in 1986. It’s a fascinating story.
Posted by jweigle at 11:44 PM
