Registered Letter Nigeria From? 1914? Unstamped

Another "special item" I found among my books, would like to have an opinion since I can't find this particular one unstamped on the internet. I took the picture along with the acompanying serie in the book.

Hi Paul,

This is an unused Nigerian registration envelope. It has a printed 2d registration stamp on the flap and a space on the front for adding a stamp (or stamps) to pay for the postage that was required.

Thanx Nigelc, I haven't been able to find any unused examples on the internet myself but I have found a used one going for about $125. Is that what it's worth in unused condition as well?

ebay has a lot of the used examples for sale and their asking price varies quite a bit from a low of several dollars to $95 from what I've seen. The average seems to be around $15-$25, but for used examples the value is not so much the postal stationery portion, but the additional stamps used, the postmarks of origin and destination along with any other markings and of course condition. I didn't see any unused examples either. On average, many examples of worldwide postal stationery is actually worth much less than used examples and might be the reason why you don't see it online often.

There isn't a single one like mine on ebay, those are all of the 3d variant and mine is 2d. The only other 2d blue I could find is from a different king. I have no idea what it's worth.

Paul32: I see that now. A mint 3d is selling for about $10 on Delcampe. The 2d is probably about the same.

I find it all very confusing, there doesn't seem to be any real rule of thumb determining what something is worth either. Some should be mint, others stamped, others dated.

Thanks for the help!

Hi Paul, en geode middag daar! Yes, we try hard to be confusing! No, not really, some of these things start to make sense if you have been collecting for a while. Some stamps sell for more because they are scarcer. Take the high values of some Dutch stamp sets, mid-50's. Sometimes the face value of a stamp is such that there was little use for it, in that case the used stamp would be more expensive then the mint one.
These are just a few examples as you might understand, but I hope it helps a little bit!

Peter

Another point, which might be too obvious, is that an item is only worth what someone will pay for it. Condition is important, scarcity is important, history is important, but it is worthless (at least from a monetary standpoint)unless you can find a buyer.

Catalogue prices might offer guidance, but I usually never pay that much. There have been some exceptions, such as if I needed it for my collection and there were very few available, but these exceptions were for low value items.

This probably doesn't really answer your questions, because none of this is exacting. That is why I collect for personal interest, never for trying to make money. I usually stink at that.

Michael

Easily explained: "We sell cup-half-empty what we bought cup-half-full."

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (whose day is complete when he coins an aphorism)

Welcome to Philately. Yes there are no rules in this game simply due to it being a buyers market right now. Your registered cover simply might not be in demand, also yours has a crease across the flap that will detract from whatever the value might be.

Like every other market it's supply and demand and premium material will always have a market, the rest is hit or miss and miss again....

ikeyPikey

... or the cup I bought half-full proves to have a crack in it when I sell it.

Geoff