First Day Issue Covers And Value

Question for the group. I have an opportunity to acquire a lot of first day issue covers ranging from roughly 1940 - 1970. But I have no idea of a price offer.

I understand this is a little vague and that pictures would be beneficial, but in this case I'm limited. Any input would be welcome.

Thanks.

Well, given the time period most of those stamps are of little value as first day covers in of themselves. The only really notable exception would be the $5 Hamilton stamp and a few other exceptions. The cachets and condition would really determine value. Hand painted cachets tend to be the better types. Cachets from Art Craft, Artmaster, Fleetwood and even HF (House of Farnum) tend to be very common as they were mass produced. Most dealers at show put these covers in their $1.00 boxes and at auction they sell as little as 5 to 10 cents a piece when sold in bulk. Do you know the cachet makers? That will be the top factor in determining a price.

Other factors that reduce value - no cachets, addressed, if they are sealed, and any physical damage.

Hope that helps some.

Battlestamps, thanks. It does help. I was thinking along the line of the fun factor... The amount of fun in the discovery or at least anticipated discovery and somehow relate that to a value.

I am not aware of the cachet markers. Would you please explain? Thanks.

Makers, not markers.....the printed card that the stamp comes on.

Oh, Doh!

Thanks for the correction!

The cachet is the design usually on the left side of the envelope. There's numerous makers and types. I named a few of the most common ones. Hand painted ones from cachet makers like Dorothy Knapp are the most desired ones and can command high prices. Others can be dead common, but still attractive to many but they are cheap because supply is so much higher than demand.

There's also the American First Day Cover Society that has information on its website - http://www.afdcs.org/learnaboutfdcs.html They have lists of references as well.

Moyock 13:
The cachet on a first day cover is the picture or artwork usually located on the left side of the envelope as it faces you. As Battlestamps stated, this is a major factor in determining value. - First day covers without cachets usually have limited value, except to people who do "add-ons".
You need to determine if these first day covers are addressed or not, also a factor in determining value. For the older covers, how they are addressed is also important.
The condition of the covers, as Battlestamp stated, is also a key to value.
Only a partial answer, you ask for lots of information.
Respectfully submitted:
jrc531

Thank you, all. Appreciate the answers. I learned something today.

This was really a two part question. The first part was looking for a good way to value a FDC collection and the second was to be able to respect the seller by providing a fair and reasonable offer.

Thanks again, ya'll.

I used to sell those by weight...

If you go to ebay you can search on US FDCs then ignore all of the current auctions as most are fishing for buyers with high starting bids and filter for "SOLD" auctions. This will show you the actual prices paid. Filter again for "lots" where you will see large groups of FDCs and what they sold for. Individual FDCs of this time period can sell in the 50 cents to $2 range for most of them, but to get that you would need to put a great deal of work and patience into selling them in that way. The larger the lot, the lower the prices as there are enormous numbers of these available with a limited number of buyers. When you buy large lots or accumulations on ebay you get them for their wholesale cost. For example, here is an auction that actually sold - the buyer paid $103.50 for 1,200 FDCs from the 1960s with Artcraft cachets (Artcraft is one of the better known and nicer cachet makers). That works out to ab out to about 8 and a half cents per FDC. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-1-20...AOSw3WxZvBkp

As has already been mentioned, there are some less common cachet makers that can have a greater value. Also, FDCs that are autographed by the artist who designed the stamp or other VIPs who are related to the design can have increased values. No cachets, the slightest degree of damage or discoloration, addresses on any but the early FDCs, unrelated markings, etc. can reduce the values.

The potential problem you will likely run into is that some sellers who are not familiar with such transactions on ebay may have an idea that their collection was an investment that has gone up in value from what they originally paid for them.