COLLECTING HINTS

It goes without saying that condition is all important and the best advice is to always go for the best condition you can to suit your budget. In all periods the main factors that are considered are:

• overall appearance
• condition of the covers
• condition of the stamp/panes
• perforations
• value of the contents
• catalogue price versus market value

The importance of these varies with each category of booklet.

Early Booklets - Edward vii - George vi

Trimmed perforations really do not matter, as long as the panes are clean and in sound condition. Damaged panes or incomplete panes seriously reduce the value of the booklet.

Some of the stamps contained in the booklet can be worth more than the booklet itself. You may have to pay a premium for such a booklet, or you may decide to wait for another to come along which does not have expensive contents.

Try and work out which the rare booklets are. Look around and see which ones are regularly available and which are never offered. For a good condition booklet the value will range from 50% to 150% of catalogue price. You will have to decide for yourself how much you want a particular booklet and decide what to pay accordingly. For the rarer items there is no set price.

Wilding Booklets

Condition is all important. There is no room for a damaged booklet in a collection, it simply doesn't have a market value unless the contents are special. Again perforations generally do not matter, but it is always nice to get a booklet with a good key pane. Some of the stamps is these books can be quite expensive and will increase the price of a basic booklet.

It is fun to look out for booklets with cylinder numbers in. There can be on one or more cylinder panes in the booklet. The number can be on the first or second row and is found in the margin next to the stitching. Cylinder numbers are also found on some of the 2/- panes. For more information on these look up SG specialised catalogue part 3.

Pricing: more and more the specialised dealers are charging near to full catalogue price for this series. They have become very popular in the last few years and good runs of dates are hard to get. You may pick up a few common dates as low as 25% catalogue, but for good runs 60% - 75% is a level to aim for. Be prepared to pay more for the phosphors and for the small group of editions that never seem to turn up.

Stitched Machin Booklets

Condition must be perfect. Again perforations do not matter, but it can be a rewarding challenge to build up a set with perfect perforations on every pane. Specialist dealers can charge up to 3 time the normal price for a booklet with good perforations, but if you can spare the time you can look through dealer's stocks and get them at the price of a normal booklet.

Look out for phosphor errors, missing phosphor, broad bands etc.

Folded Counter Booklets and Machine Vended Booklets

Perforations vary a lot, but most booklets are priced on the basis of full perforations all round. Any with trimmed perforations should be at a discount to normal. The amount of the discount depends on the rarity of the book. The covers should be perfect.

Look out for interesting varieties. Miscuts, missing phosphors, band shifts etc.