After 15 Years I Lost The Enjoyment

Sometimes one just gives up after trying so hard.

I've kept at U.S. throughout the past 50 years, and I'm still enjoying it. I collect the U.S. in depth, so there are any number of areas to go to when one becomes less interesting. When I say in-depth, I mean IN-DEPTH. I collect stampless covers, proofs, essays, 19th century, 20th century, 21st century, mint, used, postal history, FDCs, revenues, postal stationery and all manner of ephemera associated with the production of stamps, the publicity for them and finally, Western Airletter.

When I get tired of looking at precancels, I move over to postal stationery or work on revenues for a while. When those areas start to lose my attention, I'll move back to 20th century used or mint... I think you get the idea.

As far as a series that frustrates you - don't work on it until you feel like it. I felt the same way about the flag over porch issues - they drove me bat-crap crazy! I eventually did get through them, with the help of a website I found, but I put them all aside for over a year.

By having a variety of avenues to explore, I have never lost interest and find the deeper I dig into the entire process, the more fascinated with it I am. Currently, I'm working on seeing just how complete I can get EVERYTHING for the 1934-35 National Parks/Farley's Follies.

Still finding the joy of collecting after all these years. Hope you do as well.

I took the washington-Franklin pages out the album .. I'm happier .. the album is no worse for it .. and I don't need to fuss or spend the money on that section. Some people love those issues. Not me ... I have plenty of other areas to spend money and time on. other sections also have no place ... I am trying to collect just what I feel like collecing.

Recent U.S. issues affected me the same way. In 2005 I drew a line and stopped trying to keep up to date with them. I'll still buy a pane or booklet that interests me topically (mostly pop culture stuff like the Simpsons or Harry Potter), but no more of this trying to get every issue, especially all the variants of uninteresting definitives. It just got to be too expensive for me -- not just the stamps, but also the album supplements and mounts.

I shifted my focus to topicals, especially my collection of stamps and postal history pertaining to Esperanto and other artificial international auxiliary languages, which I started in 1996. But about a year ago, I got the bug to work on my mint U.S. collection again, to fill the empty spaces in my album between 1931 and 2005. Now I'm edging into earlier issues, to the extent that my budget will allow.

I was born in 1964 and probably started collecting 10-12 years later with my mom. We were US mint only and I really enjoyed the history - what the commemoratives commemorated - and the thrill of filling a spot. We really hit some home runs in the late '70s when $1 in silver coins was tradeable for $25 worth of stamps. Man, $250 worth of stamps for a $10 roll of generic quarters was the best! We stopped, though,when the self-adhesives started.

I honestly haven't done anything with philately since that point. A few months ago, a friend told a neighbor that I collected when she asked him for ideas about what to do with the collection she inherited from her late husband's late brother. Long story short, I bought everything from her to help her out and now want to see if I can do a little better than break even. I may even be able to fill a space or two of my own. With the passage of time, I'm now thinking of using some of his older, used stuff to expand into the clean pages I already have.

I don't understand why anyone would collect modern U.S. stamps. I came to this decision reluctantly as I've always loved U.S. stamps.

Modern U.S. stamps are issued in enormous numbers so they'll never be worth anything. Look at U.S. stamps from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. They can be purchased today below their face value and used for postage! Contemporary stamps do include some beautiful stamps -- perhaps worth collecting -- but also many which are the same stamp being issued over and over again with tiny detail changes.

And a larger and larger number of modern U.S. stamps are ridiculously unnecessary and about silly and stupid subjects.

Far too many are issued in "sheetlets". I don't collect sheets. I collect individual stamps, so this habit of issuing endless sheets is really a tax on stamp collectors who are forced to purchase multiple copies of many stamps.

Finally, the cost of keeping up with modern U.S. stamps is completely out of control. To collect just one decade of mint U.S. stamps today will set a collector back well over $1,000 and could cost twice that amount. What an enormous waste of money! Spend that money on a few classic era stamps and they will look beautiful in your album and appreciate in value.

If you chose to spend your money on modern stamps, of course that's your business, but the money you spend is money you cannot spend on older, classic U.S. stamps (which will appreciate in value and are often much better designed) or on foreign stamps.

This is why I've stopped. I spend little to no time on modern stamps. I prefer to put my efforts and my money into earlier U.S. stamps I do not own yet and foreign stamps of the nations I collect. Collecting modern U.S. stamps is a fool's errand like those people who assiduously put away a sheet of every new U.S. commemorative back in the 1950s on the mistaken notion they would be worth something someday. Those stamps proved to be worth very little and that money was essentially wasted, locked away in stamps worth very little rather than being spent on stamps that appreciated in value. Today, we consider those "collectors" to have wasted their time.

I understand some of your gripes (have similar thoughts) but still do not think stamp collecting is that expensive compared to many other leisure activities.

For those looking for an investment, I agree people have been gained nothing. In many ways the value is not there because there are fewer collectors now so less demand especially when you try to sell multiples at once rather one by one.

I understand the sentiment in relation to collecting any and all U.S. stamps. My collecting of U.S. stamps is limited to airmail and aviation topical, of which there is a finite number (roughly 250). Having nice single examples of all of these, and plate blocks (or panes and line pairs for coils) for everything except the C1-C6 and Zepp airmail stamps, my focus is on collecting covers, both FDC's and first flight or postal history covers that have narrow appeal to my collecting interests.

As for new U.S. stamps, I keep watch for anything that would fit into my air mail or aviation topical collection. I serviced a number of FDC's for the 2015 U.S.C.G. stamp and kept singles and panes of the stamp for my collection. I'm expecting some kind of commemorative for the centennial of the first airmail stamps next year, and will collect those and no doubt do some FDC's as well.

My point is that while many have probably given up on collecting every U.S. stamp as issued, many new U.S. stamps will still end up in collections where there is topical interest.

Basil

The criticism about the US postal service issuing too many stamps has been around since the late 1800s, including the 1869 pictorials. The Columbians also got a lot of push back from collectors when they were first released as 'excessive'.

And it is not just modern stamps that have questionable appreciation; a set of Zeppelins is worth about the same as they were in 1940 (adjusted for inflation). If folks want a good investment I recommend vintage Dennison hinges.
Don

The first thing that I had to come to grips with is that the material is almost worthless. I say almost because you can use them for postage and the dumb old man I am I still pay my bills using the tried and true paper method. What I like to do and get enjoyment from is to select new issues and create first day covers using tie in stamps. Ex. the new ball stamps. I'll be mailing off soon the baseball, basketball, football, and soccer balls soon with older stamps as tie ins. For me this is fun and compared to going to a viking football game or cable tv for a year, relatively inexpensive. I've no desire to sell stamps. I worked for over 50 years, that's enough.

I've stopped with newer issues and tried to really narrow down the scope of my collection. It has helped in terms of time as well as the burden of saving every Liberty Bell stamp and then trying to ID. Has simplified things in a way which has led to more freedom. Not sure if any of this makes sense, but it is more of a feeling of peace and happiness with my collection.

Washington Franklin collectors have similar challenges = printing, types, colors, perforations.

You mean like a used US #1 which has gone from a cat value of $600 in the 2009 Scott to $375 in the 2017 Scott?

Pretty much insane those Denninson

A good investment is book

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Cancellations...57Ciid%253A1

I was lucky to find one at less than $200 actually GeofHa find it

I'm still feeling guilty about costing you money!