Changes in the 2015 Scott catalog

edited October 2014 in Miscellaneous
Although I try staying up-to-date with new editions of the two major catalogs Scott and Michel, I do not regularly check their price listings for changes. This time, however, the rise of #62a from $1250 to $1500 sparked my interest in what else might have happened. In short, regarding the prices: not much. A few stamp evaluations underwent minor adjustments, but all in all, prices remained stable. The table below contains all price changes between the 2014 and 2015 edition of Scott's catalog I was able to spot. Except for #73 only prices for mint stamps changed.

Scott#    2014    2015 price/$  stamp
   2      22.5      25      1860 12c blue
  30      12        15      1885 16c yellow
  30a     15        30      ditto, imperf. pair
  31      29        35      1885 32c deep blue
  31a     30        50      ditto, imperf. pair
  57       2.5       3      1897 2c bister hippo
  58       2         6      1900 2c orange red hippo
  59       2.5       3      1905 2c rose hippo
  60       2.5       3      1897 5c lake elephant
  60a      2.5       3      1897 5c lilac rose elephant
  61       5         6      1900 5c gray blue elephant
  62       3.5       4.25   1905 5c ultra elephant
  62a   1250      1500      ditto, inverted center
  63       3.25      4      1897 50c red brown
  64a     11        20      1897 3c INLAND ten pearls
  73     500/300   550/350  1901 “ORDINARY” on 16c lilac “OS”
 101b     11        13.5    1906 1c imperf. pair
 102b      4.5       5.5    1906 2c imperf. pair
 106a     17        20      1906 20c imperf. pair
 107b     45        50      1906 25c imperf. pair
 109a     17        20      1906 50c imperf. pair
 110a     17        20      1906 75c imperf. pair
 113a     22.5      27      1906 $5 imperf. pair
  J2a     32.5      40      1892 6c on 6c postage due imperf. pair
O155a      7.25     15      1926 2c on 1c fancy red ovpt. “Gents”
O155c      9.5      15      1926 2c on 1c fancy black ovpt. “Gents”
 
More remarkable than the few and for the most part modest price changes are some improvements concerning the general presentation of Liberian stamps. Scott was finally able to replace the images of #215, #221, O116 and O141. As opposed to previous editions the photos now show mint stamps! The picture of #223 was also exchanged for one showing #223a on brownish paper, probably to match the price listing. They need to have a word with the Photoshop department, though – the new images are too dark. Scott also added several pictures of stamps not shown until now: the “1921” overprinted #208 and F28, the 1936 surcharges #248, #250 and #259, the first air mails C2 and C3, the WWI provisionals O91 and O96, the WWII provisional C49, and the 1893 “FIVE CENTS” overprint O13d with straight flags. Unfortunately, this last one received an erroneous legend claiming that the stamp shown is the variety “With Short Flag”. Nevertheless, it looks like the Liberian stamp listing actually underwent some kind of revision. Does this reflect an increased awareness of Liberian stamps?

Comments

  • Manfred

    thanks for this - although I do wonder how these catalogue prices are actually determined. They generally don't seem to have much correlation with prices realised in auction
  • I can't help but thinking that most prices are mainly based on tradition, occasionally adjusted for inflation so that they still look reasonable. I have no other explanation for the huge discrepancy between catalog values and real world prices today.
    Personally, I stopped basing my bids upon catalog values a while ago. They are only interesting in so far as they allow me to predict what other collectors might be will to bid.


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