Old Stamp Collection

I have an old stamp collection. The oldest is 1867 grill George Washington.
I need to sell the collection. Can you help me? I do not know where to go.
Thank you, Sandy

Little short on time right now but first and foremost check local library for a catalog reference. It will help you to see if you have general issues or anything of special interest. Many collectors here will help you if asked, so if possible post pictures for any item. As for dealers, know what you have first as many collection have alot of common material that will only fetch about 10 to 25 percent of catalog. Most dealers already have well stocked books on common items so hence the discount. But if quality or special item, a honest dealer will give a fair price and let you know up front.
First and foremost look into a catalog reference to give a slight idea.

You're probably wondering what this talk of catalogues is all about. There is this company called Scott that produces a listing of every stamp ever issued, and gives values of what they are worth in unused and used condition. Most libraries carry a set of them in their reference section. Just look for a Scott's Stamp Catalogue.

What kind of a collection is it? Is it just U.S. or is it worldwide?

Another thing you could likely do is scan the pages a few at a time and post them onsite, and I am sure that the collectors here could give you an honest assessment of value -- heck, some may even offer to purchase them from you outright.

Now that would save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run.


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Hello Sandy....

...and welcome to the club.

If you could post some photos we could give a better idea of how to proceed.

I remember a couple of months back when I was at a stamp & coin store a man walked in and just had to sell his mothers coin collection. Out of interest I just hung around as the man brought in several of those large plastic tubs in filled with mint year sets.

The price offered was not much over face value or the set price of silver. I'm not an expert on money but it was sad to see him offered only face value for several of the old bills. In fact the dealer told him he might be better off spending it.

Certainly any grilled Washington that is Mint can bring in some good dollars depending on how it is graded. Off the top of my head there are at least 7 different Washingtons with grills. The prices will really swing with the grading.

For example take the #96 F Grill Yellow black Washington. If it is used and in average condition it will bring around in anywhere between $35 and $59. If the condition is better it can bring in anything from $100 to the $900's. if it is mint an average stamp might bring in about $500 and the better grades $1,500 plus.

So you can see grading on the classics are important and more important you should know something about grading the stamps. This is not something I would let up to the person or dealer who will be buying the stamps. It is best to take a while to learn about your stamps in order to get the top value if you do in fact have a lot of the classics between the years 1847 and 1900.

Most important though is that you understand the market place for stamps. You might want to look through this web site just to see the difference in values that I have reviewed. It is a good reference though just part of the full picture picture when trying to figure out the price of stamps.

http://www.stampwants.com/index.php