Noobie Help

Hmmmm....hello! I need help with this site, having trouble in the third requirement, since I absolutely know nothing about stamp collecting. What is a Scott/Darnell/Stanley Gibbons number? How do I quote them Scott/Darnell/Stanley Gibbons number, the grade/condition, and the current catalogue value for individual items of over $100. Please, respond...and thank you!

http://www.saskatoonstamp.com/ssc_scan.htm

The numbers mentioned are catalog numbers. In the United States of America, the catalog most used is Scott. In Britain and British colonies, ex-colonies, it is the Stanley Gibbons catalog which is most often used. Not familiar with a Darnell catalog.

I am pretty new to collecting, so here is my noobie answer.
Stamp catalogues list every stamp a country has issued in date order, and give a reference number and a value for each. These are the catalogue numbers and catalogue values. The value is based on what this stamp may sell for, and depends on factors such as rarity and condition. Condition and grading is difficult for a newbie. At a most basic level, it will be "used" or "mint" (unused). But there are many factors such as damage to the perforations at the edge of the stamp, whether the design is well-centred in the stamp, what kind of postmark it has, whether it has been mounted with hinges, etc etc. You need a little bit of experience to accurately describe condition/grade. Even identifying a particular stamp can be difficult when you are inexperienced.

That's a great noobie answer. Well done

I think the part about "current catalogue value for individual items of over $100" can be explained this way.

The very great majority of stamps ever issued - maybe 90% of them - are simply too common to be worth the while of a professional stamp dealer. Most of these stamps will sell for a few cents each, and a stamp dealer would have to sell an awful lot of them to eke out a living. It's much easier if you stick to the higher-priced stamps: fewer, but bigger, sales versus more, but smaller sales. Or in other words, easy work selling the big ticket stamps as against hard work selling the cheapies. (And yes, there are plenty of collectors out there to whom $100 for a stamp is no big deal.)

you should be able to find those catalogs at a local library in the reference section.

Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, Hyper_17!!

The Darnell catalog is a specialized catalog for Canadian stamps. It is somewhat lesser known than the Unitrade specialized catalog for Canadian stamps.

Kim

Since it seems like your questions have been answered. If you have a catalog you may want to flip thru the 1st pages and glossary to get a better understanding on stamp terms and how to determine condition of a stamp. Most catalogs have a "beginner" type of section. If all else fails, just ask us.