On (27 Feb 98) John Williams Rambled On  To All...
 JW>      Harding 613 single mint, small tear only visible from the back.
       Any tears torpedo the value, a tear means it is not MINT grade,
       would be less then good grade in my view.
 JW>      lots more, mainly wanting to sell the Harding.  $15,000 in scott
 JW>       catalogue, will sell considerably less.
       Catalogue value  is not much to go on, supply and demand and
       properly grading is the factor,  if you think a stamp despite a
       tear seen from back is "mint" chances are alot of your gradings
       are also not proper so the 15K catalogue value probably is less.
       My advice is find a reputable collector/dealer who will apprise
       the collection, unless you know how to, you cannot just look up
       the stamps in a cataloge and figure a value,  stamps, especially
       older ones can be off center  reducing the value, have postmarks
       that are so heavy that again it reduces the grade, have hinge
       marks on "mint" that reduces the value,  so you need someone who
       knows stamps to really get a correct idea of value.
       2 cent harding was issued  as a perf 11 flat plate, imperf,  and
       the perf 10  and perf 11 rotary press types.
       Only the perf 11 rotary is worth the most, thats #613
       not to be confused with perf 11 flat plate type which is worth
       little.
       If you really don't know much about stamps your likely to have
       the #610,611, or 612 harding then the RARE #613.
       That is why you need a expert.
       You also would need it be expertized by like the APS
       with a certificate, as there are also forgerys,
       it is too easy for those not understanding stamps to jump to the
       idea they have the rare type when there were other more common
       varietys of the same stamp.
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