Inherited A Collection...very, Very New To This All.

Hi everyone, I am so glad that I found this site. I recently inherited a collection from an uncle who passed away. He was in his mid 60's and had been collecting since a small child. He started because my grandmother, who has also passed away, was a collector. There are literally thousands of stamps and from what I can see from just looking over it quickly, they are many that are well over 100yrs old. I don't even want to touch them because they look so fragile. Some are in books, some are loose, some are in packages and there are hundreds in individual tiny clear envelopes....it's quite overwhelming. There isn't much information with them and I don't know anyone else that is a collector. I want to learn desperately about this collection because I am set to inherit my grandmothers as well and it's only bigger and better. Any help of where I should start out would be greatly appreciated :)

You've come to the right spot. And it is refreshing to hear that someone wants to learn about an inherited collection. What do you have? Mostly Canada, mostly U.S., worldwide? Getting an overall picture of what you seem to have will help in figuring out where to start.

Cluelesscollector, Please take some time and sit down with your grandmother find out what she knows, paid, and if any stamps are/were special.

A honest simple truth; If Grandma was well off when she collected/bought/invested in stamps then there's a good chance there may be some real quality in her items. (and vica versa)

Er.....that might be a bit difficult.






Welcome Clueless
We were all Clueless at some point, and this great forum is the place to put things right.

If you have a scanner, add some pics on a new thread with a good topic title and you're away. We will all help if we can.

Have fun and don't be stranger.

Londonbus1

I would start by seeing if there's a stamp club in your area that you can join. Is there a stamp shop/dealer in your town/city that may be able to help to put some sort of value on it. Start a diary and write in it,what you know and what you can find out. Keep the diary going as someday who knows,you may pass it on to another member of the family. Think of some family member 100 years from now reading your diary and looking thru the stamps.

Londonbus1, Yes I see what you mean. As I read that post somehow I thought Grandpar had gone and Grandmar was preparing.

Up too late, my brains cactus. - apologies to Cluelesscollector and members.

Hello cluelesscollector, welcome!

It sounds like you wish to be respectful and appreciative of those who have passed and the love and time and effort they have put into their collections. This is nice to hear.

The more you get to know, the better off you will be to decide what and how to do whatever you decide to do with the stamps.

First get an idea about how people collect and think about stamps and covers (envelopes). Get a Scott Stamp Catalogue from a local library (or an old one off ebay) and read the front pages. Take your time, look up terms you don't understand, read again, look at some stamps, read the pages again.

The front pages tell you how stamps are valued and determined to be certain varieties or not. Some of the info might be beyond what you know now but do not despair. Just get a general idea of what it is all about.

Scott is usually a generalized type of catalogue 9except for the specialized USA book) and will not have detailed information about many countries. For this extra info, which might tell you about a Great Britain oddity or a Chinese rarity or a Canadian error, etc, etc, you need the specialized catalogues and perhaps booklets of that country's stamps.

Are there stamp tongs available to handle the stamps with? Otherwise you will get finger oils and stuff on the stamps. A good light, a magnifier (or a few), a loupe with extra magnification, perhaps a perforation gauge and a watermark tray and fluid (If you want to go really deep), a ultraviolet lamp (different types depending on which country's stamps), more catalogues, etc, etc.

But again, don't worry. I have lots of this stuff myslef and only use it once in a while, all depending on what I am studying at the moment or what I am doing. I use the catalogue at the library. It is nice to have one yourself, but not necessary.

Look at ebay stamps categories and see what people are selling and see if you can see what is good or bad or fake or forgery 9yep, it's here in stamps too, wherever money is). This forum is great to ask before you buy anything of value to get opinions or other options you might not have been aware of. Read a bit on Stamp Community too. Lots of knowledge is already written about on here.

Don't feel you need to know it all now. It takes time like anything to appreciate at it's fullest depth, if you wish to. Some just buy what looks nice and don't study or delve deeper. Some delve deeper and don't buy (that's me). Whatever is fun and is you and is what you wish to do and the dream you want to follow.

Just pick a country and start there and see what you have.

Remember to show us some pics and ask questions too, even if they are common or damaged, it's always nice to see stamps.

There is also a web site called Ask Phil (philately) that has a glossary of quite a few but not all stamp terms.
http://www.askphil.org/

Show us - ask us and prey on the knowledge of the people that are here. They thrive on it and we all look forward to seeing your questions and your stamps and helping you get acquainted with your new collection. Every one of us wants to help and get you comfortable with what you have. It is nothing but a great fun hobby that eventually turns into a wonderfully time consuming mania. And no matter what some of us know we still are a little clueless in another area. So hang on and have fun! - jeff