New To Group

Hello ,

new here to this group.. I surfed here to find most of the info on some of the stamps that I have had for years , personally I do not collect stamps but they where a gift to me with other belongings.. and thus here I am .. I want to sell them but honestly I have no idea what they are... I did order books before but the time it had took or takes to look up things that I do not know what I am looking for could take a life time..

I also have post cards with stamps on them as well. they look like a very nice collection.. but again I do not know what they are or if some are worth money or what..and this is where I ended up.. Hopefully some of you may want to help identify some of them.. any help would be greatly appreciated...

thank you.. Sheila here...

Hello Sheila and welcome to the forum!

Evaluating a collection yourself is going to be a very time consuming process. Each and every stamp issue has a unique monetary value, so in short, you will need to identify every stamp and then use a catalogue to look up the value. The process quickly compounds as the value of any particular stamp depends on the condition of the stamp, the centering of the image (on older issues), and whether it is in mint or used condition. Well centered stamps with no flaws command the highest price, well poor centering and the presence of any flaws will generally reduce the value greatly.

Many stamp issues also exist with any number of 'varieties' which can increase or decrease the relative value. Varieties range from anomalies created during the printing process, colour/shade differences, paper types, the perforation (holes) size, etc. Stamps showing a particular variety can dramatically increase (and sometimes decrease) the value of a particular stamp.

So where to start? I am hoping the books you have are stamp catalogues which will contain listings for individual stamps and assign an approximate value to each. The Scott Catalogue of postage stamps is probably the trade standard in North America and it will contain listing for world wides stamps. The Scott Catalogue is considered a standard catalogue and only contains basic listings for each stamp issue with some major varieties. Specialized catalogues are available, often on a per country basis, and will feature more detailed listings including more information/prices on varieties found in a particular issue. The bottom line is you will need to identify each stamp and look up the value in the catalogue.

If you post pictures of some stamps I am sure the members here can help identify them, but I am assuming the collection contains thousands of stamps, so even with help it is going to be a big project.

Keep in mind the catalogue is only a guideline for the value and supply, demand, popularity and many other factors determine what someone will actually pay for a stamp. Many stamps will sell for under the catalogue value, sometimes only realizing a small percentage (10-50%) of the book price.

Hello tombraidergirl, welcome!

This forum group likes to help people.

Also look in the Search button (top right) feature and the Rules and search for DAQ topics.

There are plenty of sites on the internet also that have detailed info on different issues and series of stamps.

Ask away, scans or photos are always helpful.

Doug