Inherited Collection. Newbie And Needing Help!

yes my pic is way off. exactly like yours.

The lower left stamp also appears to have a hole above it.

Definitely not a hole. Now that I look closely I'm amazed at how much black ink is used for shading and the outlines. If I could show you a blown up version it almost looks like its ink. if that's possible. I have four other of those blocks of four and luckily none of them have that mark.

JoJo - So back to your original post and asking about stamp handling and condition issues.

Your pics show some nice material with good value. You are a fortunate person that your Grandad was a neat collector. I would wager that the airmail stamps were purchased when issued.

Don, SCF moderator and owner/builder of Stamp Smarter, always suggests checking the acidity of your paper, in your case album pages, with a PH pen. You should do that and depending upon what is going on make a decision on removing the stamps from the pages or not.

That brings us to the next topic which is how your stamps are mounted to the pages. Hinging makes a great deal of difference in value, if value is a consideration, and the types of hinges used and how they were applied can be the difference between "very lightly hinged" and "heavy hinge remnant". You could have a mixture of all types of hinging if this collection was assembled over many years. It should be checked. How easily can the stamps be removed from the album? Will the "pop off" or will the album page paper come with them. Also check as to how the blocks are mounted. I am guessing that the top stamps are hinged and the bottom stamps are never hinged? This can also affect the value. You can value a mix of four singles in two different states or an intact block and see which is the greater. (I am NOT advising to break up any blocks)

For stamps not mounted in an album you should also consider how they are stored and whether or not they should be relocated to a better environment such as a quality stockbook or onto quality stock sheets.

Given what you have shown thus far I will tell you that it will not pay to be penny wise and pound foolish when acquiring high quality storage materials.

Finally, centering is king in valuing most US stamps and you may want to spend some time on various sites learning what different grades look like. I am not talking about numerical grades but the nuances of Fine vs Very Fine vs Extremely Fine and the combinations thereof.

Stamp Smarter is a great place to visit if you have not done so already.

Do you have a lot of Washington-Franklin's? Those are a study unto themselves.

https://stampsmarter.org/

Jojo,
You indicated in your original post that as a non-collector, you are interested in selling the collections.
I use the plural "collections" because of the different apparent ending points.

But you have already invested some of your own time and investigative instincts to figure out that in the case of the US collection, there is some pretty good material. I wonder if the collecting bug has not grabbed you, at least for those…. All of us would love for you to get into stamp collecting and have the enjoyment we do.

But, if you are still planning to liquidate, one of the first questions would be for you to consider how you want to do that. Do you have the time and inclination to develop sufficient expertise to start selling items individually or in sets on say ebay, in order to maximize the financial return?

Or, do you want or need to minimize the time you spend on the liquidation process and want to just call someone to come look at the collections and then either auction them for you or buy them from you right then? The latter will likely realize the least financial return for you, but would be fastest.

We can give further advice on either course of action, the selling piecemeal or country by country over time on ebay (or other platform) or getting someone to take care of it all for you. But let us know which of those broad brush alternatives fits your own priorities.

But know that with what you have in hand, you could have a great start on a very pleasurable pastime!

- Jonathan

Thank you guys for the fantastic advice! I feel like you know exactly what I'm going through without having to watch me do it. One of the books because of its storage orientation I'm assuming, has most stamps stuck to the pages. It is shame to see. Luckily some do "pop" off without much effort but the majority are stuck to stay. The good news is most of the stamps are beautiful but not much value. If I can figure out a way to identify the Washington's then I will decide what to do from there. If I have a fairly nice stamp is very fine,
no gum worth anything?
As for hingeing, Kresge's hinges are what is in the box. 500 for 5 Cents! lol. I will definitely work on proper handling and storage of the stamps I have removed. The four blocks are mostly hinged at the top in the middle thus affecting two stamps. ugh.
I do find these stamps fascinating to study. He was Asst Postmaster at Narberth PO in Pa. He has probably 200 or more first day covers that he would mail to various post offices to obtain that cancellation and PM. Some of the Philatelic stuff that I won't know what to do with, I hope people on here will appreciate it's story and I'll be happy to send it to you. I do think auction may be right for me once I get more organized. I'll send more pics once I get this 300kb thing figured out! I do have a used SC 318 that I can't find auction prices. Maybe too common?
Thanks Ed

Hi Ed,

That some of the stamps have stuck themselves to the pages of tthe album is not altogether given the album has been in storage in Florida. The humidity there is a real problem. Narberth PA which is a few miles from me can also be sticky in the summertime.

Regarding the Sc 318. Experimental coil, incredibly rare, used ones even more so. Commonly faked even back in the 1920s and 30s. There are several threads on the Forum which can be found through the search function in which 318 candidates have been presented for discussion and found wanting.

Here's hoping you figure out image posting soon so you can give is more pictures of a very interesting collection. You could have some very nice finds. Would love to see your Panama Pacifics….

Thanks for the advice! Just started reading about a few 318 forgeries. Fascinating the amount of knowledge on this forum! I'll get the scans from the Panama Pacifics shortly. In the meantime I'll at least show you what's in the book. I'll try to get a scan with more contrast. Thanks again
Ed

Another question please. The vast majority of my inherited collection are hinged. In order someday sell at least some of the more valuable ones, is it ever worth getting the stamp graded or authenticated? Also there are quite a few blocks of four without the actual plate attached. These are therefore MH on two stamps !/2 hinge each and the other two stamps are MNH. Is it wi
worth it to seek out a really well centered unhinged stamp and detach it from the group to grade? Hope that question makes sense.
Thank you. Ed
Not necessarily talking about these Norse stamps but for illustration purposes, I have pages of these!

In general, it's only worth having a stamp certified if there's something contentious about the issue - eg it's known to have been faked, a scarce printing is hard to distinguish from a common one etc. Unless you have something really valuable, of course. I'll leave it to others to comment on grading.

Nope, don't break up the block. In many cases, among classic-era stamps (generally pre-1940) the world over, blocks hold a premium (sometimes quite large) over singles or pairs. Also, there's an expectation that good number of stamps from the period will be hinged, and by no means does a stamp have to be MNH to be graded or certified. Should you come across a stamp, pair, or block that you or others really believe could be something special (generally in the hundreds or thousands of dollars... no reason to spend $25 to cert a stamps that sells for $40), then submit it for a cert or expertising.

I would suggest purchasing a stamp catolog program..I am not sure if I can say what \I use..but I will say if allowed

Very nice stamps. Great story. I grew up in Merion, right around the corner from Narberth. Currently in Tampa.

My parents grew up in Ardmore. St Dennis school. My mom was Bryn Mawr nurse. I was an Oakmont fireman when I was in college at West Chester. Thanks for your help! Ed

Nice scans of beautiful stamps.