Very Old Stamp Collection

Hello, my name is Lawrence and I recently came into possession of my late grandfather's stamp collection. As I have never had any interest in stamps, I have been suggested to sell them. The collection consists of several huge binders. Apparently, my grandfather was an avid collector dating back to the early 1900's. I have been told that the entire stamp collection is worth A LOT of money. But considering my lack of knowledge in the stamp collection community, I am very much open to selling them and giving these quality stamps a proper home. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to sell a large stamp collection? I have been told that stamps are to be sent somewhere to be validated and whatnot, but I simply do not have funds to do that for the thousands of stamps, nor do I have the time to do so. Any suggestions are welcome and I thank you in advance.

Lawrence

Lawrence-

Here is a link from a non-profit offering suggestions to persons in your circumstance:
http://www.nwpl.org/PDF/Inheritance-Flyer.pdf

There are a few websites with nice information that pop up when you "Google" something similar to " inherited stamp collection."

Not that we can't answer any questions that pop up...we can, and we'll be happy to. Its just that reading a couple of those sites will give you lots of information, and enough of a background to start thinking about how to proceed. You can feel free to ask any question that arises, though.

There are people on this forum that possess staggering amounts of stamp knowledge (I'm not one of them), and yet no one would claim that they know enough. There are many lifetimes of stamp knowledge to learn out there.

All of this is to say that you are going to have to familiarize yourself a bit with how stamp collecting "works" if you want to have an idea of where to begin to go to sell a collection for a fair value. Based on what you have described, a fair value for your collection could be $200, or it could be $20,000. Unfortunately, more often than people care to admit, it is closer to the $200 number. But maybe not.

Who knows? Maybe the little buggers will suck you in along the way. (In which case, "problem solved.")

Welcome, by the way.

C.

There is always e-bay.

Welcome ninjabuddha.

Cjd has some good points.

and ebay is good, but, ebay can be time consuming. You can get (pay) someone to sell your stamps on consignment for you on ebay. I am not sure of where to send you for that though, sorry.

I like stamps, so the longer I spend on ebay with stamps, the better. To sell at a fair or even good price you must know what you have so you don't lose out when selling through lack of knowledge.

And as Cjd says, there is a vast world of stamp knowledge that is very hard for one person to know all. It is good to have a team or a family so to speak that knows a lot when all together. But that takes time also sometimes.

If ebay or some such method is a choice then lots and lots of scans or sharp photos are your best bet. Then, even if you don't know what you have, others will be able to tell (most of the time) from your good photos.

Older expensive stamps need a personal eyeball expertizing to detect fakes, forgeries, repairs or hidden damage sometimes. Sometimes people here can give an opinion.

The better the condition, just like a car or house, the better the price.

There are lots of opinions of stamps also.

If you live in or near an area that has a stamp club, you may want to contact them, attend a meeting to meet some people and see if there is a reputable dealer in your area that would be willing to look at your accumulation and make an offer. Or, if you can get to a sizable show in your area you may be able to hit several dealers in one place. Of course, you could become a beginning collector and let the disposition of your acquired material evolve as you develop a better understanding. Good luck in whatever you decide.

What kinna collection are we talking about, US or foreign ?
I have purchased complete collections over the years depending on the quality of the collection.
If its US, I can identify all early stamps released between 1847 to the 1920s which are the only ones that needs identifing.
*** offer to purchase - removed, you need 50 quality posts to buy, sell or trade.***
We can also identify foreign as well.


Ernie

Hello Lawrence,

If you are just looking for a quick way to dispose of the collection, you could Google "philatelic buyers". A number of sites show up. Be aware that no one will pay much at all if they cannot see at least some samples of what you have. There are some buyers that will travel to where you are, but only if they are convinced that your collection is worth several thousand dollars. Otherwise it will cost you a pretty penny to ship the stamps to a buyer for them to examine what you have to offer. One such company is Mystic Stamp. www.mysticstamp.com

Your stamp collection may be worth "a lot" but dealers generally pay only 10-15% of that "a lot" value. You will not get much selling the whole bunch at one time ... unless it truly has some exceptionally high value stamps.

If you are able to scan and post a few pages of some of the oldest stamps, we could help you decide what to do with them.I recommend US stamps for a start. I for one would like to see what you have. The scans or photos must be well focused and not so small that we couldn't see details. For example, a full album page of stamps taken with a digital camera will probably not be helpful in attempting to identify your stamps.

Marty

Lawrence
I hope you decide to keep the collection instead of selling it. It is a very worthwhile hobby. Don't be so quick to dispose of it.
If you really don't want it, and you paid nothing for it, then find a family member or other relative who wants to collect and pass it along to them.