Postcard Question - Are Unused Postcards Of Any Philatelic Value?

OK, I can see that the print on the paper looks like just that, print - the print looks grainy, the post mark looks printed onto the paper. I am being reminded of the stamps from "the dunes", the post mark is printed onto those stamps, and that is what this post mark looks like as well. The scanner is looking quite as useful as my loupe, very nice! Thank you for explaining it - and a suitcase full of stamps - that is a lot of stamps - sounds like it was a very interesting purchase that you made a while ago. Thank you, Julie :)

Suitcases of stamps.....Yep still available here in Perth 2017

I used to buy these for $50, now they go for $300- $400

Great fun.......Adults lucky dip.

That is really something I have never seen over here, suitcases (and a trunk) of stamps, but admittedly, I have not been hanging with the philatelic crowd and who knows what may have been going on all this time while I did not pay a whit of attention. Not sure where one would look for such a thing over here, I would guess joining a stamp club would be the best thing to do to find out about local sales and such.

Now in the past I have run into piles of stamps that had been torn off of envelopes and saved for someone who collected stamps (which now I am ashamed to say, I threw away, wish I had them now). This has got me wondering if there is somewhere in particular (either on or off line) that I should be looking for sales of stamps - have been looking at the albums on eBay, most of the ones I have seen so far are full of the same stamps I have already from all the stamp packets I had and I am not that interested, although there are some that go for far more money than I have been looking at which may have collections of nicer stamps. Not that I am actively looking to acquire more stamps at this time, I do have my hands quite full at the moment with what I have at present.

And now, I wanted to post this:



Received my new Prinz stamp tongs yesterday, the pointy ones. I am looking at these tongs and wondering if I will ever be able to pick up a stamp with them, they are a bit different than I envisioned. I did not realize that they are not held open rigidly like a pair of tweezers would be, they are flat - looks and feels like it will take some practice to operate these things. Right at the moment I am sidetracked off of stamps (only temporary, but necessary for survival at this point) - once I am able to get back to them in a week or so, I look forward to learning to use these! Thank you yet again Rod! Julie

To my delight, I have discovered that there is much more to postcard printing than "RPPC or not", to wit:

http://www.metropostcard.com/tech0.html

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Yay! you're on your way. Congratulations.
depending on what hand you use, hold them betwixt your thumb and index finger, they (will) become an extension of your normal "pick up" motion.

Only the lightest pressure should have the blades meet.

As your dexterity improves you should be able to pick up a hair instantly.
(Bulk stamps always seem to come with hairs )

To sever a hinge rotate them 90 degrees, (still between thumb and index) and hold them so the blades are slightly apart, and rigid.

You'll need this, also, if/when you begin to release self adhesives.

They are dangerous.
Leave on your desk, do not take in pocket or stamp shows.

I'll wager they will become absolutely indespensible, to your everyday collecting, and will induce anxiety when you misplace them.

Rod - I believe you practised on Mrs Rod's eyebrows first, before putting the Roos at risk?

On reflection, I would suggest seeking out a local Stamp Club.
These can be a great source of cheap stamps, members "adore" new members, and are usually happy to unload their duplicates.

(and at close of meeting, usually tea and bikkies ! )

Some time later, if you continue, you may jump to a new level, where you want to spend time with a special country of interest.
here, I would say it is wise to begin a "stamp budget" (I used to save $5 a week) when I began, then when you see an album page/s , you can afford to invest.

I reckon you get a better stamp at a cheaper price with this route.

Well, I had just googled the northern california list of stamp clubs and found one in Redding which is close enough. They meet on Sunday afternoons, think I may check them out next Sunday, however...

I am still not sure exactly what I am doing with the stamps. I very much enjoy soaking, sorting, and identifying them - but I do not have an album nor do I want one at this time. I should look this up first, but will go ahead and ask anyway, what are stock pages? I have seen the term a lot and I imagine it is a place to put your extra stock that is not in your album.

I am thinking I might just make my own album pages, I don't like the idea of following a fixed format that someone else has decided is the way to go - I may just use plain paper - but then how do I mount the stamps, sigh. Still thinking about all this. I may be looking at it the wrong way, maybe a format layed out by someone else would ensure that I did not "miss" anything basic.

Anyway, I suppose this thread has gone way off topic, oops!
Here we go, this is an older post card which I believe depicts the base of one of the largest trees in Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve, again near Guerneville, CA. This is one of the very few rppc cards I have:




Please ignore the hand written "5" on the back of the card,the back of the post card is very light gray and looks almost illegible to me, it says "Photo Post Card" and has a place to affix the stamp which says "Kodak Paper" on the stamp box.

OK, thank you everyone, Julie

With this type of card, I think the ideal, in value terms, is to have some interesting activity going in the picture. So a tree or a forest are common, whereas a team of loggers working in the forest would be of more interest. Similarly, a specific shop is of more interest than a larger street scene.

Stock-cards or stick-sheets are similar to the principle of stock-books - horizontal strips attahed to the cardboard or plastic backing, into which the stamps are inserted. Some people on here use them to store their collections, others use albums, in which the stamps are hinged or put in mounts.

Well, the tree itself is pretty impressive. It isn't the biggest one, but apparently it is the oldest one in this forest at more than 1400 years, according to a Colonel Armstrong tree website.

Lol, having stood next to this tree, it's hard the believe it's not the biggest!

The stamp box can often tell you a bit about the age of the card & the country into which the photo paper was sold.

"The" stamp box database is now hosted at Ron Playle's site, to wit:

http://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoa.php ... Thanks, Ron!

The dealer price indication "5-" is best removed with a power eraser.

http://goscf.com/t/45927 ... earlier thread, with a nice before/after example

http://goscf.com/t/41204&whichpage=3#351421 ... my post on the physics of erasure

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Hi IkeyPikey - thank you for the information on identifying the rppc post cards by the stamp box. I have just tonight discovered some more postcards, and have found this one:


I am not sure how to value this card, I have not looked up the stamp yet, I suppose that would be step one? Then I am not sure what else to look at in terms of placing some value on this card.
I must sell the card, I do not own it, I have been given 8 boxes of stuff to sell on eBay, these post cards are in the stuff along with some other very interesting things - wwII stuff, and early 1900's stuff - not even sure what all is there as I am still going through it.
I do notice on this post card there are two post marks, one for Tiburon - the destination, and one for santa rosa which I am assuming is the origin po. I am thinking I am going to have to read up on the protocol for post marks, I am a bit confused as to when the post mark would be used to cancel service, and not understanding why there are two postmarks on this card.
Thank you to anyone who can help me figure this out. Best, Julie

Hi Julie,
It was common in 1908 for the destination town to mark the item received, usually with a special Circle Date Stamp showing the town name and state at the top and REC'D at the bottom, in this case used their then current CDS. William's # MRN-3200 was in use from 15 Feb 1906 to 15 Apr 1911

The San Jose, Cal REC'D shown below is typical. I included it just to illustrate the postmark.
The Santa Rosa CDS is SON-4750. Good News! The Earliest Known Use is 22 Jan 1909 The LKU (Latest Known Use) is 5 Jan 1911.
Mention the Williams # and the EKU in your lot description.

Nice early view of the Russian River?