Where This Madness Started .

This is the first set of piccies from a collection of stamps that I have the task of sorting out.

This are in an album and can be easily removed. Unfortunately, most of them have hinges attached, part hinges or evidence of the glue.

This is only some of the collection from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II.

Thanks for sharing! Recently worked through some early Great Britain for the first time since my childhood collection and really taken by it. I understand how a Penny Red project could become a lifelong undertaking and was also intrigued by the Queen Victoria Jubilee series. Welcome to the board!

Going to upload some more to I've an idea of what got to sort through.

These stamps are in A6 sized pocket notebooks. Should I leave the stamps on the page or carefully removed the stamp with the hinge and place in a proper album? I found an album to put them in.

Here's a selection of non-GB stamps. Again, lots hinged to A6 notebooks, some pretty well sorted.

Should these be removed with hinges in place?

If you're going to collect them yourself, take them out of the exercise books. If not, leave them for the time being until you've sorted more and decided what to do with them. When you say "put in an album", I presume you mean a stock-book.

There is a large amount of postal history letters. Some of the letters are easy to sort, like the wartime letters sent from Channel Islands.

There are 100s of letters from 1800s; think a 35 litre really useful box ... FULL.

Any suggestions about how to sort these?

My grandfather was big into Falkland Islands and other south Atlantic islands.

Here's part of the collection of postal history and stamps.

Unfortunately, most of his collection will be sold by one means or another.

What is the best market/way? Is ebay the easiest place?

It took a lifetime for your grandfather to accumulate/collect this material. One cannot come up to speed on all the nuances in a few months or so. For us to give relevant advice, perhaps more important than seeing more pictures, it would be desirable to know what the intention of the family is. Specifically, does the family want to:

1. Keep everything and expand the collection
2. Keep a small portion of the collection as a specialized memorial group
3. Sell everything.

The advice depends on your intentions.

If the answer leans strongly toward #3, then it will be a far better use of your time to have local experts screen through the collection. Spending much time "processing" the collection for sale which will almost certainly be redone by the next owner.

In other words, when your auto won't start, you call a mechanic rather than learning about auto repair yourself. When you have a stamp collection to sell, likewise, go to experts and use their knowledge.

Final post. How common was this album / collection? The pages seem to be stamps from countries which were part of the old Empire.

BTW I have no dreams or hopes that any of this collection is worth a fortune; I haven't posted anything to do with FDC, or 'special' collections (ie royal weddings, anniversaries, etc.) they were printed in the 1000s and 10000s.

Perhaps I haven't read every line, but why do you have to 'sort them out'? Can't you just enjoy them at whatever pace you choose?

Reply to John Becker's post.

Much appreciated words with excellent advice.

It is going to have to be option 3, with a little bit of 2.

Putting the stamps and letters into general subject areas is pretty much all I can do; then to get local experts to screen and advise.

PS Let's clear one thing up, I'm not all mercenary trying to get a quick win. Unfortunately, the inheritor of the collection is having to sell. Grandchildren will not be inheriting.

My interest is in a collection of postcards collected by a grand aun; not only for the correspondence between family members a hundred years ago, but they also have photographs of family on them.

From what I see it would make a "box lot" in a conventional auction. There is no reason to do anything other than leave everything intact. It will sell better that way as a "treasure" box to search through. If you pull out a few slightly better items it will only decrease the overall value. Unless you have a lot of spare time to sell it all in small pieces on ebay.

In any case John Becker called it right. Bring it to someone reputable that can examine it in person. Trying to evaluate large lots by forum pics is a tough nut to crack.

Best of luck.

It would be a shame to see this all end up as a single "box lot" The GB alone is enough to stand on its own.
100s of 1800s covers would also be enough for an auction lot.
The Falklands/South Atlantic has my name on it.
The Victory album has all the stamps issued to note the Victory in WWII. The album itself isn't worth much, the value is in the stamps themselves.
Since you are in the UK, I would suggest you talk to Vincent Greene of Sandafayre. Selling them yourself on ebay will take a lot of effort and you will not be able to properly describe them.

edited to fix typos

May I suggest you also consider keeping anything addressed to a family member as such does add to family history.




I am not asking why the collection needs to be sold, the assumption is money. That said, does the person need money, right now, or can the money arrive later? The reason I ask is that the answer also can control the method of sale. Outright sale is money now; an auction sale or sales is money later.

Likewise if the outright sale is chosen, do understand that if that price is one pound as an example, it does not matter if you, you and other interested grandchildren or just the dealer makes the payment; the owner is fairly compensated for the material.

Lastly is there an assumption or a target price the current owner is hoping or dreaming for? If the answer is a million pounds, pay off the house mortgage or purchase a new (not used) car then the answer is that will not be happening. Being on my side of the pond, the expression is, do they have a ballpark idea of what they are hoping for or counting on?

If you are selling the material I think it looks good enough to invite a philatelic dealer to look at it and assess it. I have never sold anything so I have no experienceas a seller but there are different levels of auction and dealer in the UK. In my limted experience as a buyer and Viewer at auctions I would approach some one such as Robert Murray at Edinburgh or Corbitts and see how much they would charge to auction and sort out your material. If you want to make a definite amount of money easily and relatively quickly. United Philatelic auctions (UPA) buy collections then auction them off as their property. If you can find people who have sold collections they might be able to advise you but I think asking a philatelic auction house what they thought would be a wise move. All I could say is don't sell them at a stamp club auction, the bargains available for buyers must mean sellers don't get a good return.

This isn't a "box lot". There are several groups even within these photos that should be sold separately, eg the line-engraved and later GB, the WWII Channel Islands, the Falklands etc. Others, such as the Victory omnibus, have relatively little value. Of auctioneers, I mainly buy from Warwick & Warwick and Somerset Stamp Auctions, and have sold a few things via the latter. You could try an e-mail and some photos. Auction houses typically charge the vendor 15-20% commission, and you'll wait a couple of months for the sale proceeds. Either of those I've mentioned would be likely to make a cash offer if that were your preference.