The estimated retail value value I provide is my personal opinion and is
specific to the exact item shown. It is based upon similar items I have seen
at auction, in person at stamp shows, in catalogs, in other collections,
and experience buying and selling from national revenue specialist dealers.
It is my estimate of a full retail price; when buying from other collectors, in bulk
lots, or online at venues like eBay or Hipstamp, the price garnered could
be considerably lower. My estimate should not be taken
as gospel or as an indicator of value for any other item; it is provided for
informational purposes only and should not be construed as a buy or sell offer.
Scott catalog values only tell part of the story when it comes to stamps,
and this is even more true of revenues than front-of-book material.
There are a myriad of attributes that can positively or
negatively affect the value of a revenue item compared to Scott value, in
some cases by several orders of magnitude. These include, in no particular
order:
Underlying condition of the stamp
Type of cancel (manuscript, handstamp, printed, stencil, cut, etc.)
The color of a cancel
The intricacy of the design of a cancel
The company whose cancel was used
Where the stamp was used
The date the stamp was used
Aesthetics of the cancel, stamp, document, or any combination thereof
The type of document the stamp was used on
Ornateness of a document and its design
Signatories to a document
Lack of Scott Catalog attention (some listings have not been updated in decades and the values are meaningless)
Lack of Scott Catalog listing entirely
Plate varieties. There are many more than Scott lists.
Valuation of mint stamps. Personally, I only consider 1st-3rd issue
revenues to be "mint" and thus worthy of a premium if they have original
gum, which are VERY scarce. More than 95% of the supposedly mint early
revenues sold have no gum, and in fact are used (but uncancelled) stamps
that were steamed, sweated, or soaked from documents. If it doesn't have
gum it's not unused. Period.