Where Do You Get Your Pre-1940's

Ok, so I hear all this chatter about Pre-1940 stamps, and the mountains of them you all sleep in. I'm just wondering where do you get them all, espicaly the mint or never been hinges ones with gum?

I feel lucky to have a few hundred from around the world that are used, and floated, I cant begin to fathom a mint collection or how one finds such a thing.

I'm slowly grinding thru my stock, and decided I better start learning where to pick up the better stuff.

Ed

There are tons of Scott International Parts IA and IB around. That's where I get my mountains.

The MNH pre-1940 are a different story. Those are rarely found in the early Scott Internationals as most of those collectors all used hinges.

MNH pre-1940 usually have to be bought as unmounted sets or in bulk lots. There is a reason why there is a MNH premium on most pre-1940 stamps. Be prepared to pay a premium for lots/sets of pre-1940 MNH stamps. The hinged stamps are in general, pretty plentiful.

And I would add to Kim's point about mnh that many of the pre-1940's stamps that are mnh that are often not the best specimens, i.e., poorly centered or other printing problems. So often the best-centered and most presentable examples were put into the album ... with hinges.

-- Dave

The first bulk stamp purchase I ever made was from a mail order dealer who sold pre-1940 stamps off-paper in bulk - I ordered two 2 lb. boxes. Many, many thousands of small old definitives. Probably the start of my love for minimum value stamps. ha ha

There are some old mint never hinged stamps that often show up in the cheapy boxes, especially inflation-era German / Austrian stamps. You might also get masses of the old Seebeck reprints from Latin American countries, or old French colony stamps. And even if you don't get them, it's still fun to root through the boxes ...

Ryan

I agree: find the German inflation issues unhinged in the cheapie boxes at 5c each. They're fine. But if you ever start to take things seriously, and contemplate spending serious money on pre-1940 unhinged mint high value stamps, stop and consider this. In order to get a mint unhinged $5 stamp (or £1 stamp from Britain or the British Commonwealth), some collector probably had to buy at least a block of four of them. He (or she) would then stick the block into his (or her) album with a hinge on the top pair, leaving the bottom pair unhinged. Just how many collectors in the Depression years could afford to spend $20 (or £4) on stamps for their collection?

There are people in Europe who will re-gum your mint hinged stamps for you for a few dollars So don't be a mug. Just accept that the expensive pre-1940 stamps are better bought hinged - or swear off them completely

i prefer my bread toasted and my stamps postally used !!

I hear ya', Tony. This is problematic in the US as well.

In the US, regummed stamps are considered the same as unused stamps with no gum. It is considered an unacceptable alteration. Selling a regummed stamp without disclosing that it has been regummed can sully the reputation a seller.

A problem everywhere, I think. I'd drop a seller who knowingly, or suspectingly, sold a regum like a hot potato. Mercifully, it isn't much of a problem in the Indian States!

k

Well, for now I don't have the duplicate stamp problem, every stamp I find pre 1940 I need, the nice part about having a blank album. also its like a big treasure hunt as I don't know what anything is worth till I look it up. the real pain is figuring where the stamp actually goes in the book once I find it in the scotts catalog. Norway was giving me fits last night...

anyway, you guys are a gold mine of info and I will keep digging away at you, sorry...

Ed

I've been lurking on this great discussion board for several months now and decided that I should finally start earning my keep.

I also collect the world 1840-1940 as represented in the Scott International "Blue" Volume 1 and even maintain a blog on the topic Please review the rules..

Your problem is the opposite of mine. I prefer used stamps which, as this thread indicates, are what one typically finds when acquiring other people's worldwide albums.

My suggestion is to look at single country albums (e.g., the Scott Specialty series), regional albums (e.g., the Minkus Scandinavia Stamp Album) or even something like the Scott's International air post album. My experience has been that albums like these have a much higher percentage of unused/mint stamps than found in the typical worldwide album.

Of course, the downside of this approach is that such albums almost certainly will contain stamps past 1940, but you could always resell or trade them to help further your 1840-1940 collection.

BOB

Belated welcome to Stamp Community Forum, 1840to1940!

I've been focusing on 1840-1955 during the past few years (i.e., Scott International volumes I-III).



Excellent point. That is similar to what I do!

Kim

BOB, your blog was the first site I found when I started my research, I have a few comments on your site and I thank you for your reply's there and on here!

Ed

I have always collected stamps by what was on the front, the back was only there so I could confirm the stamp was not damaged, confirm the watermark and it is easier to check perfs from that side of the stamp. The ridiculous price premium paid for claimed unhinged stamps when they are so easily faked these days is a nonsense. If you want to collect mint unhinged Aussie Kangaroos you will spend probably five or six times what you would spend to get a hinged set.

When you look at them you won't know one from the other when looking at the stamps on an album page.

The only way I have real confidence in purchasing older (pre WW2) mint unhinged stamps is that they be marginal copies or multiples where the selvedge or adjacent stamp is hinged.