Looking For Guidance Regarding Inherited Stamps

Hi-
My uncle passed away and I came across a box of stamps he had been saving. He was not a philatelist, so I assume these were more of personal significance. Either way, I was curious to see if any of them may be of value.



I also have a larger version of the scan available. Thank you for any advice you can offer.

-Anne

***Edited by Staff to add image to post***

were you interested in starting a collection of your own with your family heirloom or sell it to others to add to their collection.

this is a great place to learn the trade I found this place only a month ago and already brimming with info and expanding my collection.

I'm not as experienced so I'll let others chime in on value however, I see a mix box of countries 1920-1960? countries in Africa "Congo, I see Angola, USA, Spain, Israel, seems like he picked up a mixed box at some point of his life? you might want to look around you might be surprised to find a Stamp Album some times they look just like a photo album till you open them, hard sided 2 or 3 ring binders.

nice stamps! let us know if you decide to sell them.

Ed

Hi Anne.

You haven't said if you want to become a collector or just sell what you have.

The easiest way for you to determine value would be to go to your local Library and check out the Scott Catalogs in the reference section. They are in alphabetical order by country. Most Libraries will let you check out two or three at a time.

I certainly hope you decide to keep the stamps and become a collector.




Butch

Thank you both for the help. I am interested in selling them. Ironically, my uncle's nickname was Butch!

Anne,

Without referring to a catalog, most of what I see is pretty common and on the cents side of the dollar in value. The migratory bird stamps (duck stamps) can be worth a few dollars each if in good condition. The Oubango Cheri overprinted stamp is something less common, and might be worth looking up. No, I don't think you've struck it rich with these.

I like the Great Britain stamp in the upper right corner (Queen Victoria, nice numeral cancel), and the Australian King George 5th side-faced stamps (4).

Some of those would be worthwhile looking for watermarks to see in they might be inverted (upside-down), but then again that would not knock it up into the $1000 range, just the $20 range perhaps. The GB KGV Silver Jubilee stamps also.

I am not sure about the Cochin 9 pies stamps (Indian State).

Sometimes with these slightly older stamps the collector who specializes in them will know the little things to look out for. Perhaps read through Tony's topic/thread on the Indian States here.

And KGV_Collector's thread on the Australian stamps, I am just beginning at them.

Not sure on some of the others.

It would be interesting to see what they would go for on ebay. Start it at 99 cents and see where it goes. If you ever decide to sell, please let us know. Try to put the stamps on a plain dark background and all of them right-ways up to aid in selling.

You do need 50 posts to buy/trade/sell on here, but you have a dedicated, trustworthy audience here.

Looks like a nice set of worldwide and mixed that may not be worth much in $ value, but would be fun and interesting to sort through, which is exactly my kind of collection...

Please let us know what you decide to do. Getting the Scott Catalog volumes from the library and sorting the stamps yourself would be fun!

I am not a world collector, heck, I am a novice US collector, but
the 'duck stamps' stand out to me. Anyway... I'd give a few bux for
the 2 duck stamps and the 'customs stamp'... I don't know what the
customs stamp is worth, I just like it. I am the type that just grabs
onto anything that has eye-appeal, value or not.