New Additions To Precancel Collection Pay Too Much?

Hello All,

I am just now starting to get into collecting US precancels and just got these in the mail. I know next to nothing so far on precancels even-though I have done a little reading online, and soon will be getting some catalogues to really get going. I was wondering if I paid too much for these particular items; they seem to been in really good condition (most of them) and regardless of what I paid I really like them.

Probably nothing here of note considering the price and what I have seen some cities go for on ebay, but will be having fun going through them in the coming days and weeks. These are not hinged to the paper background and in no particular order as I just laid them out on the scanner bed to get them scanned.

By the way I paid six dollars for these: may be a bit much , but again worth the effort in starting the learning curve.

Thanks for viewing.

If this buy gets you started with precancels, I would say its well worth it!
Recommendation: ebay is a great resource to learn what things sell for - used the "advanced" search with "completed items" option.

Agreed. You have 106 stamps there, so for less than 6 cents a stamp, you have a nice assortment of precancels.

Enjoy!

Thank you both for the comments. What I really like is that there are many of the same stamp but with different cities and states. Now I need that information to get started organizing and adding more to these. I had others before these but this lot probably doubled what I had.

Not only will you find the same stamp with different cities and states, but you'll find the same stamp with DIFFERENT PRECANCEL IMPRINTS from the the SAME cities and states. That's why there's literally thousands upon thousands of varieties.

If you haven't found it already, I would suggest you look at these "free" album pages offered by the Precancel Stamp Society. While their format lends itself to only one example of each precancel type, it does start to give you the feel for just how many different precancel stamps are out there. It's so overwhelming that most collectors will decide to focus on a specific State or region of the country, as it would be virtually impossible any collector could achieve a complete collection:

http://www.precancels.com/?page_id=195

Hello again wt1 I have that website bookmarked from before..I forgot who mentioned the site to me...it may have been you. I knew there were a lot but I guess I really did not think about the number of stamps when looking at the free download as I noticed there was no way to know the types without the book to get them in the proper place. I looked for a used copy of the book but have yet to find one so I will probably have to order one from the website. There are just so many books there and updates as well I'm not sure where to start.

Thank you again wt1 as always.

sirrupoe,
I can honestly say that collecting precancels is both fun and rewarding. There are many ways to collect precancels. Some collect only bureau precancels and others collect local precancels or what they call Town and Type collections. (One of each type from every town). Some just collect on issue that have precancels on them. I collect the 1922-32 issues. That in its self keeps me oocupied with my collection. Good Luck and have fun!

Thanks for coming by Organian I have been bitten I think. Not sure exactly how I will be collecting them yet, but any and all ways appear to be fun filled hours.

Playing with precancels is fun and relaxing and inexpensive if you do not need a particular stamp...if you think overpaying on a 6 dollar item is something..i would hate to tell you of the boo boos I have made over the years..its how we learn !!

Thanks philb. Yeah I can see myself getting in trouble as well. :) I keep meaning to bid on a few of your items and life keeps getting in the way, but I am sure it is going to happen.

These are big city beureau precancels. They were printed by the thousands. I have trouble understanding why these stamps get listed on e bay as singles and are bid at 5 to 10 cents apeice, then pay $1 to $1.50 to ship . ???

Probably because they are also buying either a lot of other cheapies or more likely a more expensive item. Whenever I buy a cover I also have a quick look at the dealer's cheapies, and if there is anything I fancy I buy it, safe in the knowledge that postage on it is now free since I was going to pay it anyway to get my cover.

sirruspoe, So another person gets bit! I too have been bitten by precancels! I have ordered about 200 so far for my state and city. I also have ordered the T&T and Bureau and Style catalogs from PSS. I downloaded the PSS album pages. This is just the start of an interesting journey that we are both on.Dan