Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
has never been expertised as yet, but the pair appears to be in good shape and f/VF to VF. My problem is that I have no clue how to valuate the cover. I know that 300b guide line pairs for this stamp is exceedingly rare, especially on cover. The cover itself has historical value because of who addressed it and when he addressed it as Vice President. Add those two together and I come up with a big question mark about it’s value. Should I decide to sell it who would be the best dealer/auction house to contact who would be most knowledgeable about rare stamps on historic covers? Any and all information would be most appreciated. I found the cover in a box of philatelic material that I bought in Indianapolis in 1985, but only recently realized that the stamps were a guide line pair. In 1985 I didn’t know what a guide line pair was.
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I'm the resident Series of 1902 Ben Franklin guy so I'll tell you what I know / believe...
Looking at your cover I believe it is a 300B pair because of the guide line. I generally write off a vertical pair with a straight edge as 300 since there are two straight edges on every sheet of 100. The guideline on a full sheet of 400 of Scott 300 should be the cut lines so there shouldn't be any guideline pairs of 300, the sheet stamp.
Otherwise, to verify 300b on cover, I look for a straight edge on either side of the pair, or best is the bottom pair with straight edges on the bottom as well. And these need to be dated after March 7, 1906.. the recognized first day for the panes. I've seen covers dated 1905 for sale..
The other way to verify 300 VS 300b is the watermark is vertical on one, and horizontal on the other. Same sheet of paper, the plate orientation is different to fit 30 booklet panes with the top selvage on each. It's tough to verify 300b without putting it in watermark fluid.
On every sheet of 30 panes, 10 of them (33%) have the guidelines on them. I've highlighted that in red on the image above. In fact of the 300b full panes for sale on eBay right now, several of them have the guideline with no special mention. So a guideline pair isn't all that special.
There are a lot of 300b pairs on cover on eBay right now. Some of them priced into the hundreds of dollars. There also have been pairs on cover in the $10 range. Most of the ones I have in my collection I found in dealers dollar boxes because I knew enough to look for them. I haven't seen any actual sales of pairs on cover for high dollars.
What I'd focus on is the provenance of the two parties attached to the cover. That could be a score for collectors of the history, especially if you can authenticate the Vice Presidential handwriting. I don't know anything about the value of such a cover.
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Thank you so much for the information. I appreciate all of the work you put into this!
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05:35:34pm
I own an historic cover with a 300b guide line pair tied to it with wavy lines. The cover is hand addressed by Charles Warren Fairbanks, former Vice President of the United States under Teddy Roosevelt, to his son, Richard Fairbanks in Indianapolis, IN, postmarked 5/9/1908. Fairbanks, Alaska is named after him. The cover has never been expertised as yet, but the pair appears to be in good shape and f/VF to VF. My problem is that I have no clue how to valuate the cover. I know that 300b guide line pairs for this stamp is exceedingly rare, especially on cover. The cover itself has historical value because of who addressed it and when he addressed it as Vice President. Add those two together and I come up with a big question mark about it’s value. Should I decide to sell it who would be the best dealer/auction house to contact who would be most knowledgeable about rare stamps on historic covers? Any and all information would be most appreciated. I found the cover in a box of philatelic material that I bought in Indianapolis in 1985, but only recently realized that the stamps were a guide line pair. In 1985 I didn’t know what a guide line pair was.
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re: 300b guide line pair on historic cover
I'm the resident Series of 1902 Ben Franklin guy so I'll tell you what I know / believe...
Looking at your cover I believe it is a 300B pair because of the guide line. I generally write off a vertical pair with a straight edge as 300 since there are two straight edges on every sheet of 100. The guideline on a full sheet of 400 of Scott 300 should be the cut lines so there shouldn't be any guideline pairs of 300, the sheet stamp.
Otherwise, to verify 300b on cover, I look for a straight edge on either side of the pair, or best is the bottom pair with straight edges on the bottom as well. And these need to be dated after March 7, 1906.. the recognized first day for the panes. I've seen covers dated 1905 for sale..
The other way to verify 300 VS 300b is the watermark is vertical on one, and horizontal on the other. Same sheet of paper, the plate orientation is different to fit 30 booklet panes with the top selvage on each. It's tough to verify 300b without putting it in watermark fluid.
On every sheet of 30 panes, 10 of them (33%) have the guidelines on them. I've highlighted that in red on the image above. In fact of the 300b full panes for sale on eBay right now, several of them have the guideline with no special mention. So a guideline pair isn't all that special.
There are a lot of 300b pairs on cover on eBay right now. Some of them priced into the hundreds of dollars. There also have been pairs on cover in the $10 range. Most of the ones I have in my collection I found in dealers dollar boxes because I knew enough to look for them. I haven't seen any actual sales of pairs on cover for high dollars.
What I'd focus on is the provenance of the two parties attached to the cover. That could be a score for collectors of the history, especially if you can authenticate the Vice Presidential handwriting. I don't know anything about the value of such a cover.
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12:06:54pm
re: 300b guide line pair on historic cover
Thank you so much for the information. I appreciate all of the work you put into this!
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