Inherited Lifelong Collection - What Now?

I'm a supporting member over on the Coin Community Forum and jumped over here because I knew you folks would know how to help this nice lady.

I just spoke with an acquaintance who doeesn't know what to do with the huge collection of stamps accumulated by her father over a period of ninety years. He was a bigshot in the fashion industry and clothed first ladies, movie stars, etc.

The appraisers were only interested in his coin collection. The thousands of stamps left them scratching their heads because they weren't catalogued or organized. She doesn't want to get ripped off, but doesn't know how to proceed in disposing of them. She is elderly herself and still suffering hardship from Hurricane Sandy. Any suggestions for her?

Since you mentioned Hurricane Sandy I am guessing your friend might live in Metro NYC. The best dealer I know in the area is Tom Bansak who owns Toga Associates in Fairfield CT. He tends to specialize in higher-end British Commonwealth material but he does buy collections. I've known him 35 years and there is no stronger philatelist nor one more honest or fair than Tom.

Anthony's Stamps and Downtown Stamp Company, both in NJ, are dealers I respect as a customer but I don't have a feel for how they are as buyers. I do know they are always looking for material. Hope that helps slightly.

Thank you so much, shermae. Yes, she is on Long Island.

A dealer - at best - will offer a very low price for the lot lot. If unsorted the offer will be peanuts. Buffalow - she would be far better off to start with advice from a reputable collector (with philatelic credentials) and proceed from there. And Buffalow - you have not enabled emails from this forum - you might want to do that in your profile so people can contact you directly.

LIFE LONG COLLECTION ---what now ??--------come see me !----------------The very first thing ,that I need to establish is that you don't know squat about stamps .The second and equally important thing is how fast you want the money and then establish if CASH makes you decide quicker. You know I am a busy person so you need to make a quick decision to sell .
I need to deteremine over the phone call if its worth my time even to look at it ,most times this is where our contact ends ,so many times I get the same answers about that collection from callers like Grandpa saved all the stamps from all his Christmas mail and all the relatives saved all their stamps for him . I even get told that he was a advance collector and went to Woolworth's the 5 and dime and purchased a packet each Saturday and sent away for approvals and he received 100 free stamps for 10 cents and didn't buy the approvals .
The way most dealers filter out people like you ,is by asking questions about how the collection is kept . Is it in cigar boxes or glassine baggies ? Are there any books or albums ? What is the wording on those books or what color are they .How a collection is kept tells a lot as to what was spend .
Everybody in the stamp business is honest and they all have customers who want to buy this type of material ,so I can pay high for the material and it is CASH . You have to sell to me now ,because my buyer will spent his money somewhere else and then I have to lower my offer and pay you by check and need to give you a receipt for the tax man ,but today it is CASH .
Every collection I purchase ,I tell the sellers it is a mess ,and will take me hours to clean up and remove all the damaged stamps ,hours and hours of my time and maybe make a small profit from this mess . Please hurry and make a decision to sell to me ,because if you do ,I can't tell you but if I get the beat up worthless collection I plan to take the wife to Hawaii for two weeks as a reward for the purchase .

I understand where you're coming from. That's how she got ripped off on the coins. They weighed them and gave her a check for 25K.

So, how is the collection housed? Plush albums, with pages sorted into sets and neatly written up - or lined A4 paper with a random mix glued on each page? It will say a lot about the collection.

And one or two photos on here of what seems like the better parts of it would also give us an inkling as to whether it's a decent lot.

Will do. I have never seen them. They are not in albums, as I understand it. But inside of envelopes of some sort. Just an unorganized accumulation of first day covers, plate blocks, sheets, etc. collected over a period of ninety years. I believe some of them have autographs that are somehow relevant to the item. I will email her asking for pics. I'm sure this isn't junk. She said her father's collections were kept in a basement room with a vault door. I am as intrigued as you are. Will get back to you.

Plate blocks, sheets, autographs does sound promising. That's not the sort of thing a casual collector amasses.

Autographs are a whole another story. There are some good auction houses for those. Scan or photograph any autographs and then you can form an inventory.

Her reply to my request for pics.

I WOULD NEED MANY PICNIC-SIZED TABLES, TO EVEN START TO ORGANIZE DAD'S STAMPS. I DON'T HAVE THE TIME, NOR THE PATIENCE TO DO SO. MY ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS HAVE DIMINISHED (SINCE I GOT SICK), ALONG WITH BEING ABLE TO STAY ON TASK. SOMEHOW, SITTING AT A SLOT MACHINE (FOR HOURS AND HOURS) DOESN'T SEEM TO BOTHER ME. I CAN STAY ON TASK, AS LONG AS I HAVE COMPANY. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY WEIRD, BUT IT IS TRUE.

