Stamp Collection Appraisal?

I have a friend whose husband left her a large collection comprised of Canadian, world, and Russian stamps. She wants to sell them, and has asked me to help find an appraiser. I have not had any success so far. We live in Victoria. Anyone?

Hello,

It is not an easy task for someone who is not familiar with stamps. The first step would be to figure out if there are valuable items in the collection. Typically, a collection with many older mint stamps has more value. A lot of collections have value to the collector himself but minimal market value. For us to give you a ballpark idea as to how to proceed, could you scan or post pictures of the first few pages of the Canadian collection. That will give you a good start.

David: do a Google inquiry for the web site of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada. I belonged for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s. They may have an appraisal process; I know that the APS (American Philatelic Society) has volunteer appraisers. There's also the British North America Philatelic Society.

Be aware that most old collections of the nature you talk about are't real valuable. I've looked at old collections for a couple friends here in Colorado in the past several years. I didn't find any value other than sentimental. Steve

David, you could contact the Greater Victoria Philatelic society for advice on finding a way to have the collection appraised. You can email them at: gvps@vicstamps.com
Good luck!