American Philatelic Society offers new expertizing search function

By Michael Baadke

A new search function on the website of the American Philatelic Society allows anyone to view images and opinions of stamps submitted for expertization.

The APEX [American Philatelic Expertizing Service] Certificate Archive is now online at the APS website.

As of mid-July, the archive offers images and opinions from 2004 to 2009, and from the summer of 2014 to date. A note on the site adds that “records are constantly being added to the data base, so check back regularly for up-dates.”

Visitors to the site can enter an APEX certificate number to search for a single specific item, or they can search by country, narrowing results by catalog name and number, and condition (choosing from used, unused or cover).

Other variables in the search field include an opinion date range and keywords.

Search results are limited to 1,000. A recent search on all United States stamps, for example, returns 1,000 results, even though there are more actual results in the database.

A similar search on all stamps of Denmark returned 48 items, each with an illustration and the findings of the APEX examination.

For additional information about the APEX Certificate Archive, visit the website, or contact APEX Director Mercer Bristow at mercer@stamps.org.

The American Philatelic Expertizing Service offers opinions on the genuineness of philatelic material. Its services are available to all collectors, though APS members receive discounted rates.