Sometimes You Can Get Lucky At The Antique Store...

Last weekend, the wife and I went to a couple of antique stores south of Albany, New York after spending a short time at the monthly stamp show in Troy where I also met and had a nice chat with philb and his wife. I found some really nice covers for a good price - haven't scanned any yet. The antique store had an even better find than the stamp show.

Usually antique stores tend to have astronomical prices for the most mundane common stamps, but I usually can search the postcards for interesting postmarks overlooked by most dealers. I found a few okay postcards at the first place, but at the second one I found some stamps in a small packet of stamps on piece that I would think I would never find at an antique/junk store. Some have a few minor faults, some duplicates and a few uncanceled stamps, but for $4 I don't think I could do any wrong with People's Republic of China - Cultural Revolution period.

BattleStamps- Great find and should generate 100x's the purchase price. I just found a new local consignment flea market and was blown away with the great stuff but as you said the few stamps that were there were grossly over priced. I asked if they had any more and the Lady (co Owner) said her husband in in the middle of prcing 2/3 of a skid full of stamps. Since the few envelopes I looked at were original Canada Post and contained a single, block of 4, and FDC but were priced at $5-9 each I had to send an email . Basically explained the reality of the values and even offered to help go through the hoard with them (with China on my mind) but as of yet no reply and I doubt they care about my opinion. I figure in a year from now they will have discounted it all and wonder why they wasted the time and space.

Wow, now is see what you were talking about...well antiques shops claim to have treasures...we were in a thrift shop last week and sometimes have to turn a deal or a bargain down....there were a metal Chinese warrior and horse for 30 dollars apiece...i liked them, picked them up and touched them but left them behind..some well off person must have donated them..they did not belong in that shop !

I did the same with many items at the shop I went to. To my joy things were all over the place and I will have to go back numerous times to see whats hiding underneath other stuff. As far as them giving up the stamps for a bargain I doubt that will happen anytime soon but just the sheer mass volume of items leads me to believe thar be treasure in there. Its one thing to be knowledgeable in a few areas but to accuratly price many 1000's of items from so many different dates and topics would be next to impossible.

Wow! Congratulations! That's easily several hundred dollars worth (real world, not just cat val).

Nice catch!
Put that also down o your knowledge.

Do you keep, or sell for working capital ?




Agree with that one.

Wow is right. That was a steal. Can they put you in jail for getting a bargain like that.

Pardon my ignorance here, but where lies the value? Is it the era, the fact that they are postally used, or the specific stamps themselves?
Please enlighten me.
Thanks

James those are some of the hottest China stamps at the momment. Plus they are postally used on piece.

James --ebay search china PRC and sort by highest prices and you may need to call a paramedic to re start your heart. Pointless looking at catalogs for values unless you have 2013 and updated at that.
Battlestamps - If you decide to auction them give us the link so we can grab some popcorn and watch.

I was excited to find a dusty packet of Cultural Revolution-era Chinese stamps amongst some CTO collections in some random shop in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu, but they were not anywhere near the league of the ones shown upthread.

I am so jealous. And that's the kick in the pants I need to browse through the antique stores near me.

-- Dave

Nitro, those prices for China PRC on ebay are just crazy. That's the cost of a new car. WOW

Battlestamps that is probally the find of the year.

ZangCheng is probably silently weeping in a corner somewhere.

Sorry Zhang.