Inherited A Collection: How To Begin?

I've inherited a collection of stamps from my father (78). He was born and raised in Sweden and this collection is mostly stamps from his uncle with a little input from himself over the years. The collection is heavily European and seems to start pre WWII (a lot of war time era stamps). I have a couple actual books with stamps sorted by country as well as envelopes by country and then a box of just loose stamps.

I have a few questions:
• I live in between Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI. There has to be some exonerate I can show this to to get some advice. Anyone local?

• How should I sort the bulk stamps?

• what am I not thinking of asking? There is so much I don't know.

Thank you for any tips or assistance you can offer!

Garreck

Can you scan some pages to show wha you have? I don't understand what an exonerate is.

You can contact Rasdale Auctions

35 Chestnut Avenue •
Westmont, IL 60559 •
Phone (630) 794-9900

They can take a look at it an give you some idea about value. It would be good to post pictures here so we can tell you if it's worth the trip.

@rdavid: "expert", is what I meant to type. Sorry for the typo!

@krelyea: thank you! I'll post some pics

For anyone to give meaningful advice, it would be helpful to know generally whether you desire to:
1. retain the collection and develop it as your own,
2. retain the collection and let it sit for the next generations to take over,
3. liquidate the collection retaining a small "remembrance portion" which has some family meaning,
4. liquidate it all, or
5. need an insurance or appraisal value.

Excellent advice by John Becker

Garreck27,
Welcome.
The best way to start is to utilize this community by posting some representative images of the collection. Once the scope of the collection is understood, then you can revisit the list that John Becker has posted above.
Don

I also received a few stamps recently and was wondering around what ballpark the value of what I have.. I appreciate any feedback whatsoever. I'll post pics

Welcome KaoticKollector to our community,

The personal value of these treasures lies in the fact of its family connection. Hopefully this exceeds its current financial value and you can keep at lest some of it as a family treasure for you and future generations to enjoy.

That being said, John Becker outlined the basic options.

The next step you should take comes down to your interests be them financial gain, heirloom preservation, or hopefully enjoyment of our hobby. You should be able to find helpful info detailing whatever path you chose to follow here in this community.

Do not go to Rasdale - they are not a good company to deal with! There is a stamp show on Sept 14-15 in Oakbrook Terrace: http://www.msdastamp.com/ Take your stamps there and ask several dealers what they think.