DAD USED TO SIT ME DOWN AT THE DININGROOM TABLE. WE SAT FOR HOURS AND HOURS, WORKING ON THESE STAMPS. I REMEMBER THE ALBUMS OF "SCOTT" CATALOGS, THAT WE BOUGHT HIM EACH YEAR. DAD LOVED TEACHING ME.

I HAVE MY SON WITH US THIS GLORIOUS WEEKEND. HE IS THE ONE THAT PRODUCES (AND DIRECTS) FOR A MAJOR ADVERTISING AGENCY. I WILL HAVE HIM TAKE SOME PICTURES OF THE BAGS OF STAMPS, AND OF THE ALBUMS. UNFORTUNATELY HE DOES NOT HAVE HIS CAMERA EQUIPMENT HERE, AND YOU WILL BE GETTING PICTURES FROM A LITTLE CANNON CAMERA, BUT MAYBE WITH HIS EXPERTISE, HE WILL TAKE SOME GOOD SHOTS.

(She goes on to talk about rare and valuable books.)

HOPING MY KIDS WILL SELL FOR A FORTUNE, AFTER I AM LAYED TO REST. NEITHER CHILD (THEY ARE ADULTS), KNOWS WHERE MY VAULTS ARE. EACH HAVE BEEN GIVEN A KEY TO THEM, AND WHEN THE TIME COMES, MY LAWYERS WILL GIVE THEM ALL THE INFORMATION. IT WILL BE ONE NICE TREASURE HUNT!

I STILL HAVE MUCH TO SIFT THROUGH (OF DAD'S). HOW THE HECK HE STORED ALL THIS STUFF AWAY (AND NONE OF US KNEW ABOUT HALF OF IT, IS JUST MYSTICAL! I HAVE COLLECTIONS OF SO MANY THINGS. RECORDS, TAPES (ORIGINALS FROM WHEN MY COUSIN WORKED IN THE RADIO STATIONS, AND CBS), AND MORE. WILL SELL ALL THAT OFF, MAYBE AT AUCTIONS. I EVEN HAVE A GLASS CARUSO ALBUM. MY DAD DIDN'T PLAY MUSIC REALLY, BUT HE HAD A BEAUTIFUL VOICE. I (ON THE OTHERHAND) LOVE MUSIC. I PLAYED VIOLIN AS A YOUNG CHILD, ORGAN, FLUTE, AND MORE. MY NEXTDOOR NEIGHBOR WAS A MUSIC TEACHER AT MY GRAMMER SCHOOL, AND THAT WAS QUITE HELPFUL. HER GRANDAUGHTER IS AN OPERA SINGER NOW, AND SHE SANG AT MY DAD'S FUNERAL.

(She goes on to talk about the charities she works with and how she is a sponsor of this and that. She isn't suffering, which is the impression I got from our previous discussion. Nor does she seem willing to put much effort into getting top dollar for her collections. I'm still intrigued, but not as enthusiastic about this as before. The photos will reveal more about the quality of the stamp collections.)

The fourth paragraph, starting with Hoping, in my opinion reveals her to be sufficiently eccentric, or at least fearful, to suggest that nothing can be done here unless there is full disclosure, contact and cooperation with her estate planning attorney and all available heirs. If I came into this situation as a dealer or buyer, I would be very concerned about a post transaction claim by the heirs for fraud or even elder abuse. In my view, she, her heirs and attorney should agree on one person to appraise the collection and pay that person an hourly fee or flat fee, and another completely independent party to sell the lot on consignment, either to a dealer or at auction. Anyone going in there solo, coming up with a price, taking the lot and paying her, without her lawyer or heirs involved, is taking a huge risk. In my opinion. The problem is she thinks she is sitting on a fortune but if it is really a bunch of junk and you offer a correct but low price, the heirs will blow a gasket. And it sounds as if she has a sizable estate, so the estate likely has resources to litigate.

The first paragraph suggests some cognitive difficulties for her and the entire message has a rambling, disorganized quality that raises many red flags. This needs a team.

I've seen enough to where someone should send her a copy of Linns and have her contact one of the many dealers that advertise in there that will travel to view estates. This sounds like a complicated estate and it should probably be left to someone who does this for a living.

I would tend to agree with the more recent comments. It started out as her not knowing what to do with them - but she says she hopes her kids will sell for a fortune. So, does she want to keep them and pass them on? If so, the only thing she can do with them is get them valued. There's nothing else she can do if she wants her children to have them. And if she wants them valued, she should do just that and not sell them to a dealer.

That said, some images here will still help us gauge whether this really is a valuable hoard, or just a mass of ordinary stamps from far and wide.

Yes, I quite agree with these wise comments and appreciate the advice very much. Only a professional would be able to manage the risks of getting involved with this estate. Her frequent mention of lawyers is another reason to observe this from a distance.

@ floortrader. Your comment was terrific. It should be a YouTube satire or Saturday Night Live sketch.