My grandpa was in the Army during WWII. He just showed me a collection of 76 stamps that he found in a bombed out building in Germany during the war. All are adhered to thin cardboard. Most are cancelled, but not all. There are several from the Deutsches Reich and many from all over the world. Would this collection be worth the value of its individual stamps, or does the source of the collection affect its worth? I don't know how to go about figuring this out.
In the majority of cases the source is unimportant. The source could add significant value if the source was a well-known collector, celebrity, king, or government agency with a story to tell. So, it depends. On the other hand, you might want to be cautious about admitting that the property of another person was taken and brought home. If the stamps were taken from a business and are valuable, the heirs might still be around, and have a claim. Further valuation of the stamps is not possible unless you make clear, high-resolution color digital scans with a black paper background, and even then people here will be guessing. There is no substitute for personal inspection so you may want to start with a local or regional dealer who handles German material.
As most stamps are not particularly valuable, these are also most likely not particularly valuable. In addition most stamps that are valuable are often very similar to other stamps which look the same. This means that a detailed and skilled examination is required to determine the identity of the stamp. Valuable stamps are most often those which are in the most pristine condition (whether or not the are used), keep that in mind as well.
If you could provide a scan of the stamps so that we could see them that would help. I am sure that if any pop out as possible valuable ones we will point them out to you.
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