Pushing 330,000 All Different Worldwide Stamps In One Collection .

Nice set @floortrader. I think I have those, too, or maybe just a subset. Are those crystal mounts??? Yuck.

Nick ---- Yes they are crystal mounts . They were mounted in the early 80's and since I had no problem with them , I haven't moved them to better mounts .

how many large WW stamp collections are still left. Are they larger now with less serious collectors around?

They still seem to come up at auction so there are probably many big ones still around.

Green Dragon---- The best place to get a answer would be with the major stamp auction firms .The large collections owners mostly likely were active buyers with more than one firm ,but then the firms are not likely to tell you who their active buyers have been .It would have to be done thru a phone call then a written questioneer or survey .

My guess and it is only a guess .

There are about 150 in the U.S. and maybe another 150 worldwide . I need to clearify that these are WORLDWIDE collections and they catalog over $600,000 catalog so these would sell for above $100,000 at auction ,with a few that could go over million dollars if sold intact .

floortrader - Lets say you collect until 1980. How many stamps (unique) or different would you consider a large stamp collection?

Green Dragon ---- I believe it was LANDOQUAKES who one time posted that the magic number was 100,000 different stamps to be a goal for a large worldwide collection . Looking back in history of the hobby that was the goal or a target to reach for many years in the past . Sort of agree with what has been a standard or a measurement . A lot easier to reach today but still a point of pride for most .

If you asked each reader here , you would get a lot of different types of expanded answers . There is still a lot of other goals like a stamp from each country , fill 15,000 stamps in a Scott Vol I, collect just airmails or other interesting goals .

TO NEW READERS AND COLLECTORS------- As you read the statements above in this section do understand the trend has changed. Instead of numbers of stamps the stamp auction houses are not counting stamps they quote a total catalog value for what they are offering for sale . So the above comment I made about the $600,000 catalog value is how the Auction Houses measure a massive worldwide collection today..

how much time does it take to calculate cat value for 600,000 value of stamps

I wonder about that as well- it would take many, many hours unless the auction houses are either taking the collectors word for it {cough} or spit balling the value using some formula {cough}

Your both correct they can take a week or two , on a $100,000 sale the auction house adds close to $20,000 as their fee ,so even if a two employees takes 2 or 3 weeks they are making money .

Remember they are only totaling those stamps and sets that exceed $50.00 or $100.00 per item , There must be some set rule working at a stamp firm like ,only spend 1/2 hour on a $500.00 item or lot .

More crystal mounts in one of my albums

Actually, you can often times double that since they make both a buyer and seller commission. I always thought it should be a sliding fee since a single stamp hardly takes the same effort as a collection or accumulation. You can negotiate sometimes but it is rare that they will bend. Maybe if your last name is Gross!