British South Africa Company, Rhodesian Collection

I really appreciate all the input so far, and the history nerd and collector DNA in me is really enjoying the learning curve and what I'm learning as I delve further into this.

In the 2019 Barefoot BC Revenues, there is a note about prices shown with a "P" to the effect of, a perfin cancel is the usual state for some of these items, so pricing in the format of P200.00 is for a perfinned example, and a used stamp in good condition that doesn't have a perfin is worth a premium. (The premium isn't stated.)

Islander -- I would say remount on new pages and I.D. everything and you will get twice the price . If you sell it as is your going to lose . A lot of buyers will hold back if they can't have a better idea of the condition .

As Floortrader says, well worth carefully remounting - probably the best way to do so would be clear stock-pages enabling buyers to see both sides of the stamps. Stock-pages also make ID/labelling simpler.

Looks like I'll be laying out some money in order to present this collection in the best way. On that note, what catalog/reference book would you recommend in order to correctly ID these stamps?

You would need two books the Barefoot BC revenues and a Stanley Gibbons British Commonwealth postage stamp catalog .

Islander - Below is a link where you can learn about your stamps and revenue cancels:

https://www.rhodesianstudycircle.or....jardine.pdf

PS: You may want to not spend a lot of money on supplies and literature/catalogs because it may eat up a good portion of the money you can get out of this. Add these "overhead" costs to an auction firm commission, if you go that route, and it might not make any sense.

You can also get an idea of what your stamps are worth in these sales results:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/Stamps/260...H_Complete=1

My thoughts Islander2010.
This is an area that is loaded with varieties, and as others have said loaded with cancellation issues (revenue use). So, with 100s to 1000s of dollars resting on differences based either on use or on some small difference in design (types), separation (perforation), watermark or shade, you should find some help. I would do it.

It could take you as a numismatist a long time to analyze it all. Maybe by then you would become a philatelist as well.
I would suggest finding an auction house or dealer you could trust. Many collectors spend a lifetime on this one area. Especially the 'double heads' and admiral issues, where Stanley Gibbons' General British catalog lists over 200 varieties for these 2 issues alone. A more detailed catalog may list more.

You may just have basic issues, and not get but basic issue prices. Or it could good for you. That is part of the fun in philately.

If you choose Ebay, do good photos and sell early issues one stamp at a time. You may get lucky and those who know, may spot that better issue and bid.
Best of luck on disposal.

Want to show you how stamp collectors keep these Rhodesia stamps . So when I say to clean it up and remount it you will get a understanding of what I am talking about . ,this is what I did .

I believe some of your stuff will need Cert's and if you have cert's ,buyers will want to read them, before they bid .

Thanks for the pictures, Floortrader. When you talk about "certs", I'm assuming that's like PCGS, NGC grading and certification that we get in the numismatic world. Is there a specific company or companies that do this, and what's the procedure?

This area of collecting is also known for plenty of forged postmarks.

Don

What a nice selection you have there floortrader, I particularly like your 1896 provisionals which do warrant certification.

Unfortunately, however, for the OP there is not much that really warrants the expense of certification, almost everything that would have had much value appears to be fiscally cancelled.

For example, on the first page of images, the £1 blue and £5 green superficially appear to be mint however they have more than likely been cleaned of fiscal cancellations as evidenced by the pinkish staining on the right-hand perforations of the £1 blue and top perforations on the £5 green - one would, of course, need a close examination to make sure.

The exceptions are the double-heads on the 6th page, the low values are very collectable, depending on perforation, colour shade, etc. they will sell in the $10 - $50 range. I would suggest though that the original owner was a little bit optimistic when it came to identification of some of these.
For example, the stamp identified as sg146 cat* £6500 is more than likely sg147 or sg148 cat about £180, and sg150 cat £650 is probably sg149 cat £50, so it might be worth having these checked out.

The 2/6 value identified as sg156 appears to be mint, but given the poor quality of the image I can't be sure, if so, it could actually be one of five different stamps catalogued between £350 and £1200.
Unfortunately, the 7/6 and £1 double-heads on the next page are both fiscal.

The 10/- admiral on the next page looks like a nice stamp, although it does seem as if there may be some staining to the bottom right corner, again better quality images would have helped. This may be one of several stamps with a cat value of between £200 and £400.
Unfortunately, the £1 admiral lower down on the page has a fiscal cancellation so is worth only a fraction of the £1200 shown on the page.

Clive

*All catalogue values above are from the 2020 Stanely Gibbons Commonwealth and Empire catalogue

Clive's comments reinforce what I said earlier about not getting out over one's skis and being smart about spending money on supplies, literature/catalogs, and now certifications. You could quickly exceed in expenses what you would realize selling the stamps. Not sure why some keep pushing unrealistic approaches to this when it is unwarranted. If making the most money out of selling this collection is the primary objective throwing money at it is counter to the goal.