Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

I have purchased a CTO of Sydney Bridge as a part of my Australia collection 30 years back at approx. 200 US $.

The scan is as below





I am puzzled by recent auctions at ebay for the same item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item3cc2c3e798&item=260965656472



Above item was sold for 296 US $ whereas other similar items are sold for 125 to 206 US$.

I am wondering what my item is worth?

Around what you paid, and soak that horrid gum off NOW!

It is rotting your stamp. BOILING hot water from a kettle.

If you bought in 1982 you bought at the absolute height of the "Stamp Boom" and many things from that era are 10% now, what they were then, so you got very lucky as Bridges did not drop too badly in price.

I listed this sheet this week for $75 - buyer paid $750 for it when you bought your Bridge -

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=36077

It takes the two right people bidding to get a decent result.

Starling's Bridge was very nicely centred with full original perfs and he is respected in the eBay community for selling nice quality GENUINE material.

On the othe hand a similar stamp sold by someone who is not thought of so well will not make anywhere near that price. I suspect he bought it himself.

_________________
We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

Just looked at a copy of "the Australasian stamp Catalogue " 1981 "In full color"! (the cover proclaimed)

As was said: Sydney Harbor Bridge - 5/- Green. mint $1,100 used $500.

Best to you,
pat

_________________
"I don't have a lot - But I like what I got"

Thank you for the suggestions and valuation.My only consolation is that INR was Rs. 10 er dollar whereas now it is Rs. 50 per dollar.So in rupee term it has appreciated five times.But had I bought Gandhi 10 Rs, mint (might have got 3 copies) it would have appreciated to 1500 $ now.
Thanks again.
opkedia

How do you rate my copy as compared to Starling in term of centering and perforation.
Thanks.
opkedia

Your centring is better, the perfs about the same.
But the image you quoted above is not Starlings stamp.

PS - Prices will go from; Mint never hinged (perhaps overvalued)- Mint hinged - Postally used (undervalued in fine condition),usually a parcel cancel, sometimes a CDS - finally CTO (probably the most common).

_________________
Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

Picking a sale price for something on Ebay is like trying to pick the winner of the 5th at Camben races. ALL depends on how many are watching & bidding on the item, what time it sells for, what day the item ends on etc etc etc.

Fine material often goes for peanuts while some absolute garbage goes for hundreds, Ebay is not a good place to try and find a 'medium' price for something.

D.

_________________
Visit my Website - http://WWW.DJMSTAMPS.COM for Australia & World Stamps, Collections and Accessories

Agree 100%.

Some of the worst eBay lots in my opinion sell for way more than there true value, whilst any decent material often sells at well under actual market price.

1000's of eBayers all looking for a screaming 'bargain' is what drives prices of garbage so high.

As I am going by memory, and since eBay lotsd disappear after about 90 days, this is only heresay. But it seems to me that the CTO 5/- Bridge went through a phase a couple of years ago, where copies were selling for $270 - $290 on a regular basis. Now the "norm" (sorry) seems to be around $200 - $230.

For the time being, I think the market has peaked and will be flat for some time to come. It is, after all, pretty common. You can't go through the current listings without seeing at least 2-3, and often more.

Norm

_________________
Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

And for some reason, a lot of collectors assume 5/- Bridges are "rare" when the truth is, they aren't rare but they ARE highly sought after.

Because online, every week, you see several copies for sale, if you miss out on one - it doesn't usually matter, you can always buy one later on.

Some modern issues you only see a few of every year for sale online.

How many complete FU complete sets of 107 different 2006 Commonwealth Games do you see for sale on eBay? How many $2.40 Potato Point? How many complete Faces of Australia commercially used sets? How many $2.20 Abaoriginal Art? .. I could go on, but the answer to all of the above is 'very few'.

There is of course a higher demand for 5/- Bridges than modern issues, however in 1932 I doubt many cared for modern issues... Hence the prices that material sells for now.

Quite true. CTO 5/- Bridges are the same as having a couple of $100.00 notes in your wallet. Let's say I had a cashflow problem and needed $200.00 tomorrow, and knew I would have $400.00 three days from now. I could put one up on Stampboards right now and probably sell it within an hour, then rebuy one for not a whole lot more any time I wished.

Norm

_________________
Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Agree 100% with you Norm, they can pretty much be used a "currency" in a way I guess... One collector said on Stampboards years ago he believes this issue is massively over rated which may well be true, however it is a very popular stamp, and in future years the price will only go one way - up.

Is it an acidic gum Glen, like the stuff on the German Ostropa sheet?

_________________
With kind regards, Jim

The gum on the 5/- was a sort of paste almost, applied to what is little better than blotting paper. When they go bad they really go bad. A CTO bridge with poor gum will get less than one with no gum. Pristine gum is hard to find and attracts a premium.

_________________
Peter
Hawthorn - AFL Premiers 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008.

Jim - not that bad luckily, (that was Cyanide used in those I think?) but Bridge was crackly hand applied gum Arabic, applied onto essentially coarse blotting paper, as Peter mentions.

How any experienced collector could allow a high cat USED stamp looking like this to remain in their collection sure beats me.

That gum is a disaster. As the gum cracks and contracts, it splits the paper - elementary physics. Many older mint stamps are literally now in pieces due to this. Hence the Swiss Postal Museum washes off all gum on all older issues.

Offer me this stamp below, and offer me another with no gum and a clean flat back, and I'll pay a GREAT deal less for the heavily browned one, as no-one (sane) will buy it off me. Simple as that.

Glen

Opkedia52,

I was very pleased with the $296 I got for that 5/- Bridge you mention in the first post (well more like $260 after Ebay and PayPal took their cuts). It was a nice stamp, but I would usually expect about $220 maximum for the best quality ones. Richard Juzwin has these listed for $295 each. And I'm talking Australian dollars, not the now sinking US$!

I would call yours 'nice' as well, centering good, perfs. good. The gum is pretty shocking as has been mentioned.

You live in Indore, India and according to Wikipedia you enjoy a humid, sub-tropical climate. A pretty bad climate for gum unfortunately Washing the gum off will improve this stamp and also improve its longevity. The pigment used for this stamp is very robust and it will tolerate a warm soapy bath and a few rinses.

As for what price you personally could get for it If you listed it up for $200 or $220 on Ebay you would eventually get a buyer.


Scott

Hi,
Thanks everyone for taking interest in my post and for the valuable advice to wash the gum for increasing the longevity of the stamps.I shall do this first thing on sunday.
Thanks again.
opkedia