Scott #20 1ct Type II Used Plate 4 Pos 8L4 Doporto Plating cert
Scott's Specialized Catalog Value - $1,250
Richard Doporto, co-founder of the SCADS website (see below), is one of the premiere experts on the 1ct Franklin of 1851-57. He has the largest contemporary archive of plating positions on the internet, where he has large pictures and detailed descriptions of all those he has archived to date. He uses pictures of the stamps taken through a microscope for his plating and charges a very reasonable fee for plating. Ebay, in their zeal to protect us and their fees, will no longer allow me to link to various philatelic reference sites I had shown here in the past to help you become a more knowledgeable collector, so to get to Richard's site google "Doporto 1ct Franklin archive".
My store has numerous very nice US classic stamps, including some of the rarest, and I add new ones all the time. I try to keep my prices below most of the other sellers on ebay for similar quality stamps, and I accept Best Offers as well. Click here to come on in and visit:
I was honored by the SwedishTiger (Roger Kirby) as "Dealer of the Year" for 2009 and a "Dealer of Integrity" award for all years I've been actively selling. Google "SwedishTiger". The site has large beautiful pictures of every US and UK classic stamp along with tutorials, a number of which I developed, to distinguish the many varieties of US classics as well as a wealth of other information about each stamp.
* For a more accurate assessment of current value based on the total range of grades, see the PSE (Professional Stamp Experts) pricing guide, which is updated quarterly. Their cert grading also considers other factors than just centering, such as shade, impression, eye appeal, the back, perfs, faults, etc., but it will give you a better idea of the range of retail values in the US Classics arena. Google "Professional Stamp Experts" and click on "SMQ" for both number of certs issued at every grade and the values for each grade.
In 2000, a number of concerned collectors and I founded Stamp Collectors Against Dodgy Sellers (SCADS), and our website has tips on how to buy safely online. It's free. Google "SCADS" to go there.
For over 7 years, I spent the better part of my free time trying to clean the fraud off the US Classics stamp categories on ebay, which resulted in ebay finally taking some steps to eliminate the crooks by establishing the Stamps Community Watch committee. The committee has sadly been discontinued by ebay, but I believe the US classics stamp categories are still relatively clean. To read part of the story, published on-line at MSNBC.com, google "Is eBay stamp racket the Net's stickiest scam?"
Key advice - CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware). Check seller feedback before buying from a seller you've not bought from before, and if the listing seems too good to be true, it probably is.