Soviet Stamps Collection Sale Advice

Yes, I know the sale cannot happen now: I am too new and I do not expect people trust me right away. I just look for the advice on how to. I googled Brooklyn Philatelic club (assuming this is where the Soviet stamp collectors may be) but nothing comes up. Do not mean to offend anyone by using this assumption.... And found this active community. Really appreciate all these replies!

Isn't Raritan Stamps very good for Russia stamps?

Yes. I deal with Raritan and like them. This would be sold as a collection at Raritan at a percentage of cv. Which keeps bringing us back the cv as a basis.

Another place to check is Oldbid. com which hosts many of the large auctioneers of Russian/Soviet material both in the US and in Russia.

https://oldbid.com/

At the risk of asking an obvious question, what does oldbid offer? It's new to me.

I clicked around a bit, but, can you give us a three-line summary of how you use it?

Old Bid is an auction platform like SAN that is geared towards Russian material. It is very well done and the amount of hard to find and more pedestrian material that comes up there is amazing. It is run by the same people that have the Old Louis auction firm that I have used extensively to build my collection.

PS: SAN could learn a few lessons from Old Bid when it comes to Mobile and user friendliness amongst other things. It is a real pleasure to live bid on as well. Very well done.

Thanks friends. I had emailed Raritan. They are close by (geographically). Lets see.

Got it touch with Nickolai from the Raritan. He gave me an estimate based on photos/videos I sent him. I will think it over....

I just remembered another person to contact in Queens, Loral Stamps. I deal with them quite a bit and find them to be honest and fair.

https://www.russianstamps.com/index.cfm

I would like to thank this community for pointing me to a nice decent man like Nikolai from the Raritan Stamps. After sending a few photos we made a deal and my collection now belongs to him. Time to move on for me to some new hobby! Good luck to all of you!

Happy endings are awesome!

Rog would you say Raritan, Cherrystone and Loral are all top notch and would trust that if they sell an overprint stamp it is extremely likely genuine. Add OldLouis to the discussion too.

Hey Randy - I would personally trust Raritan, Cherrystone and Loral equally and that is to say, quite a bit, especially when it comes to Russian material. Raritan and Cherrystone in particular have handled all of the great Russian rarities and can render expert opinions that carry weight. Paul from Cherrystone has exhibited Russian material at an international level for years and has won numerous medals. Nikolai and Yuriy from Raritan are on a par with Zagorsky when it comes to expertise in Russian philately.

I mention Old Louis because they host all of the better auction houses that specialize in Russian material including Raritan and Cherrystone as well as many reputable Russian based firms on the Old Bid platform and also sell under the Old Louis banner. I have purchased bread and butter material from Old Louis and the quality is outstanding. They ship from Ukraine so patience is advised when it come to timeliness of receiving your lots. Old Louis tends to not deal in the rarer Russian material and that is OK. They stay in their lane and thus stay out of trouble.

I will say that specific to Raritan many higher level Russia collectors will buy from them on their assurance of genuineness and they have found many unique and previously undiscovered items through the years that were subsequently documented through meticulous research.

If you want to purchase a specific position of the Philately for the Children or Philately's Contribution to Labor semi-postal stamps for example Raritan will not let you down. They also have incredible knowledge of proofs, essays, errors, postal history and stationary amongst other things.

Leon from Loral (dba/Russian Stamps) is a an honest broker as well with a wealth of knowledge. His prices are high and his stock can be low at times. He is up there in age now and I wonder what will become of Loral.

All of these folks are old school in that they love and know the material and are not brokers that could care less about what they are peddling.

Great info Roger. I am about to make a sizeable purchase with Loral and most are overprints with an abundance of forgeries. The prices are high but if all genuine then cheap compared to the mind field out there. Thought it would take me years of hunting and constant worry of getting burned. I am being a little coy as the material is not Russia but next door. Actually shaking a bit as this is just about one stop shop. I had checked Cherrystone, Raritan and Oldlouis but when you mentioned Loral wow, the whole enchilada. Any other thoughts before I purchase or collapse.

Pull the trigger Randy. You will not be let down by Loral. Hope you can share some pics when ready!