Hi, I'm semi-new to stamp collecting, so bear with me if I don't use the right terminology. I'm still learning.
I recently bought a few stamp lots at an auction, and when I went to pick them up, they turned out to be far larger than the photos showed. I've been having a great time sorting through them and seeing what I've got. Mostly stamps on paper but also not on paper, tons of covers including first day issue, random stamp ephemera, and even letters.
There are a number of bags and envelopes full of stamps that have been organized by the stamps' face value, like the bag will be labeled "10¢". Is there any reason to keep them organized that way? Some bags/envelopes are worldwide stamps, some are all dupes of one specific stamp (usually US in those cases). I can't figure a reason to keep them separated that way. Is there a reason I don't know about?
Stamps are a mirror of society at the moment they were issued. So old 10 c, stamps will be very different from modern ones. The old ones may have paid a special tariff, modern ones may only serve as make-up values.
Another thing you might consider is that many stamps are issued as part of a range of stamps with different values.
Keep in mind that a USD 1 stamp from 1900 was a very expensive stamp. One from 2026 is not.
Perhaps the seller organized the stamps that way to approximate the year that the stamps were issued. In other words, first class postage was 5 cents at one point, and later increased to 5 cents and then 8 cents - and so the seller organized the stamps this way as a proxy for how old the stamps are. It would be interesting to see a stamp collection organized by face value, but it would be unusual too. Good luck!
This sounds to me like kiloware that has been partly sorted by a previous owner. Sorting by face value is a reasonable way of starting to make sense of a random accumulation, and it's good news for you if somebody has done some of the boring mechanical work already. You can have years of fun sorting, cataloguing and arranging!
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Stamp Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Stamp Community Family - All rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Stamp Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Privacy Policy / Terms of UseAdvertise Here