Newbie Questions Regarding Covers

Hi all!

I've just inherited a large collection of stamps. Here is an example of some international stamps in the collection. I have two questions:

1. When is it beneficial to leave the stamp on the cover vs. separating it?
2. Is there a good resource to find out how to lift the stamp from the cover?

Thanks!




*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
The word inherit is your clue to post this in the " inherited a Collection" forum.

The stamps you show aren't on covers. If they were, and their use was interesting to you, I'd leave them on the cover. Or not. It's up to you. In your image, those all look like very common stamps. Removing them from the paper (by soaking in warm water) won't harm their value, and it's the way they're usually collected -- unless you intend to collect cancellations which some people do collect. Older stamps are sometimes more appealing if left on their paper so the cancel can be seen more completely but only if the cancel is legible, unusual, or somehow interesting. That eliminates nearly all cancels in my book, so I just browse quickly through any stamps I have in order to pull out any worth leaving on paper, and then dump the rest in warm water in the sink. Be very careful with the wet stamps floating in the water as they can tear easily. This is the normal way of removing any paper from a stamp. It won't harm the stamps. Dry them on dish towels or paper towels. You might put a heavy book or something else flat and heavy on top of them to flatten them out.

Your material shown is "on paper" vs on cover. I would ask this question in the Kiloware forum as they are the most knowledgeable as what is shown is called Kiloware. I'm a newbie myself, but would assume to keep it on paper - especially since you are overwhelmed already.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the hobby and the forum. On cover means the stamp is on a complete envelope that includes the sender and recipients address as well as any postmarks or other postal markings. It is one thing to collect the stamps removed from their cover by placing them on an album page. It is quite another thing to collect the whole cover documenting the stamp's usage. Most common stamps of little value are more valuable on a complete cover. It can get complex to understand the significance of some covers but seeking the knowledge needed to understand their journey through the postal system is the multidimensional way to collect.

Jane,
all those are common stamps from what I can see, all available a penny each already soaked.

So like other members, save them as is, do not soak them, plop them into a polypropylene envelope, and in a few years, if you are still collecting, you'll find joy in finding new postmarks, and auxilliary markings on the fragments you have.

Soaking common stamps is a waste of valuable sorting, mounting, organisation time.

Federated Malay States Tiger fragments, I had given me 15 years ago,
still have them.

Thanks for alll the support, everyone! So this is considered a cover, yes? And it's better to keep the covers intact.

Yes and keep covers intact. You show an example of postal history. Everything on the cover front and back is of interest to collectors. Stamp,envelope, cancellation, address, names, general delivery, dated handstamp and more.

Being from Illinois the Marseilles, Illinois postmark caught my attention.

Another thing about covers, I've seen a member who will actually research and post who the person is or was a few times. So there's that angle too. And I believe if the original content (like a letter) is still inside then I believe its called a "cover with enclosure" not sure if that adds value someone else would have to comment.

I believe it does add value, more so the older the letter is, and also who it's written by.

IMHO 19th century envelopes with the contents still inside are scarce to rare.

Quote:
And I believe if the original content (like a letter) is still inside then I believe its called a "cover with enclosure" not sure if that adds value someone else would have to comment.


I believe it does add value, more so the older the letter is, and also who it's written by.

IMHO 19th century envelopes with the contents still inside are scarce to rare.



Good to know, because I have a BUNCH!

Wow. A bunch of pre-1900 covers with contents. Very nice.

The content can add a lot of value to a cover but all content is not created equal. Business and banking content are very common and add little value. Personel letters are better but do not add more than $10-20. Letters from Union Civil War soldiers are desirable and add to value, in one case it added over $200. I've found content that was historically important that has put covers into the 1000s. The more interesting the content the more value.

Good morning Jane15q and all,

Please post images of a representative 19th century cover or two you have with contents. Especially look for not only civil war era items but items with more than just a first class postage stamp and other unusual markings. Any from or going to Indiana? Enjoy the day and the hobby.

Are letters from the Confederates less desirable?

No Confederate letters are much rarer and in fact I've never seen one, so probably why I didn't mention them.

Good morning Jane15q and all,

Please post images of a representative 19th century cover or two you have with contents. Especially look for not only civil war era items but items with more than just a first class postage stamp and other unusual markings. Any from or going to Indiana? Enjoy the day and the hobby.

Hi hoosierboy! Here are a few examples of some 19th century covers I have with contents. They are all personal letters. Unfortunately, no Indiana in them since most of my family was from Iowa, Illinois, and Florida. It seems that the bulk of the older stuff I took to my parents' house in another state for storage, but it is all safe and sound and I hope to merge it all back together once I have the space. Let me know what you think of these few examples. The first is postmarked 1884 in Iowa City, the second 1896 in White Hall Illinois, and the third in 1888 in Greenfield Iowa.