Friend Gives Me The Best Gift

I have a friend who is a full time antiques/collectibles dealer and cares nothing for stamps...lucky me! He just brought me this and I haven't touched it but from the looks of it it's going to be awesome!

Good luck, and have fun. Remember to show us any interesting things which you unearth.

Tim H, Thank you kind Sir. I've uploaded a few pics of what is only a small fraction of whats left to work through.It's been a surreal experience the past few hours.I want to share so please let me know how I could donate part of my collection to the community as a giveaway or to be used for whatever would be deemed an approprate use by those in charge of the forum. The excitment is no fun if there is nobody to share it with! Cheers! Jonathan

Awesome! Isn't it a lot of fun going through collections like that. I had two recent collections purchased and it was a load of fun.........and best yet, profitable. One lot was about 20 2-3inch binders that I am still going through.

Best of luck and hope you have a lot of fun going through that lot!
Robert

I think I'd keep those Mystic approval sheets intact. The stamps on them aren't valuable but if left on the original sheets they'd be philatelic memorabilia. Might be surprising what you'd get for them on ebay.

Makes me curious when they switched to glassines. As a kid collecting in the 70s I never saw these, mystic and everyone else who sent me stamps on approval used glassines.

Oh yeah, I remember getting stamps on those sheets from H.E.Harris, I think really all the stamp companies sent those. When I really started getting more serious about buying because my dad started giving me $1 per week allowance about 1950 and my dad bought me a Big Blue album for Christmas, 1952. Still have it!

Stamps1962 -- I think you are right about keeping those sheets intact. It makes for a really interesting display. Being stored all these years on those folded sheets really kept the stamps in remarkably pristine shape.

Fun. I wish I had friends that would give me stamps. Maybe I need new friends?

I am sure that Mystic gave zero consideration for the paper they are mounted and it is not acid free. So unlike glassines, leaving them on these pages is probably not a good idea unless you do not mind the stamps eventually toning.
Don

@Don --doubtless you are correct that no concern was harbored for acidity of those approval sheets way back when. I never gave a moments thought that my 1952 Big Blue Scotts International Album doubtless is not acid free, either. Drat!

@Stampavalanche --you have a really thoughtful friend to gift you all that philatelic collectibles. Cherished friend.

-Preston

@thepackrat Thank you Robert! It has been fun but it's been work! I've been spending every spare minute separating the loose stamps into their country of origin. All 3 of my sons have helped me with my oldest showing a keen interest. I'm starting him off good with a collection from this lot. That means the most to me, I hope he enjoys the hobby and finds solace in stamps as I have.
@Hoxsie454 cherished friend indeed.
@Stamps1962 I will keep several for sure.
Not sure on value haven't checked yet but will for sure.

Thank all of you guys for responding! Jonathan

From an archival aspect, the relative importance of acid free paper is over exaggerated in my opinion. Storage conditions (temperature, humidity, light) have a far greater effect. Yes, if you have valuable material archival materials should be used.

Very Nice! Your friend was very kind to give you that lot of stamps.