Postage Meter Errors Are Easy to Forge
Question: I was wondering how many mistakes are made annually with postage meter machines. Enclosed is a photocopy of a meter cancel that I received in 1977. The cancel date reads Oct. 25-87, while the letter is dated Oct. 25, 1977. So it is 10 years early.--E.A.G.
Answer: Postage meter machine mistakes are common, easily prepared, are not in demand and therefore have no special collector value. Anyone with access to the postage meter machine in a business office mailing room can custom-make any date desired. If a so-called “error” is easy to forge, it is also avoided by serious stamp collectors.
Sometimes the Postal Service makes a date mistake in their canceling devices. Upside-down numbers, dates in the past or future and total lack of a date appear in Postal Service official cancellations. These are usually worthless also.
Q: Regarding your column in which a reader wanted to paste stamps on wooden tables as a decoration, I suggest that stamps could be laid as a base and covered with a clear resin sheet or glass, with no harm to the stamps. They would fade in time, perhaps, but at least wouldn’t be touched by damaging shellac or glue. And the fading would be slower if the tables were not in sunlight.--J.J.
A: Thanks for the suggestion.
Q: About pasting stamps on furniture or other items: For a number of years I have been placing used stamps on bottles. I use Mod Podge as a protection that is easily cleaned. It can be purchased in any art store and is primarily used to protect paintings. I do not sell these bottles but use them as gifts. Have gathered stamps of 104 countries for a new bottle.--D.S.
A: Of course we should always be sure that the stamps we put on household objects for decorative purposes are common and not valuable. Paper items are fragile and easily ruined forever. When in doubt about whether to use a stamp for a purpose that may destroy its collector and market value, show it to a knowledgeable collector or stamp dealer for evaluation.
Q: What are these plate blocks-of-four worth? Each has the plate number engraved in the margin of the block. The 50-cent President Taft issue is red-violet in color; a 10-cent Jane Addams commemorative is dark brown, and a 9-cent Glacier National Park issue is orange.--R.H.
A: The 50-cent presidential regular issue from the year 1938 is worth about $25 or $30 as a plate block. Your Jane Addams “Famous American” stamp from 1940 sells for about $15. And the 9-cent park item is part of the 1934 national parks set, currently retailing for about $15 for that stamp alone as a plate block.
Q: My $2 green-and-black stamp shows a portrait of President Warren Harding and is in nice mint condition. Please comment on its value.--S.F.
A: About $25 to $30 retail. This regular issue was first sold in U.S. post offices on Sept. 29, 1938, and it is part of the obsolete presidential series of 1938 (Scott catalogue No. 833).
Q: With South Africa in the news so much, I’m wondering what the market is for South African stamps. My collection of these cost about $200 over the past 10 years and is mostly very fine mint copies of commemoratives and regular issues.--E.J.
A: Stamp-market prices are resistant to world affairs. In fact, trouble and turmoil in a nation may focus collector attention on that country and actually increase interest and, therefore, stamp values in the country’s stamps. There are many collectors of South African issues in England and some in the United States who would be happy to pay a reasonable price for a nice collection of South African material.
Stamp Calendar
Nov. 16 and 17--Thirty stamp and cover dealers will buy and sell at Cover Expo ‘85/Autumn, Quality Inn, 616 Convention Way at Harbor Blvd., Anaheim. Hourly door prizes, a Postal Service station and a special cancel honoring the 50th anniversary of the DC-3 airplane. Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission $1, free to seniors 60 and over and to children under 12. Free parking.
Nov. 22-24--A special cancel honoring Halley’s comet will be featured at Stamp Expo ‘85/Pacific, Hacienda Hotel, 525 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo (near L.A. International Airport). Dealer bourse, Postal Service station. Friday is first day of issue for the U.N.’s International Youth Year stamp. Free souvenir card to all visitors. Friday noon to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission $1, seniors 62 and over and children 12 to 15 pay 50 cents; free to children under 12 when accompanied by a paying adult. Free parking.
Barry Krause, a member of several national stamp-collecting organizations, cannot answer mail personally but will respond to philatelic questions of general interest in this column. Do not telephone. Write to Your Stamps, You section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.