The condition of the stamps in your collection is one of the major variables that will determine its value when sold. For beginning collectors, finding out about thins, creases, tears and other defects is part of the learning process. There are, however, other types of "defects" that affect the value of stamps. This article will deal with some of these lesser or defects of a sort.

Straight Edges - Prior to WWII, many US stamps came without selvage on some sides of the sheets. Instead of being perforated on all sides, the panes of stamps (after printing and perforating) were joined by imperforate strips (gutters) to make up the sheets as printed. The sheets were then cut into panes before packaging and being sent out to the PO's. This resulted in the panes of stamps as sold at the PO's having "straight edges" on two sides of each pane. For some aesthetic reason, these straight-edged stamps have traditionally been considered to be less desirable than those with perforations on all four sides. This bias continues to this day, so you should not pay top prices for mint or used copies of US stamps with straight edges. Straight-edge copies of mint stamps should sell for a significant discount from similar copies of the same stamp perforated on all four sides.

Perfins - Perfins are stamps that have had letters, symbols, or numbers perforated into the stamp itself. Perfins were used as an anti-theft device by companies to prevent stamp pilferage by employees. Except to perfin collectors, all perfins (with a few exceptions) are considered by regular stamp collectors to be defects. I have seen dealers sell used US with perfins to unknowing collectors for full price. Stamps with perfins should normally sell for a very steep discount compared to the price for a normal stamp. There are certain rare perfins that can make common stamps quite valuable. To find out about those, one needs to become a perfin collector. For a few countries, stamps with perfins are quite valuable. An example is Hong Kong; but for most countries, perfins are considered defective stamps.

Precancels - For US collectors, a precanceled stamp is a less desirable stamp than a nice canceled stamp. Some precancels are valuable, but you need extra knowledge to know which ones. However, for the average US collector, it is desirable to find a normally canceled stamps to replace precanceled stamps in your collection. Heavy Cancels - The wrong kind of cancel can make a stamp damaged goods. Heavy parcel cancels are far less desirable than is a nice, light, letter cancel. On modern US stamps, red cancels are less desirable because they tend to run when the stamps are soaked. A "good" cancel is often in the eye of the beholder. Over-inked cancels where there is blotching or where the ink solvent has bled through the stamp are considered defects.

Revenue Cancels - Revenue canceled stamps sell for very large discounts from those stamps used properly on mail. Stamps with revenue cancels often sell for a tenth or less of what properly canceled stamps sell for. Don't let anyone con you otherwise. Auction houses and dealers often put stamps with revenue cancels in lots and catalog them as if they had been used on mail. Watch for this. It most often occurs with lots of British Colonies. Lots of the Straits Settlements are hard to find without high value stamps with revenue cancels. Revenue cancels most often are purple on British stamps. If you are going to spend money on British Colonial stamps, you should learn to recognize these types of cancels or you will be putting out good money for junk.

Telegraph Cancels - Telegraph cancels are to be considered defects on stamps. These cancels are very common on the stamps of some countries. They should sell for a fraction of that for a postally-used stamp. On the older stamps of Japan, the presence of a telegraph cancel can drastically reduce the value of a stamp.

Canceled-to-Order (CTO) - Canceled-to-order stamps are worth less than postally-used stamps. Often, however, the values in the catalogs are for these stamps. CTO's are stamps that were canceled by the issuing PO to be sold to collectors. They never had any franking value and are in reality merely labels.

Remainder Cancels - These are stamps that were canceled by the issuing PO to make them invalid for postal use. Often special cancels were used. In the case of early Spain, black bars were used. In the case of North Borneo and Labuan, an identifiable special cancel was used. Remainder cancels on stamps are less valuable than properly canceled stamps, often by very large factors.

Forgeries, Fakes, etc - Even though there are collectors of fake stamps, the average collector should not get gulled into paying money for them. The people who collect forgeries, etc., are a very small group of collectors and many dealers and auction houses try to extrapolate the prices paid by forgery collectors into large prices for these labels. Don't pay anything for them. There is nothing wrong with collecting them when they come into your hands, but they do not belong in your regular collection and you should not pay money for them. They are junk.

Labels, etc - Prices for labels seem to go up every year. Unless you know what you are doing, do not pay anything for labels, cinderellas, and "stamps" from nonexistent lands. If it is not listed in Scotts, don't buy it until you know what you are buying. A lot of this stuff is sold for good money in the topical trade. You won't get anything for it when you sell your collection, so don't pay anything for it now. Collect it if you wish, just don't pay much for it.

Revenue Stamps - Like everything listed above, revenue stamps have some value to some people. The catch is that the "some people" is generally a small number. This means that, with exceptions, there is little or no market for a lot of this stuff. The US revenue area is quite popular in this country. Many US revenues are quite valuable. Foreign revenues are not very popular in this country and there is very little demand. Dealers and auction houses often price foreign revenues using foreign catalogs. While there is demand in those countries for their revenues, there is little demand in this country. If you get sucked into paying the prices dealers want, you will have a devil of a time getting your money out of them when you sell. Revenue stamps belong in revenue collections. If you have them included with your regular stamps, they will (with the exception of the US stuff) be counted as labels and be accorded little value. When you buy a collection, do not count the revenue stamps unless you collect them.