Could Use Your Knowledgeable Eyes, Thank You In Advance.

Hello and thanks to all of you for providing a forum to people like me in search of help.

Many years ago I came into a rather large (or what seems large to me anyway ) collection of stamps from a great uncle who had passed away. They were put aside and forgotten about for probably 30+ years. Recently, with the proliferation of stamp valuation information available on the internet, I've tried to go through some of the stamps to see if there are any of value. The two things I discovered after way too many hours of combing through seemingly endless variations of the same Washington 2 cent stamp, is that I definitely do not enjoy this and certainly need the help of a professional. Or, at the very least, the acquired knowledge of individuals like yourselves who can in very short order, look over a large number of stamps and determine if there is anything of potential value that needs a closer look.

I'm not expecting to find anything that's going to be worth enough to quit my job, but by the same token I don't intend to keep it and I don't want to essentially give it away for almost nothing if it turns out to be worth a few thousand dollars. It seems to me to be a very nice collection and it needs to go to somebody that will appreciate it. I'm hoping somebody can tell me if it might be worth moving forward to have it appraised. The images I've uploaded are only a fraction of the collection, I could probably provide more than two dozen more if I was tempted to try your generosity and patience.

All of the stamps in the pictures are "unused". I hesitate to say "mint" because I know how overused that grade can be, but most are in very, very good condition. I tried to show most of the stamps that I believe are pre WW2 because I think I've read that after that they're less likely to have much value? Maybe I'm mistaken on that. In any case, I haven't included the multiple pages that seem to be from the 50s on, outside of one image showing some blocks of United Nations stamps in semi-transparent, wax envelopes. He must have been very fond of those because there are A LOT of UN stamps in this collection, starting with 51 and I believe each following year.

Some of the stamps I left inside the pockets of their manila sheet because he appears to have identified them with their stamp number and I'm guessing that most of you only need to see the top part of the stamp to know if it's labeled correctly or not and if it's of any value. The ones that weren't individually identified were placed on a piece of white paper so it would be easier for you to see. As I said, these pictures are only a fraction of the collection and if anyone is interested in seeing more, I can certainly provide them. I'm just trying to determine if it's worth the cost a more formal appraisal.

Finally... thank you to anyone that has not only taken the time to read this far, but also looks over the pictures and provides me with some feedback. I appreciate your time and willingness to share your knowledge of the subject.

Welcome.
What you have shown above has minimal value; it is possible (but unlikely) that you might have something of value hidden among the common stamps. Here are few choices;
A. Take images of all the stamp and list on ebay, count on the free marketplace to determine the value
B. Take everything to a dealer or buyer and hope that they evaluate the accumulation correctly and offer you a fair price
C. Learn more yourself and invest the time to evaluate the material yourself, you might end up enjoying the hobby
d. Pay some to do a thorough appraisal

Beyond this, there is no panacea I can think of for determining the value of a large amount of material.
Don

Per Don's suggestion, if you decide to do more research www.stampsmarter.com is the ideal place to start. The stamps shown all appear to be lower-denomination, where few rarities exist for the time period represented. That said, I have limited knowledge of USA stamps however your stamps do appear from the front to be in fine condition.

I'd also like to point out that the meaning of mint is different in philately when comparied to numismatics. Mint simply means the stamp has not been cancelled (used) and has at least some original gum. Your stamps appear to all be mint.

Hello Don and thanks for the feedback. As I said , I wasn't expecting to get rich off of this and the hours that I've already put into it trying to determine if there was anything of substantial value in here let me know that this just isn't the hobby for me. The pictures represent about 15-20% of the collection, I'm just wondering if it was worth the $50-$100 to have a value put on the collection. I don't want to spend $100 to have them tell me it's worth $100 lol. In any case, you were able to give me exactly what I was hoping for, a quick scan that tells me I'm not giving away any hidden gems. Thank you for your time.

Thanks Shermae!

Based on what you showed it would not be worth spending $50 to get someone's opinion of value. old UN is really hard to sell and much of the US you show trades as discount postage well below face value and the best things are not of big significance (the best page is probably page 5 with the Presidential coils)

eyeonwall thank you, I appreciate it

I have used stamps from your 1-4 pages for postage recently. Admittedly, these had been hinged but they were great looking stamps. There are still more of them available than collectors wanting them. Good luck.

There are some coil line pairs among them. They are priced in the Scott US Specialized, and it looks like some of the older ones carry a bit of a premium over just 2 times the single coil price. Sometimes it's just a little, and sometimes a little more.

If the original poster can get (or borrow from a library) a copy of the Scott US Specialized, it would help identify those. (And UN is included in that volume as well.)

Philatarium, thank you!