Thanks Dad For All The Great Memories Sharing This Hobby...

My father introduced me to philately when I was around 6 years old and I was pretty much hooked until my early-30s when financial circumstances forced me to sell my collection. My dad and I bonded most when we were working on our collections, first me helping him write up his collections then later attending philatelic shows (like CAPEX 87 in Toronto) and me helping him with his part-time stamp dealership in the mid-last decade. My dad passed in 2009 and I inherited his collection. For last couple years really had not looked at it...too many memories made it difficult, but over the past couple months or so have begun working on restarting my stamp collection using his inheritance as a base. He formed most of his USA collection back before I was born, so really never knew how extensive his collection was, but even though he sold some items over the years I now realize he's left me a very nice foundation upon which to rebuild my collection. Just thought I'd share a couple scans of the early USA I've inherited. I'm using stock books to organize my new collection (I'm at 1980 now in the organization process BTW, and as soon as I have 50 posts expect some auctions of the bunch of dealer stock of modern and some classical US issues I've inherited.)

Just wanted to share my memories.





(Note, some of the stamps might not be correctly identified by Scott number by me, was going based off his album and notations he left on album pages. Definitely need to get certificates for some of these items in the near future.

A couple more pages...

Holy crap! A "nice foundation" is a gross understatement of the year! Some of that stuff I'll never be able to own.. Beautiful stuff.. Also, I can't wait for an auction from you!

Thank You for sharing. A nice foundation indeed.


Be Carefull !

Sometimes these old collections might have an infestation.

I know when I dusted mine off, I got bite by the Stamp Collecting Bug again. That was a dozen years ago and I'm still infected ! lol

Yeah, I was flabbergasted when I started working on the early stuff and realized just exactly what was still in the USA part of the collection. I had assumed he had sold most of it off over the years since he had been a dealer (albeit part time) for close to two decades. He pretty much kept his early USA collection in the safe deposit box so I really never saw a lot of the material growing up (probably a wise decision on his part). And I was more interested in overseas stamps than USA growing up so never really learned a lot about them. Got a lot to learn about early USA and have found this site very informative.

Kcaramat - I've gone through the stuff that was in albums and he had everything in mounts and page protectors, condition wise these early stamps were in amazing condition. No signs of any problems with storage. I just hope I can be as careful a guardian as he has been. (knock wood, salt over shoulder, cross fingers).

I am using lighthouse stockbooks and trying not to overcrowd the pages so that the beauty of these classics can be enjoyed. Not sure if I like the paper strips with numbers I put in, basically they are there to help me keep track of what is there and what I have left room for, but to me it does kinda detract from the aesthetics.

As I set up each of my grandkids with stock books that is my hopes is that one day they will open them back up and have great memories.
You have some great very valuable pcs in the collection but priceless in the memories. I'm sure if you unload the "stock" and fill in a few holes he will be looking over your shoulder with a big smile.

oh yes nitro I think he most likely will.

a few more pages...the last one is from 1966-1967 showing how I'm organizing the collection past the classic era. Have definitives for the year first then the commemoratives so you see the 1967 Prominent Americans issues.

i envy you not the stamps but the "quality time" spent with your Dad, perhaps I came from a different era !!

actually I think it was my Dad....he was born in '32 but married later in life (I was born in '71 and I'm the older of two kids) than was normal for his generation so while I'm very "Gen-X" my dad was definitely from "the Silent Generation". Was interesting when growing up since most of my friends' parents were Baby-Boomers, watching the differences in parenting styles and how they interacted (or unfortunately often didn't interact) with their children.

I was raised by my grandfather as my father and huge age gap but the older generation having gone through so many hardships can really teach some great lessons of what quality means. I'm sure his not having things is what brought out the collector in me. Unfortunatly his rather large silver coin collection was slowly taken by one of the older siblings to buy smokes until it was gone. Not a far reach to look 20-40 years down the road at what we could possibly be leaving behind for memories.

Welcome to SCF!

You have an outstanding start to your collection. I hope come to enjoy collecting as much as your father as it will serve as a reminder of those things you shared when he was still with you. Feel free to ask questions if you are unsure about anything.

cheers!

Brian

Brian/Rileysian - oh I'm not brand new to philately...was just out of it for a few years, the bug never completely died, just went into hibernation due to other real life interests. Now it's back :) And I've been on here for a few weeks now and can say this site is a wonderful resource for those new to or just returning to the hobby.

Hey, when you auction off those high buck Columbians be sure to let me know.
Seriously, You have inherited a nice collection. When you do go to sell some of the higher value items be careful. There are many avenues for selling and depending what you are selling and the value of it will determine where you should go.
I have sold online, in live auctions, mail sales, direct to dealers, through clubs, magazine ads, through a dealer on consignment and even antique malls or flea markets.
Ask questions here, find a club to join and find a dealer in your area if you can.

oh I dont plan to sell the collection part...at least for not another 20-30 years *knock wood* but lots of dealer stock (nothing really rare though) that I will be selling through in next couple years

WOW - great stuff and welcome to the forum!

Hi and Welcome DJCMH1971 Big Time!

I know very little about the stamps of the USA but can understand a fellow stamp collector.

Thank you so much for sharing the really special part of stamp collecting which is the relationships that come with our hobby.

I was strongly influenced by my Grand Mother and my mother. I found myself sorting huge bags of Australian King George 5th 1914-1938 definitives. All the reds, the famous 1ds, the 11/2ds and the 2ds at the age of 4 onwards. I never got to keep any in the early days but the dealer really liked the way I sorted these stamps. My Mother would spend hours at night after work looking at the best of the stamps I sorted trying to find stamps with value to make ends meet. I am still blessed that I can share these memories with her and we have a good laugh about it all these days. You have brought back some very treasured memories of my Grand Mother. Thank you very much.

Always Happy Stamping. KGV