General Information On Lot Of Stamps (I Was Gifted My Grandad's Collection Recently)

Hello Stamp Family!

I am ABSOLUTELY NEW to this stamp thing. I've been into coins/currency for a while, so I've been around stamps in that kind of way (both hobbies have ties together it would seem).

I recently received my grandad's collection & found a collection sheet with stamps that I am assuming might have been some of his "favorites" or something similar since they are separate from the HUGE collection book & boxes of envelopes & bags of stamps.

So I wanted to share & see if y'all have any helpful knowledge about these particular stamps in general.

Also, I'd like to ask about "coil perforations" because I'm seeing a lot of notes under the stamps in the collection books that show "Coil" or Imperf." or most importantly "Coil: Perf. Hor./Vert." & I'm assuming that means perforated horizontally/vertically. On that note, if stamps have straight sides, are the outliers special? I.e. 1 of 4 sides is straight, or a corner pair are both straight, or if 3 or 4 edges are straight?

Sorry, I know that is a lot already... but honestly I'm just so excited to explore & continue his stamp collection! I just want to do it properly aka not mess up any of his hard work.

Hello and welcome to the forum. Be sure to introduce yourself in the proper topic.

Concerning this question:

I don't see a lot of value there, and some of the condition is very poor. I'm going to guess that these were not his favorites, but perhaps a working set of stamps that he intended to look through in more detail when he could.

I'm sure that others will eventually address your other questions, but something to consider is getting yourself a stamp catalog (doesn't need to be new ... try the library first), and study some of the terms in the front section. You'll probably find most of your answers there.

Love that 1 cent Ben Franklin strip of 3 with guide line and clear Washington state cancel. Very nice

I would also recommend stampsmarter.com for more information.

Hello Trash404 and welcome to SCF. The stamps you show are a rather mixed bag from different eras but all are commonly found in collections-I wouldn't be looking for a lottery win here. Withe regard to your specific questions: coil stamps are stamps that were deliberately produced to be sold in rolls rather than sheets, and so were only perforated on two opposite sides (vertical or horizontal depending on whether the stamps are unrolled vertically or horizontally, like the strip of three green Franklins in the upper right of the first photo). Caution: some genuine coil stamps are valuable so are subject to fakery (normal four-sided perforated examples that have had their perforations trimmed off on two sides). Some stamps (most but not all produced in the 19th century) were not perforated at all and so will have 4 straight sides. Stamps of the general era shown in your photos were mostly produced in sheets that were cut into four panes of 100 after being perforated - stamps that have one or two sides straight will have been located along the cut lines. These are not considered special.

I echo the suggestion to look at catalogs and stampsmarter.com for more specific information. Good luck!