Point Me In The Right Direction

Hello,

I really know nothing about stamps. Just hoping for some general information. I think some of these could be somewhat valuable but I really have no clue what details to look for. Anything to get me going in the right direction would be appreciated.

Leia, welcome to the forum!
First of all, I am not very concerned with value - that is not the biggest reason I collect. But having said that, you do have some nice items there; whatever you do please do not remove the stamps from the covers.
In themselves the stamps are probably not very expensive, but the ones that are still on cover may very well have value.


Peter

Thank you Peter!

Yeah, I've been scared to even touch them. Definitely not removing the stamps from their envelope. I have found several stamps I plan to keep just because I like the designs. A lot of the national park stamps from the 1950s look great. I also found an old BSA stamp that is neat. The older ones aren't that interesting to me personally but I'm sure someone would enjoy them more than me.



Do you have any specific stamps/details I should look into?

To learn more go the www.stampsmarter.org Its a good site for you to explore to find out more about your stamps.

If in the USA, you can check your local library for a recent (newest not needed) Scott US Specialize Catalog.

Edit:

Should you do that and still have questions, you will get fast answers if you ask, "What does Scott mean when is says...?"

My suggestion would be to pick an envelope (we call them "covers" but they're envelopes) that has a stamp or two, postmarked, but another stamp/cancel/marking or two on the front or back. Put a picture of the front and back in a post in a thread like this, and I bet a few kind souls will explain what you have. If that process ends up seeming to be interesting to you, you can take it from there.

I'd probably experiment right in this thread, so everyone will be fully on notice that this is all new to you. If it "takes" for you, you can start new threads for new topics.

That's my two cents. And welcome, by the way.

Hello Lela,

Welcome to the forum!

I took an immediate interest in the cover with the 5 stamps on it, and as you're a newcomer to the field I wanted to point out a few things of importance. Let's start with the 2¢ stamp on the right (E). You can well imagine that a postal clerk would have applied this marking in such a way that it tied the stamp to the envelope it originated on. The green line I added is just one indication of this. ("Tied to cover" is the term commonly used to describe this.) But not so for the other stamps which, by the way, were produced many years later than the 2¢ stamp. Note how the 10¢ stamp has a circular cancel that does tie to the circular cancel underneath it, or to stamp E. Also, the wording in the stamp's cancel is at 90º to the text of the cancel underneath it. The date-of-issue discrepancy between that stamp and stamp E aside, those factors indicate that stamp D did not originate on that cover.

Stamp C sports a wavy line style cancel that also does not tie to the cover. We have similar situations with stamps A and B.

So it looks like someone was having fun with that cover, adding more contemporary stamps to it after-the-fact. So chances are that that cover isn't of much value, but if nothing else it's a lesson in identifying stamps that originate (and not) on cover.

I assumed A, B, C, and D were loose stamps unrelated to the cover.

Leia, With the US being literate country with a large population, most of her stamps are produced in very large quantities, particularly those matching the letter rate, postcard rate, and foreign letter rate. Your image shows a representative accumulation of exactly that type of stamp. They are extremely common. Thus the value is minimal for the basic used stamps themselves.

There is some potential for the "postal History" of the entire envelopes having some modest monetary value. The most tantalizing item is the envelope toward the upper right with the "48" cancel. It appears to be on a black bordered "mourning envelope", which has an socially history.

I would recommend enjoying the collection and not getting caught up in value. And like "Antiques Roadshow", everything is "condition, condition, condition".