Australian Specialised One Penny Collection

I am not a collector so please excuse my total ignorance. I posted a preliminary description on this thread.
https://goscf.com/t/53187

I'd appreciate some indication of how to proceed in evaluating this collection.
Thanks!
Roy

Hi; Have you checked if there is a sideways watermark on the penny reds?

I have no idea what that even means. And there are hundreds of examples!
Roy

Hi; link to this issue.There are many types and you must have a Stanley
Gibbons catalogue to do this seriously.I noticed in the photos there is a preliminary indexing of the plate varieties.Many prices depending on what you might have.If you have hundreds the better it is.
http://australianstamps.hsservices....ata2/node/36
Here the sideways WMK.Note the A sideways in the lower part of the stamp.

Full WMK.

Many thanks. This starts to look interesting but the information about the variants in the link you were kind enough to post is extremely esoteric to a non-philatelist! The shot of the stamp above looks like a used doily to me and has no discernable coherent content to my untutored eye. Would it perhaps be helpful (to me, by your efforts) if I posted snaps of the principle pages of typed annotation?
Am I correct in thinking that a collection of this particular stamp, given the vagaries of its production history, may well be of serious interest and thereby valuable? I realise that the monetary value is of secondary interest to serious collectors but to myself... well, I'm retired and far from wealthy. Also it would be nice to see the collection in the hands of someone for whom it holds intellectual value as the previous owner was clearly dedicated to the task he undertook.
I'll snap the relevant index pages and post them. They may be a short cut to understanding what I have here if scrutinised by someone informed.
Roy

Sure post everything you have.There are specialists on this forum that can help you identify anything.

Thanks for the contributions on both threads that I (foolishly) started. Although I'm unlikely to add stamps to my already excessive collecting habits (books, dead watches, fishing tackle) I'm beginning to see what fascinates about this interest. I'll post the typed annotation pages in the hope that something significant is revealed.
BTW the links posted don't actually open directly - you have to use "open in new tab" or you get a blank page.
Roy

OK here are some scans of the first few pages of the album, mostly the index or annotations to what follows plus a couple of random pages of content.
A pity this site won't allow me to log into it other than on the 10" notebook I originally used to register!

Roy

Hi; Very nice collection.The person who built this up did it with a certain application.This collection is valuable in my opinion.It needs to be mounted on pages which is a considerable amount of work.There are so many stamps ;and that is what makes it so interesting.The prices for these stamps vary considerably.In this link you can get an Idea of the retail prices.depending on the plate position ,die types..ect.
https://www.kgvstamps.com.au/products

Thanks Perf12
The snaps show only a tiny proportion of the total. Would it make any sense to take each page and array the content on a scanner bed, maintaining the sequence determined by the collection's author? Or first complete scanning the pages as seen above for an itital overall perspective?
Roy

Well it all depends on what you want to do.If you want an Idea on what this collection is worth ,the best is too scan everything and post it.There must be someone in this forum that specializes in these stamps.
( I don't collect Australia, so I don't have specialized literature other than the different web sites that cover the suject.These stamps have books written about them .)The plate flaws and stamps are too small in these photos.Generaly there should de a photo for each individual stamp with it's corresponding die and flaw.So you can imagine the work involved.The watermarks are very important.The duplicates are numerous.As you are not a collector; there will be things you could overlook.Collectors spend weeks sorting out a collection like yours.

OK, thanks again. My apologies for further tediously ignorant questions.
Perhaps scanning them in batches on a decent flatbed would do the trick. These have resolutions of up to 4800 dpi and above so a single page could be examined stamp by stamp - you can certainly do this with 35mm slides and negs which are approximately the same size. Are the original collector's pencilled notes (some pages have tiny notes inserted among the stamps) an essential help to identification and needing to be retained in relation to the items they accompany?

To scan them in this way would need an investment of, say £300, in a new scanner. I realise it's a piece of string question but, without prejudice, do you feel that it's an insignificant sum relative to the likely value of the collection?

I'll put up the remaining pages as they are arrayed at the moment in a few threads so that anyone who can be bothered - or is interested in the subject - can get an impression of the totality.

I really appreciate the assistance offered here!
Roy

Just a good digital camera is enough 7M pixels.Good lighting and camera settings do just as well.

Seperate pics/scans of each stamp is the way to go , penny reds are more popular than greens .

You could also join a stamp club