Purchased Huge Un First Day Lot.....need Help

I recently purchased a huge stamp collection from an estate sale. included were 43 shoe boxes full of US and UN First Day Issues from the years 1978-1989. Alot of these are still in the bags from the post office. I've never been big on United Nations stamps, so I'm really looking to move those but I don't really know anything about them. Just browsing through here I've seen that the forest issues can be valuable as well as the Flag issues. There are multiples of all of those in here. I will take a bunch of pics in just a bit and put on here. Really looking for my best option for selling the lot.

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When you buy something you know nothing about, be prepared to be disappointed. All depends on how much you paid for the lot. As a comparison, a lot of 450 UN FDCs just sold on ebay for $46. I look forward to seeing your scans though.

UN stamps seem to be pretty much a drug on the market these days. Gibbons prices the flag issues from around 10p up - which is to say nothing. On the bright side, if you live in New York City, I believe you can use them for postage from the UN buildings.

Geoff I read it to be FDCs, but I could be wrong (and not for the first time ...).

First of all, welcome to the forum! Jenny is correct. If you'd like to know about UN FDC's just go to ebay and see how they sell. When you put up pictures, go for the oldest ones first, chances are there maybe something a bit more valuable!

Peter

Thanks for the responses. I got a really good deal on the lot. The US FDC's included were worth way more to me than I paid for everything so the UN stuff is just a bonus. I just don't wanna get caught up and start trying to collect them too, lol. Some of these are gorgeous though.

Another quick question. Is there a reason why there's 3 of each? Most of these there's 3 stamped NY, 3 stamped Geneva, and 3 stamped Vienna.

Not that I can think of - probably just a budget consideration!

Peter

First box.There's at least 3 of each. Also a bunch of postcards & Aerogrammes. I know nothing about those. The original invoices from the PO are in here as well as the promotional pamphlets for each.

dedshot while they're attractive, there's not much more that can be said about these FDCs. They were produced in massive quantities specifically to be sold to collectors (as opposed to having any legitimate postal use) and have minimal value. If you want to get rid of them, offer them as one lot on ebay for a low start price and keep your fingers crossed. (Also the one marked "Sverge" is from Sweden - not UN.) The stamps might be of interest to dealers located in New York to be used as postage, but they will pay a small percentage of face value.

Your US FDCs might be of more interest if you have any early ones or ones with special cachets.

I am not sure how much the 3 duplicate sets will add to what you can get on ebay. So I would break them into three equal lots. I'd put one lot on ebay with an a $0.01 starting price. This will give you an indication of the market value.
if you are pleased with what the first lot gets, list the next lot. If you are greatly disappointed in the first lot sale, I would then consider donating the other two lots to a couple of young collectors.
Don

In the Bad Old Days, when FDCs bore addresses & traveled thru the mail, you made multiples to 'guarantee' that you would have at least one, nice, clean copy.

For unaddressed 'serviced' FDCs, the logic was:

One for the permanent collection.

One as a duplicate, to trade for other/older stuff.

One to sell at a profit someday, thereby paying for all three. :(

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey