Is It Possible To Do A "Quick Sort" To Remove The Common, Low-Value Stamps?

Hello,

I have read several articles for people who have inherited stamp collections. I have a question I haven't found an answer to, so may I turn to you for your thoughts? I am a librarian and I have often found that collectors on message boards are one of the most helpful sources of good information.

I inherited three separate stamp collections from relatives, all collected by middle-class US men, from about 1930-1965. None of these relatives had a great deal of extra money for his hobby. There might be fifteen volumes of stamps.

Before I load them up in the car and take them to an expert, is there a category of stamps that I can weed out?

I'm guessing that in an ordinary person's collection like these are, it might be safe to assume that 99 percent of US stamps after 1930 have no value (cancelled), or at best face value (uncancelled). Most of these stamps are individual stamps, pasted to a page, cancelled.

if I could remove those pages from the volumes, I could remove 80 percent of the stamps, and that would make it a lot easier to haul the remainder around to consult an expert.

Opinion:
Probably a waste of your time.
Any dealer of note, would know where to look in an album,
possibly first looking at the beginning, then Back of book.

A flip through the collection, will indicate the quality of husbandry of the Albums, the cleanliness and standard of the stamps.

I'd take the whole lot, and be there when they flip through them.
Two or three opinions should have you near the mark.

Two places to look at for selling. There is a $2,000 minimum value required at Kelleher and I am not sure the three collections are enough. If not, Millers. There are many shops in CT.

http://db.kelleherauctions.com/php/...n.php?lang=1

http://www.millerstamps.com/