a question of the right descriotion for the stamp

Hello, first a big thanks to those who have completed the survey. If you have not please do so.. scroll down and you will see the survey form.. easy, and I have no idea who is responding so don't think there is any devious tracking here.. there is not.

Back to quality tonight ,, oh .. yes.. first.. Yes I am going to Fiji tomorrow,,, that was the answer to the question the other day.. about the island.. well done to many of you.. and while you may think it sounds like, wow what a place to visit - and I know it is - I will be working.. all the time.. and flying.. so if you can do the talk I have to give I'll send you the material and you can go for me anyway.. back to this quality issue.

I found this on an auction site. it was not identified as a perfin. surprised me.. and I think it is priced ( US $12) as if it were a regular stamp.. that is, not as a perfin. Now I will be the first to say I have never taken much interest in perfins.. so that is why I am writing.. maybe this is worth a few bob.. maybe not.. as a perfin...... but as a regular stamp I don't think it is worth that much and I think that is what it is priced at ... it WOULD be worth a few bob if it were a regular stamp and if the perforation is correctly described.

OK so what are the details I am referring to. Well the stamp is described at Scott 167b.. that is SG 385a. .....which is a 6d Reddish Purple with a perforation of 14.. not the regular perf I might add. The UK dealer I use as my benchmark is selling this stamp as Average Used at £20 and £37.50 for Fine Used. Now that tells you this is a more difficult stamp to get. Right... So we have three questions here.

1) is a perfin of this stamp highly catalogued
2) is this really a perf 14
3) is the quality any good anyway.

I do not know the answer to the first or second questions, and while, if you are a perfin collector maybe you know the answer to question 1, I doubt most people would know, and secondly you only have the word of the seller that this is perf 14.. Would have been nice to use a regular perf ( I forget details and don't have access to catalogue at the moment) against it to see the perf difference. To sum up because I feel I am rambling here..

A perfin is a perfin because of the perforated letters into the stamp.. and if you don't know that please now recognise it.. the holes making letters in the stamps.. and by the way there are so many letters used which mean something.. I wont go into details. This is not a regular stamp.. it was before it was made a perfin OK.

The quality of this stamp is pretty bad, real heavy postmark, - you all know that know from previous articles I have written, and as I say . whether this really is Perf 14 is open to question. Lets assume it is. One final point.. the seller does say one pulled perf.. you can see this in top right hand corner.. but the seller does not say "clipped perfs" which in my view there are along left hand lower side.. have a look.. I think you will agree...

So when you are looking at buying, look carefuly at the stamp for its quality overall, the full and complete and accurate description, and finally, some benchmark pricing to compare with.
As a regular stamp this is overpriced because of quality, as a perfin I have no idea.. but I think the same applies.

Best wishes.. more from Fiji maybe ... Enjoy our stamps... Michael