New Stamp Collectors....florida

My wife and I recently inherited an old stamp collection that had been passed down two generations. None of the stamps had been cataloged and were all loose in envelopes. We have really enjoyed filling up our books and have discovered that we have stamps from almost every country and nation. We also purchased an additional collection of 30,000 loose stamps in an ebay auction and have found some in that group that we did not have.We do have a number of duplicates of old stamps that we will be wanting to trade for ones we do not have. Here are some pictures of some of the stamps we have been able to catalog and post to our books so far.
Best Regards
Steve

Here are some of our stamps from Belgium, China and the canal Zone. We are still sorting thru the stamps but are finding them from all over the globe.

Steve

Welcome War-Eagle, this should prove a good site for you...there are people with many levels of experience..suggestion...get your 50 posts in and you will be eligible to buy,swap and sell stamps here !

Welcome! You and your wife seem to have taken to collecting full force. How wonderful that you have taken a family heirloom collection and begun organising & expanding upon it. Please ask any questions you may have. You have a whole world of knowledge at your fingertips.

Thanks for the welcome.
I don't know if we have taken to it full force or whether it has taken to us.

The collection we picked up of of ebay had a lot of duplicates. We have bagged dozens and sometimes hundreds of the same stamps. I think the ad said they belonged to a stamp store owner who died in 1940. It will take a while to sort thru everything we have but it is a lot of fun.

Thanks again,

Steve

War Eagle..i think most of us buy bulk in the beginning..it took me quite a while to realize its hard enough to get rid of one duplicate much less trying to find swappers for the other 99 !!

We will never be able to trade all of these duplicates, I was thinking of donating them to a school for students to be able to start their own stamp collections, we have enough to really help a lot of kids get a good start.

Steve

Steve,
FYI
Be sure to check your duplicates for different paper types, watermarks, perforations, secret marks, and printing formats. There are several stamps that have the same design but these differences are not noticable at first glance. Good luck with your sorting & cataloging! Another good source for donations is the American Philatelic Society, veteran groups, boy scouts, and a local stamp club.

Welcome, War Eagle.

Looks like a lot of fun you have there!

If you have any questions about the Costa Rica stamps, I can help you with those. If you are unsure about any stamp... ask the question. There are people here from around the globe who can help you!

Enjoy!

David

Welcome to the forum. Ask your questions, there are a lot of smart people here.


Butch

G'Day Steve and to the forum,

Steve as the other say amongst your duplicates you could have variations with the possibility of a rare stamps so don't discard them to quickly mate oh and this where the fun starts with the loupe or in my case using a microscope and that is to find those rare ones also you will need some catalogues so you can I.D. them.
P.S.sorry about the selling as every one from down under still writes the old english

regards harry

I bet that was a real pain sorting out all that stuff.

Welcome War Eagle

That looks like my collection a few months ago. Donating is a great Idea, that's what I did. I still have boxes of stamps to go through. I guess I'll never be bored.

Dianne

War Eagle


Well at the least you will be busy for the winter.

Welcome War_Eagle Steve!
Seeing those pictures makes me want to go sort through a bunch myself! Thanks!

Don't forget cancellations / postmarks too.

I noticed you have some interesting ones. Precancels (the ones with bars across and a name in betweem usually) or the number-in-a-circle inside an oval type grid (not sure what to call them) or the circular date stamps (CDSs) with place names or dates. Adds to the history aspect for me. But the stamps themselves will keep you happy for a long time.

There are many variations sometimes and errors / varieties to search for if that tickles your fancy.

However you choose to collect it is always up to you how you want to do it, as others have mentioned elsewhere on here. It's all good!

Doug