January 1849 Second Republic Blue Postal Stamp- France

Hi, I got this blue 25 centime stamp from France, depicting Ceres. I was wondering if it would be worth me getting it appraised? I am new to this as I just got a whole book of antique stamps and I am looking for more advanced or professional opinions as to it's worth. Could a serious stamp collector please give me some information. I have not taken it out of the album yet so I cannot see the back but just a general idea would be great. It has been kept in a book and I have included the page of the book it was kept in to show the condition of the stamps and how it was stored. Anything would be helpful and I would so much appreciate it. Thankyou in advance!

It appears to be Scott #6 with a catalog value of $30, but the bad corners at upper left and lower right, you would be very lucky to get $3 for it.

Just cut into on top left corner and missing piece on bottom right - damaged as noted by eyeonwall. Just a space filler.
Edit- judging from the values placed under each stamp it looks like the auction house included it in total at $10.00. Usually when you see a stamp in that condition in a collection they place no or little value on it.

What did you pay for the album? That is what it was worth. You who has no knowledge will not be able to "sharp shoot" the contents of the album to find undiscovered value. Even the numbers noted under the stamps are "hopeful" guesstimates.

So the first lesson in philately is condition is everything with "minor damage and flaws" catastrophic to values. Second lesson is do not spend more than you can afford to lose as an entertainment expense.


Now I will make up numbers for you as an example. If you paid $50 for the album (book) and then took it to a dealer, you may get $10 for it. As to the stamp you asked about in your OP, that $3 value is the purchase price one would pay for it INCLUDING shipping, sales tax and cost of the stamp itself. To get it certified would run a cost 5-10 times that of the stamp's value and would, just change how much money you would lose selling it, not changing the value of the stamp at all.

Philately is a hobby not a money maker. The only stamps that may go up in value are the ones you cannot afford and based upon recent auctions, selling at a loss still happens.

It is quite common for collectors to add a catalogue price un an album. Sometimes because the collector is looking to sell the collection. But many times it is not the reason. It is pure speculation that an auction house would have done this.

It is a silly practice, as catalogue prices change.

Judging from recent auctions of stocksheets where the catalogue prices have been written on scraps of paper placed next to the stamps, realised prices are running at 10% of CV. I'm now the proud owner of 800 dollars-worth of Canadian officials 'cos I was stupid enough to click on the bid button at 25 dollars.

The value here is in the hingeless album if you carefully erased the pencil markings. Whenever I see these expensive albums holding inexpensive stamps I wonder what the hopes were when the original owner started the journey.

The stamp itself is valueless. If you were interested in carrying on with the album (which looks like an old Lighthouse album), you can assemble a collection of most French stamps with relatively little outlay (however, the Ceres 1Fr vermilion and the unissued 20c blue have spaces that few will ever fill).