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Expertization Service
EXPERTIZING
& FEES
The Greene Foundation has provided the pre-eminent expertization service for British North America philatelic material since 1976. During this time it has issued over 18,800 certificates of genuineness and over 4,180 certificates identifying lack of genuineness. It is a member of the Association of International Philatelic Experts (A.I.E.P.), the international body of experts all over the world.
Items can be submitted to the Foundation by completing a submission form, enclosing the appropriate fee, and mailing the item to the Foundation at the address shown on the submission form. The fees are shown on the form. You may download the submission form in PDF format as indicated below. It will be automatically downloaded to your hard drive where you can open it and print as many copies as you wish.
PLEASE NOTE: When mailing items for expertization...
Recently there have been a few instances where items coming in from the United States and overseas have been charged GST (Goods & Services Tax) by the Canada Border Services Agency.
We recommend describing material sent as, "Items sent for expertization only, and to be exported back to U.S.A. (Australia, U.K., etc.) No commercial value until expertized."
IMPORTANT:
PLEASE be sure to use the NEW Submission Forms available for download here, and to use the PROPER MAILING ADDRESS when submitting items for expertization!
DO NOT USE the OLD P.O. Box 100, First Canadian Place address, as it has not been in use for several YEARS now! Items sent to that address could be lost!
Use only: P.O. Box 204, Station Q, Toronto, Ontario M4T 2M1, Canada
DOWNLOAD the Expertization Submission Form in PDF format HERE. (155KB)
Please use the new submission form shown here on the website effective from January 1, 2009. Please note that the fees have been increased but the structure has remained the same. This is the first fee increase since the early 1990’s. Regarding the cost of return postage and packaging the Foundation will continue to absorb this where only 1 or 2 items are submitted, but a $10.00 fee is requested with submissions including 3 or more items. Catalogue values can be determined using prices for “fine” condition and with no extras added for mint, never hinged stamps. Where items are not catalogued in Scott/Unitrade the fee will be $40 for each item (including stampless covers).
Please use a separate form for each item – it will be apparent from the new form that it also serves as the worksheet for Committee members. Complete the top half of the form, more specifically the boxes entitled Submitter’s Statement, Item Submitted and Opinion Requested.
EXPERT CERTIFICATES
Effective March 1, 2011, our "False" certificates used for items that are not genuine or are repaired have a different appearance.
The original supply of these certificates, which were pale pink on a security paper, has been exhausted after some 30 years. The new certificates are printed on white paper with a pale pink security background. Also, the Foundation logo has been added.
The photo of the submitted item will be fastened to the certificate and the Foundation seal impressed on it in the same manner as previously.
Effective SOON: Change to Greene Certificates:
We have almost exhausted our supply of 20,000 original Green Certificates and will soon begin issuing new ones.
The numbering will begin at 20,001 and will look like the sample below.
We want you to be aware of this fact, so as not to raise suspicions when you start seeing the new ones.
Terms & Conditions
While reasonable care will be taken of any item submitted to the Foundation neither the Foundation nor any director, officer, employee, agent or consultant will be liable for any physical or financial loss or damage suffered (whether as the result of negligence or otherwise) with respect to any item submitted to the Foundation nor as the result of any opinion which may be expressed by the Foundation or any director, officer, employee, agent or consultant as to any items submitted to the Foundation.
Consent is hereby given to the Foundation to consult any person or persons with respect to the item hereby submitted to the Foundation. In addition consent is hereby given to the Foundation to use commonly accepted methods of treating the item for the purpose of arriving at a conclusion with respect to its condition, watermark or other characteristics.
In making its determination, the Foundation will endeavour to describe any and all flaws not visible in the photograph, such as thins, repairs, stains, removed cancels, etc.
Any person submitting any item to the Foundation is deemed to have accepted these conditions.
The Expert Committee meets every four weeks to review items. In addition to the members on the committee the Foundation uses a variety of outside experts for assistance in specific specialized areas. In February of 2012, the Foundation replaced our ageing CrimeScope CS-16 forensic light source machine with a state-of-the-art Foster & Freeman Video Spectral Comparator, the top of the line VSC6000/HS. This enables the committee to identify items suspected of having cleaned cancellations, altered or enhanced postmarks, counterfeit overprints, repairs and sealed tears, and removed or altered colours by subjecting the material to an extremely wide range of wavelengths of ultraviolet, infrared and filtered visible light.
(Our retired CrimeScope CS-16)
The Foster & Freeman VSC6000 Video Spectral Comparator
The scope of the expertization service is confined to philatelic material of British North America, meaning Canada and the various provinces that issued stamps.
When referring to our certificates please refer to them as being issued by The Greene Foundation, rather than by V. G. Greene.
