International Stamps

My mother-in-law has asked me to see what her stamps might be worth. They were actually my father-in-laws stamps that he collected when he was a kid. 1930's I have stamps going back to the late 1800's up to around 1940's. I am not a stamp collector. Just trying to help MIL get a value and maybe sell some for her.

Check the Scott Postage Stamp Catalog at your public library. That is a good place to start.

Paul
Thanks for the info. I found you can purchase the Scott catalog online also. I also found a site called http://findyourstampsvalue.com
do you know anything about them?
Oh! believe it or not but the gentleman who founded Scott's catalog is descendent of mine. Don't know how close or exactly what relationship is though.

Yes, the Scott catalogs are available from many sources. A full set, covering the world A-Z, would be expensive.

I'm not familiar with that website.

If your mother-in-law has a large number of stamps, then assessing their current market value would be very time consuming and possibly difficult. Many stamps differ in tiny details that are difficult to discern, esp. for the novice.

Also, don't expect to find financial treasures, although, of course, you might.

Thirty years ago, a friend of a friend wanted me to assess her late husband's stamp collection, and I did so. I had the unhappy duty of telling her that the collection was worth only a few dollars. Her husband had purchased only stamps worth pennies, and they were still worth pennies.

Oh yes I know that some of them if not most of them are probably worth very little.