Condition and Centring

Also called grading.

Period: 1840 onward

The largest single value factor in the hobby after identification, and the one beginners consistently underestimate. The same catalogue number in poor and superb condition can differ by a factor of a hundred.

What you are looking at

How well the design sits within the perforations, whether the gum is intact, and whether the paper is sound.

What to check

Centring: how evenly the design sits within the perforations. Graded from poor through fine, very fine, to superb.
Gum on mint stamps: never hinged is worth substantially more than lightly hinged, which is worth more than heavily hinged or regummed.
Faults: thins where paper has been pulled away, creases, tears, pinholes, short or pulled perforations.
Cancellation on used stamps: a light, clear, dated cancel is preferred to a heavy smudge.
Colour: fading from light exposure is permanent and reduces value sharply.

What it is worth

Catalogue prices assume a standard of condition most stamps do not meet. A stamp catalogued at a hundred pounds in fine condition may fetch a fraction of that with a thin or poor centring, and the difference is not negotiable.

Confused with

Regummed stamps

Gum applied later to imitate a mint stamp. Gum that runs over the perforation tips, or looks too even, is a warning. Expertisation settles it.

Questions about this

How do you identify condition and centring?

Centring: how evenly the design sits within the perforations. Graded from poor through fine, very fine, to superb. Gum on mint stamps: never hinged is worth substantially more than lightly hinged, which is worth more than heavily hinged or regummed.