United States Stamps

Hi everyone. I would like any available information you might have on these United States stamps. These were part of a shoebox of stamps I bought for $5.00. I may sell them; although I am leaning towards keeping most of them. I would like to know the year of issue, approximate value, or anything else that you can offer. Thanks everybody! I am so glad I found this sight; I am learning so much about these stamps.







*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

You have a nice start for a stamp collection, but in reality all of the stamps shown are very common varieties issued from the 1920's through the 1970's and therefore command a minimum catalog value of $0.20. Since catalog values are typically inflated to account for a dealer's overhead to stock and supply a stamp to a collector, the resale value is next to nothing, since all of the stamps were issued in 100's of millions.

I would also point out that in stamp collecting, condition is everything. If you take for example the second stamp in the third row of your first scan (Richmond, VA precancel), the stamp has been cut at the top (probably by a letter opener) and thus it is a damaged stamp that has no value. Similarly, in the fourth scan, the first stamp in the first row has a tear in it toward the top and the first stamp in the second row has a tear in the lower right corner, which again renders those stamps of no value and would probably only be used as a "filler" until a better copy could be found.

Also, the last stamp in the first scan is a 1960 Christmas Seal which is not a postage stamp. In the second scan, the first stamp in the second row is from the country of Grenada and is also not a US postage stamp (even though it has an American theme depicted on it).

In my opinion, the best stamps in the examples shown are the Space Achievement se-tenant stamp at the bottom of the second scan and the Football stamp in the last scan. Topical themes such as "Space" and "Sports" are always quite popular with stamp collectors.

Thank you for your input. I was originally planning to re-sell all of the stamps I got, but have now decided to keep them and start my own collection. I am still learning and can use any information anyone can provide.

I suggest that you look for a used Scott's catalogue set...
up to 2008 all were black and white, but even so, many images and
scans are easily recognizeable. As far as current values/ mint vs used'
your ability to re-sell is based on condition and wants.....i dont expect much more than 20% of book value....but I dream about those killer auction results.
welcome and good luck

If you can't afford a copy of the Scott Catalog, most post offices have "The Postal Service Guide to US Stamps". Their catalog costs $20 and has color photos and similar value information as the Scott Catalog, although not as detailed. It's still a good catalog at a reasonable price for a beginner collector to get started.

Another ok catalog is the Harris US/BNA catalog. Lots of color pics and easily get it on ebay for $5 or less for an 2009 copy.

Or you can just pick up the 2011 Official Price Guide to United States Postage Stamps from most book stores, it costs $8.99

Note: Bumped thread...last post was 2011.

A cracking postmark, San Antonio Tx.
Knocked my socks off, left Texas and arrived in Australia in 7 days.

rod222: Just as information.. the postmark is actually a sprayed on postmark done at one of the major Processing & Distribution Centers. the magnitude of cancellations done at high speed, the paper dust accumulation in the conveyor channel, is probable cause of the 'cracking effect' as the ink jets get clogged on a regular basis. The ink jets are cleaned on a regular basis (or replaced) but the clogging is usual. The ink is held in a reservoir. I believe these machines are capable of cancelling 20,000+ pieces per hour (I could be mistaken & confusing the productivity with the optical character readers OCR).

Cracking explanation of the sprayed on postmark.

elegies,
thank you very much...saved.

Apologies for using a coloquialism, "cracking" meaning it looked spectacular on cover. = Aussie slang.

However, I did learn something...Thanks.

rod222: well now so haven't I. I thought maybe the discussion subject was a 'cracked' cancelling die. Early cancelling machines, especially local post offices in the US had machines called 'flyers' which were at first hand cranked, then electric that cancelled quantities of mail. These were mechanical and had removable dies with print set for date changing & hour changing to track collection & processing standards. (I always learn something here -- a bonnet is a woman's hat here or the hood of a car in London)