Stamp Book Value

Hello all,

I have this 300 page stamp book from my grandmother and I was wondering how easy is to place a value on it.

Thanks

Welcome loukitsas.

The pages you are showing are stamps from Germany. These in particular can be more challenging to identify. If you are interested in taking the time to identify them I would advise going to your local library to see if they have a stamp catalog which you can borrow to help you with the task. Feel free to post pictures/scans of the stamps you have difficulty in identifying and we will be happy to help.

Your local stamp club is also a resource in determining value.

Hello, thanks for your reply.

Basically there are stamps from all over the world and that is why I think it would be very difficult to place any value on them.

It's a rather old book. I can scan some pages next week to show you some stamps.

The album is one I have not seen before. Stamp albums as such are of little value once they are used (as yours is). It can be a lot of fun to take the time to identify each of the stamps in the album.

Placing a value on stamps is not difficult. There is a listed value for every stamp. The difficulty is in making accurate identification of each of the stamps. Even then, only a small percentage will be difficult to identify.

Some of those German stamps were printed on two different kinds of paper, and the value can vary dramatically depending on which kind of paper was used (the paper varieties are identified by the watermark). A number of stamps can only be identified by measuring the perforations or examining the watermark. Neither of which can be done easily by viewing a photograph of the stamp.

If you are interested in learning more about your stamps, I would advise that you obtain a perforation guage and a means to detect watermarks. Neither of these are particularly expensive.

Very difficult call,
on Tuesday at auction, I went through a similar album
and calculated on what I saw to be $200 -$250
I calculated based on a premium for some nice postmarks,
I withdrew at $300, and it was knocked down at $380
You never really know, because you don't know the
motive of your opponent bidder.

Quite often our auctioneer, after a surprisingly high bid
will comment, "OK what did we all miss" :)
but that's pricing.

Of course your value, by far, lies in the heritage of the
collection, your Grandmother spent probably thousands of hours lovingly
attending that album.
It would be nice for you to carry on.

I just love buying old albums but not for $100s more like $10s. These often contain very common stamps from the period but having said that it is fascinating looking at what someone else has accumulated especially a family member.

too :)
but Anthony, I am finding here in Perth those days are over
perhaps because of our mining boom, others have a large
disposable income.

Some of the ways I guage prices are for Chinese stockbooks
of common issues, say Romania, Spain, Hungary etc.
These were always avoided at auctions, and I'd snap them up
for $10-$20 but not any more, people throughout the room
are bidding on them and $50 is not unreasonable.

I had to pay $50 for a stockbook of Venezuela
(I am chasing the arms issues) and a stockbook of
"Arabic Issues" (read here, ras Al Khaima, Ajman) and others
were knocked down at $38, that is amazing.

I think SCF has some of the bargains nowadays.

Hi Rodney,

I was chasing the arms issues (mint and used) until I decided on Escuelas. My dealer friend bought a nice Venezuela collection that had a lot of the arms. Unfortunately they were stuck down to the album page or had damaged gum so I did not purchase any of them (I am picky on stamps after the 1940's).

If you wish, send an e-mail to Will Castillo ( https://goscf.com/t/14589&SearchTerms=venezuela ) and he can give you the name of a dealer(s) in Caracas, Venezuela who should have arms issues.

Jerry B

Hi Jerry.
that's right neighbourly.
I have the Chinese stockbook of course, from the auction
given 25 stamps to a page x 26= around 600
I have to sort, and mount first.
Not all arms of course, but a few, and all used
as I like them.
Here I am complaining about high prices,
and I have bought 600 for $50
That's not so bad after all, with a stock book thrown in.
that's below 10c a stamp.
I must stop grumbling.

G'Day Rodney

Since I specialize I don't see many auctions, or offers, for collections that contain anything I can really use. One reason I envy Worldwide collectors, they always find something useful. The country lots I see at auction are either too expensive now that I am retired or one I cannot really use. Fortunately, when my dealer friend buys a collection containing my countries I get first crack at it if it is worthwhile looking at.

Regarding Venezuela arms issues. If you want I can make a table, with SG numbers, showing the quantities printed of the stamps. With that you can get an idea of scarcity and make a better decision as to prices.

Jerry B

If you want to Jerry,
or wait till I give you my missing numbers?
Your call.