The 3 Cent Stamped Envelope Surcharged 2 (Continued from Page 5) machine rejected die type was placed on sale at the Washington, D. C., office, the envelope being white paper, sizes 5 and 13. The 3 cent stamp being my listing Die B (Bartels' Die A), and the surcharge being in black. The surcharge cancelling dies are made by the manufacturers of the cancelling machines and delivered to the Third Assistant Postmaster-General, being sent out by the Stamp Division in accordance with the authorization paragraph in the circular of notification quoted a short space back. At present writing but one die of the accepted type has been delivered by the manufacturers of the Universal machine, and this, after being used for a time in Washington, was forwarded to St. Louis. The full quota of ten dies has been delivered by the manufacturers of the International machine, and at present writing six have been forwarded, the recipients being: Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New York, Oklahoma City and Philadelphia. I think it very likely that there are slight differences between all ten of the International dies as they were all probably separately cut and therefore bound to vary slightly; this, of course, could only be determined by examination of a quantity coming from various sources. Both the Universal and International machines are in use at the Washington office, and all types of surcharge issued were first printed at the Washington office. It is, therefore, erroneous to designate any one particular surcharge as the Washington type, and another as the Cleveland type. The three types of surcharge issued should be classified as described above, namely: Universal machine, International machine and International machine rejected die. It is probable that in time all known dies and papers of the 3 cent stamped envelope will appear bearing both the Universal and International surcharge cancellations. The accepted die for the International machine was first issued to the public from Cleveland some time in February. It was March 3 before it was placed on sale in Washington. Double Impression We have a few lc and 3c Surface Printed, showing clear double impression, at the following prices: 1c Green, No. 435d 3c Purple, type IV, No. 437e.. $2.00 $1.00 Pairs and Blocks can be supplied at same rates. We found one sheet 3c Purple, Surface Printed, double impression, bearing imprints of two different plate numbers: No. 8999 and No. 9000. Price of complete sheet of 100. .$150.00 A Repairing Damaged Stamps QUESTIONABLE practice in philately is the transforming of damaged stamps into seemingly perfect specimens. This is something which is too commonly done. It is a policy which all reputable collectors and dealers frown upon, and rightly so. It is a wicked deception on the philatelic public and a species of dishonesty which hurts the hobby. It is a truth to say that there are to-day more repaired stamps on the market than ever before. The process of concealing the damage is generally so skilfully accomplished as to fool not alone the amateur collector but the less experienced dealer as well. The result is often that an honest dealer unwittingly sells for a high price what he believes to be a perfect copy. The purchaser is the sufferer if he finds it out and is too high-minded to dispose of the damaged goods as something wholesome. If he does not discover that he has been victimized, the person to whom he sells the stamp may then be the sufferer. The remedy to eliminate this harmful custom is to have the caption "This stamp has been repaired" placed in indelible ink with a rubber handstamp on the reverse side of every patched-up copy. This proclaims a stamp for all time what it actually is. It protects both dealer and collector, and in every instance of sale it serves as a standard guarantee of the honesty of the person who sells. It is deplorable that every professional repairer of stamps does not place this printed guarantee on the adhesives he mends. Why does he not do so? To quote from the frank explanation made by one repairer: "I have a dealer-customer who is constantly sending me stamps to be repaired. These are invariably stamps which in perfect condition would bring high prices. As an instance, he sent me a copy worth $100 originally, but a corner was missing and he could sell it for only $5 or $6. He was willing to pay me $5 to supply the missing corner so that the average collector would think the stamp was perfect. This dealer told me that his customers positively would not buy any stamp which had a statement on the back saying it was a repaired copy." The inference is an obvious one-and it accounts for the many repaired specimens reposing in collections to-day in America and abroad. The expert repairer has his profession down to a science. He can mend so cleverly that the customary tests applied to stamps under suspicion will not disclose anything wrong. The rejuvenated copies can be soaked, immersed in benzine or other liquid, or boiled, and nothing happens to reveal what has been done. Because this is so, the need is emphatic for adoption universally of a trade practice of placing a printed statement on the back of every repaired stamp. We make a careful examination of all stamps which come into our possession. Whenever we discover one which has been mended, the caption of condemnation, "This stamp has been repaired," is placed on its reverse side. And no stamp which is damaged is ever repaired for or by Scott's! K. B. S. |