Hi and Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to you all! A few hours early, but close enough. While parts of the US are getting clobbered by major storms, most of California has been basking in lovely warm, sunny spring-like weather. Temperatures have been in the low 70’s during the day - perfect for being outside. However, if you are like my wife and oldest son - it means pollen - lots of it. And both of them have been sneezing up a storm the past couple days! I’m thankful that I don’t have any allergy problems.
OK, on to the stamps this week - we’ve got 24 auctions closing on Sunday evening. Let’s have a show of hands: who likes the task of identifying 50 - 70 Washington Franklin stamps? You know, the ones that you have to check for perforations, check to see if it is flat plate or rotary press, check to see what, if any, watermark is present, and then try to figure out if that coil stamp in your hands is a fake or genuine? For me, not a ton of fun. But that’s what I do and I can’t complain about it too much. The stamps this week are ALL Washington-Franklins, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of accurately identifying them.
As I noted in last week’s blog, if you buy a stamp from me that you feel might be a fake or identified incorrectly, you have two options: (1) You could send it out to have it expertized, to the tune of up to $30 or so and up to a three month wait. If it is not as described, I’ll pay your expertizing fee and you can return the stamp and certificate to me. If it IS as descibed, the expertizing fee comes out of your pocket. (2) you could simply send the stamp back to me for a refund without having it sent out to be expertized.
So, there you have it - 24 Washington Franklin auctions for your perusal. I hope these nice stamps, a mix of mint and used items, will help you fill in some empty places in your album.
Good luck and enjoy…!