Rules and Regulations

Expertization Rules – Lot Submissions

1. Only postage stamps, postal items, and documents of Hawaii are accepted for expertization by the Hawaiian Philatelic Society Expertization Committee.

2. Each item submitted for examination and certification must be the property of the submitter or an authorized designated alternate such as an auction firm, company, or business.

3. Each item must be accompanied by a separate Hawaiian Philatelic Society approved expertization form. The item should not be physically attached to the form. A pane, sheet, or block is considered to be a single item.

4. Stamps without gum should, if possible, be cleaned of hinges or hinge remnants.

5. Since descriptive items such as fine, very fine, extremely fine are not absolute or definitive, being employed with much in variation by philatelists, no statement of the condition of an intern in these terms will be given by the Committee.

6. Requests for determining the market value of an item will not be accepted.

7. The opinion of the Committee on the genuineness of an item cannot be guaranteed and is to be regarded only as the experts opinion.

8. The committee may, as its discretion, decline to give an opinion on material submitted to it for examination. In this event the fee for expertization will be returned to the original submitter.

9. Though every reasonable care will be taken of items submitted for expertization, they are accepted only on condition that neither the committee nor the Hawaiian Philatelic Society is in any way liable for loss or damage due to any cause except clearly demonstrable gross negligence.

10. Since the Committee does not and cannot provide coverage, the owner must provide the insurance coverage.

11. Material will be returned to the owner as soon as possible after the final assessment and examination has been concluded, but in general, a period of 30 to 60 days should be allowed after the date of receipt.

12. The Hawaiian Philatelic Society and the Committee have the right to make changes in the Rules and regulations, if they deem it necessary.

13. Effective January 1, 2019 the fee for a certificate of opinion (expertization) is $30.00 per item for non-members and $24.00 per item for members. A check for the appropriate amount must accompany all submissions (see Section 15 for the mailing address).

14. All material must be sent to the address listed, in rule #16 using either registered, insured, or certified mail accompanied by a domestic return receipt (PS Form 3811). A large self addressed stamped envelope (9/12 x 4 inches) or larger, must accompany each item (or group of items) sent to the committee for expertization. This envelope will be used for returning the owner’s materla along with the Committee’s certificate of opinion. This envelope must have sufficient postage to cover both mailing and either registered, insured, or certified service along with a domestic return receipt (PS Form 3811). No insurance against loss in the mail will be provided by the Committee or the Hawaiian Philatelic Society.

15. Active member of the Hawaiian Philatelic Society are entitled to a 20% discount from the published regular fees for types of items submitted.

Any material submitted for expertization must be sent to:
Expertization Committee
Hawaiian Philatelic Society
P.O. Box 10115
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816-0115

Additional information concerning the Expertization Committee may be obtained by writing to the Society and indicating the nature of the request. This includes requests for the expertization forms, for which there must be one form per item to be submitted as stated in rule #3. Members not residing in the United States or its Possessions need to contact the Society to determine the means for submitting items to the Committee for expertization.