How About This Stamp?

I know absolutely nothing about stamps. What do I look for and what would its value be?

It does not appear to be cancelled and has gum so use it for postage.

Collector value is very minimal

I agree. I would collect it, if it was used, but since it is unused, you should save the 32c on postage and use it!

are stamps only valuable if they are used?

No. In this case, the stamp has little or no value to a collector mint or used, so the value to you is in the 32c you can save on postage.

No but in this case the stamp has much more value if you just used it to mail a letter. Ggreve may only collect used stamps by preference.

Aside from being an extremely common, modern stamp your copy has some issues. The perforations along the left and right edges are very short in some cases. Most collectors prefer stamps with full perfs (e.g. the stamp was torn very cleanly away from it's neighbor). Likewise, the face of the stamp seems to have some light discolorations, perhaps stains or signs of inadequate storage methods. Here too most collectors, especially with a very common stamp, prefer stamps that are very "fresh" in appearance as they were when originally purchased from the post office.

Dealers or collectors have hundreds or even thousands of loose stamps from almost anywhere. These "duplicates" are often brought to stamp club meetings or shows for other collectors to look through and pick out what they need.

Dealers might charge five or ten cents per stamp (they have overhead like rent and other costs) but collectors are lucky to get a nickel if others go through their duplicates and pick out the better ones that they might need.

Unfortunately most intermediate or advanced collectors would pass on your stamps; they just exist in massive quantities and collectors have no use for duplicates unless they are rare and valuable. Yours are neither.

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But never pass up an opportunity to learn something....stamps can be an amazing way to learn about world culture, history, geography, even languages. Most stamp collectors would fare far better than the average non-collector at any trivia game or the tv show Jeopardy. All due to knowledge learned through our fascinating hobby known as philately!

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681