Help For Figuring Out How Much US Stamps Are Worth.

Almost Everybody here has this little 64 page book. But for who have never seen it, this is an indispensable basic guide that explains how to grade a stamp to obtain an approximate value based on faults, centering, eye value, etc. This is not meant to be an endorsement, just advice. If it helps just one person, then that's a victory.






-IBFS

And the info is online here...
http://gradingmatters.com/stamp-values.html

Thank you both. Since getting back into my stamps, I stumbled onto this forum and have really gained an education. This is one more piece to learn. I'm still debating with myself hinged or not and cancelled or not on the more expensive stamps that I want to add to my collections. Thanks again!

Yes, I went through this struggle at first too. But it was a short struggle. It ended when I saw prices for MNH stamps. I decided to use faults to my advantage. I look for stamps with faults mostly on the back where you can't see them. There are so many picky things that can be used as a deduction. The main thing is that the stamp looks good to me and anyone else looking at it, when it's sitting in the album (which means I can even accept a stamp with a thin, because nobody is going to be holding it up to the light).

This can be done in my case because I'm never going to re-sell the stamp. When I die, someone else will sell it and get 30% of whatever it's value is regardless.

This is a common struggling point for collectors and it is just the way I go about it, but I hope this helps and offers some insight.

Have fun
-IBFS

All I have to say about this is that you can't really look at stamp collecting as an investment nowadays. The market has become so that the only stamps that are really worth anything are MNH pre-1930's. So if you can dish out the money for those then you're set. After that the US government thought to make a profit by pumping out billions of stamps every two weeks or so. So post 1930's you are left with hunting a rarity in the form of printing errors and oddities and not many of those exist. You'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. But thats just my opinion. As a postmark collector I don't bother with all that centering and grading..I'm more concerned about the legibility of the cancellation and where it came from.

More that twice the number of stamps printed from 1847 to 1988, have been printed from 1988 to the present.

-IBFS

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No need to sound nasty. It is in my will that my collection be appraised.

-IBFS

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on grading. what does "raw" mean? I see that on the price list of the link that kirks provided.

A stamp (or coin) that is described as "raw" means that it does not come with a graded certificate from an independent entity (Philatelic Foundation or Professional Stamp Experts in most cases for stamps). The grade that is given is the opinion of the seller. In other words it's a buyer beware situation.

If the executor knows about stamp collecting he may have it appraised. My cousin's stamp collection was just dropped off at a stamp store and they took what the store gave them. I knew his collection, and still get ill when I think about the fact that I didn't get a chance to get some stamps out of it.

I think to make sure it is appraised, someone should put that in their will, and to ask the appraiser advice on how to sell it. The way they sell stamps nowadays may not be the same as when I croak. With my luck I'll live so long they'll be selling them between planets!


-IBFS

Sorry to bump, but I couldn't agree more with Lord Denning. I don't use any fancy stamp software, but I have a fairly detailed Excel spreadsheet that lists all my stamps for the price I paid, the exact centering it's in, if it's hinged or not, any faults and the current Scott price value. I keep my spreadsheet up to date every year as part of my 'yearly' maintenance when a new Scott catalog comes out, and I have a printout of the appropriate section in each corresponding year album front cover.

Granted, my collection isn't nearly as huge as some of the other members where having to update spreadsheets may be a hassle, but it works for me and even though I don't plan on dying anytime soon, I know that my heirs will have very detailed information on prices paid vs value and at least have some educated numbers in their head if they do decide to sell.




And yes if you do collect modern stamps, then what I wrote need not apply due to the very simple truth that modern stamps are not collected for any sort of future profit, but more for the love of the design of the stamp which most heirs don't understand to begin with.

CF

I couldn't agree more with IntegraC.


-IBFS

There is a free pdf 49 pg illistrated guide(booklet) explaining PSE(Professional Stamp) Experts's grading and expertizing at
http://www.psestamp.com/pdf/2009_Gr...e_092009.pdf