Ink Smears Don’t Increase the Value

Question: I recently purchased from the local post office a roll of 25-cent U.S. Flag stamps (Yosemite design). Two of the stamps have green printing-ink smudges on the bottom portion of the stamps. Is this unusual, and if so, of any special value?--J.G.

Answer: You have a “plate smear”--a minor freak or oddity, but not a major constant plate variety or missing color error, for example, that would merit catalogue status and, hence, a real premium over face value. From the photocopy you sent, the ink smear isn’t pronounced enough to be even classified as a significant smear; the stray ink dots seem to be distributed mostly along the bottom 3 millimeters of this 25-mm stamp, so the smear isn’t spectacular enough to be valuable. And if it were, figure on getting maybe double or triple face value from an error dealer.

Coil stamps , by the way, are what collectors and postal clerks call rolls of stamps, i.e. those issued in a continuous strip in roll form instead of in a flat pane (sheet). Stamps that are not coils have often been faked to appear as coils by scissors’ cutting of the perforations on two opposite sides of the stamp. And coils or stamps with a natural straight edge along one side (as issued) can be altered to look like perforated versions by “reperforating” them. So you have to be careful when buying a stamp to be certain that the perforations or lack thereof haven’t been faked to enhance its market price!

Q: My husband has a stamp collection from his childhood, including two unusual stamps from “FIUME,” which he claims is an island that no longer exists. I enclose a photocopy of these stamps. Can you tell us anything about them?--S.S.

A: The two that you have photocopied are listed in the Scott catalogues as Fiume 29 and 30, issued in 1919, and retail for only about 10 cents each. The catalogue calls their colors “yellow green” for the 5-centesimi value, and “rose” for the 10-centesimi.

Fiume, a city on the Adriatic Sea, was claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia after World War I, being annexed by Yugoslavia in 1924. The population in 1924 was a little less than 50,000--and it has more than doubled by today. Most stamps of Fiume are cheap and yours fit this category. The first set of Fiume postage dues (World War I Hungarian stamps overprinted in 1918) will set you back about $100 mint. The present name of Fiume is Rijeka.

Q: My set of Austrian stamps picture soldiers with rifles, cavalry, a battleship, etc. What are these worth?--P.H.

A: The full set of five values (Scott B3-B7) of these World War I Austrian semipostals (“charity” stamps), issued May 1, 1915, retails for around $2, mint or used. If you have them imperforated (no “holes” on the edges) with expertizing certificates, the set costs near $100.