USA Collection - Mint Vs. Used Cutoff

I started a worldwide collection when I was a kid, accumulated maybe 1000 stamps. Now that I have started collecting again in the last year or so, I have focused on USA an El Salvador only. It is pretty easy for El Salvador, it is a cheap country to collect and I am buying one mint when available and 1 used of everything. For the United States it is a different story. I typically don't spend much on stamps maybe $20 here and there. I would like to eventually own 1 of each stamp within reason. Where do you draw the line on your collections? only mint after 1940? or only used? Thanks for the ideas!

Hello WestChi and welcome to the forum.
We sound very similar in our collecting history. I started again a year and a half ago after being away from stamps for about 30 years. Sold my childhood world collection to concentrate on Canada and US stamps (although I find I now have several small side collections).
I collect both used and mint for both countries up to an including 1960. Most after that I'm not really interested in, though never say never. I don't tend to spend a lot either if I can help it. But you can get some great deals on ebay if you shop around carefully (just won a complete mint Liberty set, except the $5 stamp, for under $6).
But again, I find I run across so much other stuff I think is great that I do have a tendency to get somewhat sidetracked in my collections. That's half the fun.
Goodluck.

To strive for a collection of mint US Stamps after 1940 is relatively easy. Most stamps (even mint stamps) are cheap, with only a few exceptions. Of course, if you start getting into the stamps of the late 1990's through the present day, when high face value stamps started to be issued regularly for Priority and Express Mail services, your budget can easily be broken.

The ease in which to collect stamps from this time period, however, must be balanced against the fact that these stamps are relatively inexpensive because they were issued in such vast quantities that the value is not likely to ever increase...at least not anytime in the near future. So if you are looking at acquiring the most stamps for the least amount of money, this is certainly the way to go.

On the other hand, if you have any ideas of long term financial gain with your collection, most experts will tell you to focus on acquiring some of the scarcer stamps that have a track record of increasing in value over time as a better investment of your resources.

I recall it being said in SCF awhile back, that some dealers often look at a US collection mounted in an album and unless there are significant empty spots, most US collections with stamps post-1940's may have a resale value of perhaps $50 or so to a dealer, so it just supports the fact that the value is quite minimal. The same cannot be said about some of the earlier classics, even in used condition, which can often increase in value over time.

As always, the general "rule" of stamp collecting is that there are no rules! Collect what you enjoy (and can afford) and the satisfaction of accumulating your collection and working with the stamps and learning about the history behind them all will be worth so much more than any dollar amount you may gain by selling your collection later on.