Looking For Some Help Valuing A Collection

A friend of mine has quite a few stamps and has asked me for some help in finding out what they might be worth.

I'm sure the people here would enjoy seeing the collection and hopefully a few of you might point me in the right direction for finding out what they are worth.

You can look at them here:

http://vacillate.imgur.com/stamp_collection

The US stamps are common ones, worth minimal value, perhaps a few cents each. Some of the Great Britain and Commonwealth ones are certainly worth looking into. I saw a couple of Aussie. KGV heads and a few others that you would need to check watermarks and plate varieties due to the numerous issues produced. As far as the World wide issues, I'm sure someone will be around shortly and give you some feedback on those.

These stamps have been placed in a photo album with a rubberized backing. This can often damage or stain the stamps. My advice would be to remove them carefully and keep them in a glassine envelope. Even a regular paper envelope would be a better storage option.

yes smauggie, they are in a "magnetic" album... the plastic cover is almost as bad as the backing....

Tell your friend to remove them all from the "album" also don't be surprised when bits of paper form the stamps stay stuck to the page... it will happen.

Before someone thinks about getting a collection appraised they should know if the collector was a "serious collector" that spent serious money on his collection or like I would believe the majority of us who have a modest stamp budget..90 percent of the time I would say "leave it alone" !!

phil are you advocating not removing the stamps from the kill album?

I can't reply on behalf of Phil, but I would certainly say it depends on what the collector wants to do. If the collector wants to stop and simply dispose of the collection, I would say save yourself some money/time and leave it as is for the next collector to deal with. If the collector wants to keep collecting and build-up on the collection, then yes, a few items should probably be removed and the collector should quit making additions to that photo album and start using a philatelic album instead.

ah, I get it now. that's sound advice.
It still makes my skin crawl to see stamps stored that way.

Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, vacillate! I just taught a young girl the meaning of "vacillate" yesterday!

Yes, you are right, we love to look at stamps, any kind in any condition, common or rare! So thanks for the pics!

I took a quick glance and here is my opinion --

1. The collection covers a broad range: mint/used/CTO, many different countries, perfins, precancels, cinderellas. The great majority is common. It looks like material found in $1 grab bags.

2. I did see a few stamps that catalog $1+, but the photo album is a stamp killer and retail value killer. Remember, the true value is in the collecting enjoyment, the history, and the variety. I didn't see any $10+ stamps in there, but I didn't check with a fine tooth comb. There's no way I can check for watermark and perforation varieties -- that's one of the reasons a dealer may charge appraisal fees. So there may still be some $10+ stamps in there, but those stamps often require physical examination/measurement.

3. To be honest, I think most dealers would not even make an offer for the collection for fear of offending you. Again, the main reason is because of the condition of the stamps and the use of the photo album. Sorry to be so blunt.

4. That is not to say the stamps are worthless or that other collectors would not be interested in those stamps. It is a profit issue for the stamp deaer. The are a few precancels (2 horizontal lines with the city/state between) that have additional commercial overprints that some people specialize in. I also see a few perfins. They may not be particularly valuable, but collectors who go after those items usually do not put condition as the #1 criteria.

5. Only one stamp really caught my eye. On page 7, row 1, stamp 2 -- the Great Britain 1c stamp showing Queen Victoria in the lilac color. The stamp is the common 16 corner dot variety. However, the cancel is interesting. I am not a cancel collector. However, most of these type cancels on the Queen Victoria stamps that are that style and in the format LETTER## usually have a small to moderate premium attached. In these special format cancels (not all numbers, but letter followed by numbers), the presence of the letter indicates special usage (such as Great Britain stamps used in overseas colonies). The number is associated with the city or post office of usage. I don't own the proper literature to look it up for you. But this is what I mean by -- the real value is not in the catalog/retail value, but in the history and enjoyment of the stamp!

I hope your friend will continue to build on the collection! And if so, then it would be wise to invest in a philatelic album for future additions and discontinue using the photo album.

Kim

Stampvirgin..nope, I was not referring to a particular item..its just that just about everyone who sees a few stamps seems to think they have found the holy grail ! we the educated know thats not the case !!

We precancel collectors avoid using the term 'worthless', but the precancels in the scan are definitely of the 'sub-cent' valuation.

Regarding k's point about the Victoria cancel, B60 is Bournemouth, so not too exciting, but, had it been, say, B62 (the most-common cancel for Hong Kong), it would have been a bit more exciting.

This just points out how hard it is to give any sort of quick assessment of value, either online or in person. And I agree that a dealer is not going to give this much of a look.

The safest thing to say is that one should assume little monetary value, and then be surprised if it is discovered that some more-significant value exists. The best use for this is for someone to start collecting (again).

Speaking of precancels, my friend David Giles lots stamps for an auction house..they have 3 U.S. precancel collections in the current auction..the largest one with thousands of precancels has a bid of 35 dollars..the other two smaller collections will go for a few dollars apiece...i wish I could see them I would ask him to get them for me !!

The collection has some interesting old stamps from lots of different countries. But even in an ordinary album it would be worth very little. So why don't your friend and/or you use it as the basis for your own collection? If you do this, then it's worth carefully trying to ease the stamps off - but some will get damaged. However, they could look great in a conventional album of some sort (for me, I'd always display them on a black backing as I think it looks much nicer, but that's my personal taste). Who built up the collection?

Thanks Collin!

k

Thank you everyone for the information and suggestions. Sorry it took me awhile to get back to the thread. I'll let him know what you all said, especially about the problematic storage method.

I really didn't know what kind of response I'd get. This is a great community.