New Member With Questions

In the 50s my father worked for the post office and would bring home plate blocks and encouraged me to collect. Through high school I continued to collect blocks and both used and mint singles. With college and marriage and children and grand children collecting was put on the back burner (in storage) but never forgotten.

A few weeks ago at an estate sale I came across a large cardboard box with the words "stamps" and "$50" scrawled on the side. I looked inside and saw several plate block collector booklets filled with plate blocks. I dug a little deeper and found several mint sheet collector books filled with mint sheets. I was afraid to dig any deeper out of fear of showing too much delight and causing the dealer of the estate sale to inspect more closely and reconsider the price. I calmly took the box to the check out, made the purchase and hurried home.

Inside I found several hundred mint sheets and several hundred mint plate blocks in respective books. There were also many partial mint sheets and disconnected strips and blocks. I am still not finished going through the entire collection though I have inspected thoroughly enough not to expect any more surprises. I haven't tallied everything yet but there are at least 3 to 4 thousand dollars of face value mint postage.

This is all US postage from about the late 40s through the mid 80s. There are also several hundred sheets of mint UN stamps from the same era in both the lower (4 cent mostly) and higher (8cent mostly) denominations with several First Days of each of these issues.

So I guess I am a stamp collector again.

That is the positive side of this story but the slightly-less-than perfect ending is that there were several dozen mint sheets and plate blocks that were stuck, either together on on the waxed sheeting of the collector books. In reading through this forum I have found several ideas such as freezing or steaming or sweat boxing these 'stuck' stamps but I am not pleased with any of the outcomes. At what point does one consider the collectible loss and just use the stamps for interesting postage by using glue since their adhesive is gone?

Does anyone recommend or use freezer zip lock bags for long term storage of mint sheets and plate blocks, one per baggie, rather than the waxed paper collector books. I am a little gun shy of these old 'tried and true' methods of storing stamps since I found so much waste in the treasure trove.

I do not anticipate in my life time uncovering another find like this one but I am now a stead fast attendee of estate sales where I will be looking for an old cardboard box with 'stamps' scratched on the side.

I bet you are!

Welcome to SCF. I don't have an answer for your "freezer question" but there are others her much more knowledgeable than I.

I can tell you that most of us here had a similar experience -- collected as a youngster, lost interest for years, then returned to collecting as an adult. And I can also tell you (from personal experience), it's a lot more fun as an adult for two main reasons: no matter how limited, adults have more disposable income than children; the Internet has made it much easier to buy, sell, and exchange stamps and information with other collectors.


KirkS

Welcome to the forum, you might check this link
http://www.ehow.com/how_2295199_mak...eat-box.html

Welcome to SCF and congratulations on your find!

Steve

Most collectors would agree that post WWII stamps are fairly common and would use any duplicates for postage (glue stick or otherwise). I occassionally will use them for pictorial postmarks & FDC's I request if the stamp fits the topic. I also use them on mail to other collectors. You could always build a sweat box to try separating the stamps.

Enjoy. We have the most interesting people here.

Welcome thecatinthehat

What a wonderful find. Stuff like that never happens to me.

Dianne

At what point does one consider the collectible loss and just use the stamps for interesting postage

What point? Roughly 1940. :-D

I know it's not what you meant, but the vast majority of any U.S. stamps issued within the lifetimes of anyone here would sell as discount postage -- and that's with full gum. It doesn't mean they're not attractive or fun -- but in terms of finances, you get the most value by using them to mail things.

Welcome thecatinthehat!
I love your story - I admired your ability to stay calm... poker-like skills of self-containment!
What a great way back into the hobby. Enjoy SCF too, share your pics.

Great find Catinthehat.....i am still looking for THE BIG ONE..it amazes me as a stamp collector how little patience most folks have with "stamps" ..a fellow came into our club last month with a huge bunch of sheets..possibly similar to yours and he wanted a thousand dollars...for the whole lot....i would have purchased a sheet or two if he were selling singely...but it would take me several lifetimes to ever use the postage he had...anyway I still have a 50 dollar bill or so tucked away for when my big find comes along !!

Someday my kids will have a lot of boxes and totes marked stamps...Hee Hee !!

Welcome thecatinthehat! There was more in the hat than just the cat that time! Glad you found us. You sound like you have that long lasting passion that is a collectors best friend.

Any thoughts or experiences on using the plastic freezer bags (heavier and stronger than regular 'storage' sandwich bags) for storing plate blocks or mint sheets. I thought of this on my own after finding several dozen blocks and sheets stuck together in the regular 'stamp supplies' type of waxed paper page booklets. They were obviously exposed to dangerously high humidity and the waxed paper did nothing to protect them. I just received a sample of 'approvals' from a stamp company and lo and behold they came in miniature plastic zip-lock type bags.

Thoughts, please?

The ziploc bags from the stamp company could be a ploy by them to save money, not really a recommendation on storage means.

I myself would not store stamps in ziploc bags in ordinary conditions as I would be worried of trapping moisture within the bag and thus over-exposing the enclosed stamps to it.

But putting them in the freezer is another question. There would be some moisture trapped in the bag no matter what you did so when frozen, especially over a long term, the chance of freezer burn or crystallization of the moisture and perhaps the stamps also, would increase. The stamps may become so brittle they could shatter or fracture. I do worry too much at times though.

Interesting experiment it would be. Different bags over differing lengths of time with differing stamps.

It sometimes happens! A friend knew I collected stamps for a mission and saw some stamps and covers in a yard sale and bought them. She went back the next day and they said, "Since it's for a mission, here are some more I found" and gave them to her. I saw I nice German cover with a lot of Berlin overprints on the stamps and figured I could sell it for a couple of dollars, but thankfully I checked the catalog and found it was a first day cover of the Berlin overprints with all the stamps! The mission got over $2000 for that gift after it was authenticated.
lopemopay

On a few dozen of the mint plate blocks and sheets (mentioned in my first post) on the glue side there are slight ink transfers (reverse images) from the front of blocks or sheets with which they had previously been in contact. How much does this affect the value? These transferred images are not visible from the front of the specimen.
Also would someone please define the term philatelic "thin". How badly does it affect value if it is not visible from the front?