Keep The Contents?

Do you keep the contents of your covers? Does it add value?

Just curious what others thoughts are on this.

-MV

Absolutely! I don't think I have any that add $$ value but certainly they add interest.

MV For sure - if the covers are from an interesting time period, place or connected with a major event - like a world's fair or war, or are really old. If you had a "crash cover" you most certainly keep the contents.

Yes! They can be valuable primary historical documents in some cases depending on the content. The contents of a cover create a broader context and helps create links between the sender and receiver. I search out for covers with content as they add a greater value to the cover, maybe not always monetary value, but for the historical interest.

Absolutely!

Enclosures can add monetary value, but always add philatelic and historical value.

you betcha!

I always keep the contents intact with the cover. Irrespective of whether it adds to the monetary value, the historical, social and/or business collateral adds richness and dimension (beyond 2, or 3 if you are counting time...).

Meadowview --
An excellent answer to your question appears on Richard Frajola's site

philamercury.com

where exactly that topic has been discussed in the last couple of days with some fascinating examples of letters etc. enclosed.
My personal collecting interest is stampless covers and only those with contents interest me. Most stamped covers in collections do not have contents and the posters here who say contents add value (perhaps not cash value but often huge interest value) are spot on, in my opinion.
Bill

I found a cover in a box earlier. It was stamp less with purple stamps of "War Department Official Business", "Penalty for Private Use". My heart sank as it was empty.

I went to the next one in the pile same wording and it felt like there was something in there. I carefully opened it and removed the papers. Opened one and it was a Notice of Call and to Appear for Physical Examination. The second was a Certificate of Discharge Because Physically Deficient.

These covers are special to me because I was told a story by the woman whose father received this notice. She was 3 at the time and recalled taking him to the station. She thought he might not come back. I forget the reason why he was discharged.

-MV

Definitely keep them!

I recently bought a box of covers with content. One woman wrote of having surgery in her home.

I LOVE reading the contents of old covers. I also especially enjoy when I purchase a cover and there is the original content included but not mentioned in the original listing. Usually such lack of info would be problematic but not in that case!

MeadowviewCollector and Zipper- Would you happen have a scan of the cover to see? I'm eternally curious about covers.

The content might be far more valuable than the cover as in this 1953 letter that sold for +5 million
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ls-5-3M.html

Here are the covers

Definatly keep the contents with the cover, as every one has said, the contents will add narritive to an otherwise mute piece of history. Take this unassuming cover from Covolo, Cal sometime during the use of the large banknotes. Which happens to be a time when the P O D didn't require a year date on the cover. But the contents sure do. They also show a slice of life that we wouldn't have thought of as normal, yet it was.