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Columbian Expo Set

wiredstamps.com
Adventurer

I’ve been away from stamp collecting for a while and was recently thinking about buying a nice set of Columbians. Where do the expertizing services rank these days between PF, APS, PSE, etc? How have the values of Columbians and say, Trans-Mississippi issues been in the past few years?

 

Thanks,

Rick

Message 1 of 8
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Columbian Expo Set

What condition?

 

Mint or used?

 

If used, cancelled within 5 years of date of issued?

 

 

Message 2 of 8
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Columbian Expo Set

MNH/OG, well centered, with certs on key values.

Message 3 of 8
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Columbian Expo Set

PSE, PF and APS pretty much in that order, except for Columbians you're only getting a cert to verify no hanky panky done to make condition better than it is. If you're going for MNH that's important, if just unused a lot less so. Prices have been real stable for at least the last 10-20 years, so not a good investment when compared to more traditional like stocks or bonds. I'd expect that to continue for the foreseeable future since the hobby is shrinking slowly. PSE does grading as well as certs and the highest graded examples do have a strong premium. It tough to find an ungraded stamps that will grade higher than 80 or so without it already having a PSE grade, just due to the premium on the higher grades.

I think if I were thinking of buying as an investment rather than to build my collection I'd go for something that's more of a rarity than those, maybe a really well centered set of the 1869 pictorials, the 1860 90 cent, #1 & #2 or some of the postmaster provisionals. You missed out on the recent Kelleher auctions that had Bill Lang's collection, though there may be some more to come.

Message 4 of 8
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Columbian Expo Set

WHY WOULD YOU ASK ANYONE ON EBAY ABOUT INVESTMENT?

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Columbian Expo Set

I wasn’t asking for investment advice, just the market  for  Columbians and possibly Trans-Miss. 

 

On a separate note .  .  .  . So  PSE  holds more weight than a PF Cert these days? Interesting!

Message 6 of 8
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Columbian Expo Set

PSE  holds more weight than a PF Cert these days? 

 

Only if you're talking about "graded" certs, Rick...PSE is king there. Virtually every one of my customers who want graded certs want PSE-graded certs.  For EVERYTHING else US, PF is the more valued/respected choice.  Disclaimer: I'm an expertizer for PF & APEX.

 

But you can answer the question for yourself. Just browse a major public auction (e.g. Siegel) and note where the big rollers get their stuff certified... You'll barely see any mention of APEX, PSAG, or Crowe.  Not to say any of those are bad choices, but when it comes to the rarities and "difficult to certify" stuff, one organization will stand out among all the others...

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Columbian Expo Set

Thanks, Ken.

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