Found A Collection. Looks Cool!

My wife and I were cleaning out the storage area and we came across a stamp collection. It had origionally belonged to her grandmother, and then my wife as a child. She quickly lost interest and it has been untouched for 40 years. There is a briefcase full. I don't know where to begin sorting it out. There are envelopes from all over the world with the stamps still attached. Do I take them off? Where do I begin. It really looks interesting. Thanks for any and all advice.

Although the vase majority of the envelopes, called covers, will not hold any real value some might. So my first piece of advice is to leave all stamps on the covers until you can be certain you don't have any first day covers or special flight covers or anything like that.

I would probably start by separating your stamps and covers into country groups. Then I would go to the library or a friend to find a Scott's catalog to identify the stamps. This will give you a quick idea if you have anything of great value or not.

Knowing the catalog number, I would then start looking for more detailed information on the Internet or on this site. I know t360, the other folks and I will be glad to help you.

Congratulations on your find. I hope you have fun with the investigative part of the process and fall in love with collecting like the rest of the folks here!

Hi Tug guy

I know about anyone elso but if I have enveloped that have nice cancellations or a bit of history about them I tend to leave the stamps on them. Otherwise if it is only the stamps you want cut around the stamps leaving a bit of an edge and soak them in luke warm water. The amount of time depends on the stamp. There are lots of sites that explain in detail how to do this. Sorting depends on you. I sort by country first and then by year. HOpes this helps Dianne

Hello tug guy!

What an exciting find!

I agree that it would be best to leave all stamp on the covers until you know what they are.

It would be our pleasure to help you identify any stamps or covers that you post pictures of!

Hi Tug Guy,

I am currently sorting out a briefcase full of stamps for a friend of mine. He inherited it from a friend of his Mother.
It is a time consuming exercise, but the chance of finding something valuable keeps you interested. I have filled 9 albums and am now going through and cataloging and pricing them.

Have fun with it, take your time.

If you can't identify any stamps, post them here (like I do) and hopefully we can help.

Steve