I think I got scammed.....

[TheOldHokie]

I took a couple of the stamps to the local Post Office this morning.

Person at the window has been with USPS for years. Told her I bought them online, and heard fakes were a common concern.

Not a detailed forensic investigation, but she looked them over closely and said they're real. She seemed definitive in her assessment.

She also said they're her least favorite US Flag Forever stamps. She thought they're ugly compared to others.

All's well that ends well. Just think of all the money you saved

Dan

 

[DustyRusty]

This morning I was rummaging through Facebook Marketplace, and see a lot of people selling the stamps. I was thinking that if counterfeits were that much of a problem for the USPS, that they would be going after all these sellers. I remember when I had my stamp collection of hundreds of US stamps that were never used, and I decided to see what they were worth, only to realize that I couldn't get close to face value for them. I had full sheets and blocks of 4. I just used them for postage, and some envelopes had a lot of 1 cent stamps plastered in the corner. Back then postage was only about 10 cents, but it took me a long time to use them up. That was more than 50 years ago!

 

[fried1765]

I took a couple of the stamps to the local Post Office this morning.

Person at the window has been with USPS for years. Told her I bought them online, and heard fakes were a common concern.

Not a detailed forensic investigation, but she looked them over closely and said they're real. She seemed definitive in her assessment.

She also said they're her least favorite US Flag Forever stamps. She thought they're ugly compared to others.

Who on OTT really believes that just ANY postal clerk is an expert on counterfeit stamps?

 

[TheOldHokie]

Dan - - that was your original prediction.

It may very well be true to your prediction. They certainly look legit. I'll try to confirm their authenticity.

Instead of saying I'm no expert, I wanted to say I'm no philatelist....

I didn't want to get banned for bad words....

30 years ago, a coworker was dealing with his/our supervisors....in the conversation, he said "that will only exacerbate the situation."

His supervisor hollered "HEY, we don't talk like that here!!!"

Send them out for spectral analyisis and tell them to be on the lookout for bamboo fibers in the paper .

I think this whole thread has gone LoonyTunes which sadly seems to be the norm today.

Dan

 

[RCW]

Well, I was ballsy enough to use two of those stamps on mail this morning.

If the national news leads with a story of a Kubota tractor owner in NYS being arrested for $1.16 worth of mail fraud, you’ll know it didn’t go well…..

 

[Fordtech86]

Well, I was ballsy enough to use two of those stamps on mail this morning.

If the national news leads with a story of a Kubota tractor owner in NYS being arrested for $1.16 worth of mail fraud, you’ll know it didn’t go well…..

If you need a place to hide that tractor before they start seizing your assets just send me a PM

 

[Chanceywd]

I took a couple of the stamps to the local Post Office this morning.

Person at the window has been with USPS for years. Told her I bought them online, and heard fakes were a common concern.

Not a detailed forensic investigation, but she looked them over closely and said they're real. She seemed definitive in her assessment.

She also said they're her least favorite US Flag Forever stamps. She thought they're ugly compared to others.

I agree with her, those were ones when offered to me I would take something different. But my favorite was the bell one.

Bill

 

[Henro]

Well, I was ballsy enough to use two of those stamps on mail this morning.

If the national news leads with a story of a Kubota tractor owner in NYS being arrested for $1.16 worth of mail fraud, you’ll know it didn’t go well…..

Stranger things have happened. Be sure not to mention this thread if things go wrong. Might be detrimental...

My wife is a green card holder. She occasionally over the years put a stamp on an envelope that she did not send. So she took it off and planned on reusing it. Probably no legal issue, but I always threw them away.

Too risky, if it was determined she was using a already used stamp that was removed from an envelope. She could be deported for doing something she actually did not do, since the stamp was never used to begin with, but was on an envelope.

I guess I distrust our system a little...but over the years have read a number of crazy cases where things that should not have happened to begin with, did...and became bad experiences for the innocent parties.

I still think it would be fun if you sent a stamp to the authorities, as dustyrusty suggested, just to see if they are authentic or not.

If you were local to me I'd even provide a legitimate stamp for the envelope!

You probably will not be caught in any case...LOL

 

[RCW]

If you need a place to hide that tractor before they start seizing your assets just send me a PM

I agree with her, those were ones when offered to me I would take something different. But my favorite was the bell one.

Bill

Ford - - appreciate the offer, but Chanceywd AKA Bill is 30 minutes away into my old stompin' grounds....

I could almost get there via dirt roads....

 

[Chanceywd]

Ford - - appreciate the offer, but Chanceywd AKA Bill is 30 minutes away into my old stompin' grounds....

I could almost get there via dirt roads....

Yeah I take in strays! Chanceywd was a German Shorthaired Pointer. I rescued him and he got named Chancey White Dog as he was liver and mostly white and Chancey because he got another chance. So I have the expirience and could do a rescue on something orange!

Bill

 

[fried1765]

Well, I was ballsy enough to use two of those stamps on mail this morning.

If the national news leads with a story of a Kubota tractor owner in NYS being arrested for $1.16 worth of mail fraud, you’ll know it didn’t go well…..

Assuming that the stamp police could get you convicted in a court of law, please tell us the location of your local federal hoosegow.
Some of us might be close enough to pay a visit.

 

[DustyRusty]

I will buy the hack saw blade, and if someone else is willing to bake you a cake, we can send it to you through the mail with stamps that we purchased online at a discount.

 

[Fordtech86]

. She occasionally over the years put a stamp on an envelope that she did not send. So she took it off and planned on reusing it. Probably no legal issue, but I always threw them away.

As I understand the law, stamps are valid as long as they haven’t been post marked…
And there is this…

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Postage-Stamps-The-Basics#aboutpstalstamps

 

[Fordtech86]

RCW, request Angola! I got you brother, I know a few people

edit: scratch Angola, Pollock or Oakdale… still got ya

 

[PoTreeBoy]

RC, I think the angst and lost sleep you've suffered weren't worth the $ you saved .
(and my few friends call me cheap). But it has been entertaining.

 

[RCW]

2+ years later, I needed postage stamps.

I bought them at the US Post Office!!!!!

I was never so friggin happy to pay for a roll of stamps….

FREEDOM.

Prisoner #BR549
Leavenworth
867-five-three- oh- nine (ask for Jenny)

 

[DustyRusty]

Good to know that you are where you belong, you dirty criminal!

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I'm pretty sure the people in the official USPIS video are real because they look and sound fake.
Plus the video looks real because it conveys almost no useful information, just tells viewers what to do, which is how the U.S. government operates.

First hit on YouTube provided the answer....

This is also intersting:

 

[RCW]

First hit on YouTube provided the answer....

Wow - - those philatelists are an intriguing lot.

I needed popcorn to get through that.

Already looking at UV lights.....

I might engage in philately when I retire.

Can I say that here?!?!??!

 

[RCW]

Deleted - messed up my edit.