Inherited Collection Questions

That's a count for the number of stamps from each country.

Would that be a common practice?
To count the # of stamps/country.
I only collect US classics.
Regards m

I did it as a child. I think you'll find that a lot of people on here still do it!

Never counted, myself. Scott, Michel, and SG do the counting for me.

I think a fair number of general world collectors like to have a count of their "all different" stamps.

Yep, when I was collecting classic worldwide, I used a big spreadsheet to track how many stamps per country, and for some countries, broke it down by period & condition.

The breakdown of the sheet appears to be book or album # first. Country/ count or quantity of - stamps/ souvenir sheets/ booklets or booklet panes/ postcards/ folder/ stamp on piece and finally blocks - 4 or more stamps. Helps in locating country by album/binder. Too bad the 8c George v has a tear/fault at top. Otherwise Canadian looks reasonably nice. Any more?

There are some American Philatelic Society affiliate stamp clubs in the following cities not too far from you:
Rocky River
Cuyahoga Falls
Willoughby
Solon
Massillon
Litchfield
Wasdworth
Warren
(I hope I didn't misspell any of these &
there are more in the state)

Search to see if they have a website where you can contact one or more or them and see if they have members who would be willing to meet with you to help organize, catalogue and evaluate what you have. It probably will involve several meetings to get through it all. If it were me, I'd want to have a better understanding of what's there before engaging with buyers or sellers. Collectors are a good source to assist in the process. This site will also be helpful, but you have quite a lot of stamps to go through.

Searched for sites in those cities and couldn't really find websites. I did however find that most of the stamp clubs meet every 2 weeks. Should I just show up? If so, what should I bring?

Check out these envelopes and let me know what you see!

Also I would like to say if I have not already, thank you to all of you. I really value and appreciate your help, opinions, and expertise.

Some club info here. If you want to just show up, bring pictures and a book/album or two of what you have. If you google stamp club in ____ Ohio, you should get some contact info and some web addresses. I got web addresses on the fist two on the list when I tried. Not much there in those envelopes in terms of value or advanced collectability as far as I see them, but others may have a differing opinion.

https://www.linns.com/community/loc...bs/ohio.html

Can't speak to the covers, a few look interesting but I'm far from an expert. Guessing the motive behind why they were kept is equally fun and frustrating.

As far as a club meeting goes, if you're able to reach out to someone beforehand, it'd probably be nice to introduce yourself (especially if the club meets at someone's home) so they know to expect you and can show you around or make introductions. Bring any material you want to talk about, or just bring your questions and a notebook. Ultimately, remember that there's a dynamic that goes along with being the new guy... don't go to any one meeting with expectations beyond civility: maybe the person who has the answers couldn't make the meeting, maybe the club just doesn't have vibe that you like. No matter what, if you like the concept, try a few clubs a few times, and then join it/them. Worst case, you never attend a meeting and are out a few dollars, best case you make lifelong friends.

I think you should dig out 1 or 2 albums and show some pictures from these. Your list of stamps is pretty common but the question is what type of albums and the time period covered. If the collection goes through 1950 or 1960 the number of stamps shown is impressive, but if the albums go to 1980 or 1990 the list is less impressive.

The covers shown are far less valuable than the stamps and you shouldn't focus on them.

I would recommend you get some good pictures of the content and send them to the auction houses and see if they will send someone to look at your material. You should be careful of people that give you an offer to buy it all. You should get a few offers before you make any decision but I think the best result would be achieved by finding an auction house that would break it down into smaller lots and auction it for you.

Ken

If there are a lot of covers, seek out the ones that are oldest and best preserved; and any from from 1800s and early 1900s that might have interesting stamps (high values), postmarks or advertising.

Otherwise, yes, go with the stamps; there's clearly good Canadian here so start with that? Maybe UK and look for 1800s U.S. as a start.

Awesome. Thanks everyone. We have a guy coming to look at it October 4. I believe he is from Dutch Country auctions.

Please let us know how it went.
I have never read, ever, how an appraisal went, from an auctioneer.
That would be fascinating.

John Lennon counted his stamps, he got to 683 if memory serves.