Newbie By Inheritance

Hi - I'm in the Los Angeles area and many years ago I inherited a bunch of stamps belonging to my grand father that he collected from the mid-1940's to mid-1950's.

Most of the stamps are post marked and from several countries.

My wife is suggesting taking them to an auction house to get them appraised. My intuition is telling me that is a better way, but not telling me who or where to take my stamps.

Where do I take my stamps to have them evaluated? Preferably in the San Fernando Valley. These pictures are a random sample of my collection.

Hello and welcome.
If the stamps that you're showing are a representative sample of what you've got.
May I suggest you to make a donation to your nearest charity shop? This way, perhaps, you might win something on the other life; because, with stamps like the ones ones shown, you've little to win on this one...

Wow. That was just mean. How does he know what else you have? How many stamps do you have in total? Are they in an album?

Yeah, I thought Cursus was a bit rude too. Besides, I'd rather keep my worthless stamps rather than to donate them to anyone.

I'd say I have over 3000 stamps, some are in albums, while others are loose or attached to old envelopes.

I know that my answer is not the one you were looking for. But, at least I've been very clear. You may have a lot of stamps, but if (as I said) the samples that you've posted so far are representative of what you've got, they're nearly worthless.
Anyway, if you still believe that your stamps are valuable, I suggest you to contact some stamp dealers and try to get an offer for them...

Hi welder, welcome to the forum. Do you have access to a Scott catalog? Your local library may have a set of the catalogs. It will take you some time and effort to track down each stamp, but you will get better at it the more you do. Who knows, maybe there are some nuggets hiding in the bulk of your stamps. Even if there aren't, think of the fun you can have.

Again, welcome.

welder! I agree with rohumpy, go to our local library and look at the Scott stamp guides to find out about what you have there!

welder welcome to SCf. Hope you enjoy your stay here. Feel free to ask questions and share your knowledge with us as we all have room to learn. I'm sure you will learn a lot about stamps if you can find the time to read some of the General Posts that have been made. Again Welcome.

I had a friend who had a similar situation. I think the above idea of using Scott catalog is a good idea.
Another suggestion to consider is going to a local stamp show on a Saturday, because you would be able to get some free advice and interest from local collectors.
I believe that there is a monthly one in the San Fernando valley and one in Glendale each month. You could google it.

Good luck and have fun