Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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Dear Jfed,
Be warned my friend, this hobby can become addicting. I've been at it over 70+ myself, and am still pondering/collecting. That said, SOR will be able to help. Ask any/all questions. We are with you and are very patient.
Welcome,
Dan C.
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from the very little information you provided, it sounds like you have revenues, which can be found in Scott's catalogue in the R sections.
The "presidents" could be anything: more revenues or any of 40 different stamp series.
If you have pictures, we can start helping you sort into groups
an old Scott catalogue would be very helpful; and old ones can be had very cheaply
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Jfed, Most people that ask this type of question are wondering if Grandpa's stamps are as valuable as they always thought they were. I'm going to assume this is your question.
Your stamps are either worth a lot of money or they are worth next to nothing. If you happen to want to collect them, great and you will probably learn how rewarding the hobby can be, go ahead and get an album or stock pages.
A suitcase full of stamps is not that much unless of course they are better stamps. People usually collect mostly cheap stamps that are easy to acquire. Others will take it much more seriously and invest sizeable sums of time and money. Unless your grandfather was the latter, mounting the stamps you have properly will do nothing for their value. The value of the collecting of stamps is usually in your appreciation of them and the pursuit of getting them. It's hard to tell someone how rewarding the hobby is but I can tell you, you will most probably will not regret it.
You need to post some scans or pictures of what you have. We can quickly tell if you have anything of monetary value. If there is an album or two or a stock book scan the first few pages of them, if there are stock cards with stamps, scan some of them, values are usually written in the top right corner of the cards. These are the things that are most likely to have value.
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First, most stamps are common. Governments do not print stamps to make stamp collectors rich. They print stamps for use with various postal and revenue purposes.
Second, most of the over 600,000 stamps printed since 1840 are common, meaning catalog value of less than $5.00, with a large percentage of the common stamps worth minimal catalog value. A collection of 1,000 minimal-valued stamps (25 cents in the Scott catalogs), is not worth $250.00. Such a group is probably worth 5 cents per stamp. Scott discusses this factor in its catalog introduction.
Third, catalog value does not connote how much a stamp is worth. A stamp is only worth how much someone is willing to pay for it. The final market price for a stamp is highly contingent on its condition. ANY and ALL flaws will impact of almost every stamp. Common stamps with flaws are generally worthless, even though you'll see people trying to sell such garbage on most sites.
Fourth take your time to learn the hobby so that you don't get snookered and wind up paying too much for a stamp. The catalogs have information regarding stamp valuation. Just remember that catalog value (what the catalog publishers say a stamp should retail for if it is in the condition from which the catalog value is based), is much different than the market value (what a collector will actually pay for the stamp at the time the sale is made).
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02:21:32pm
My grandfather had a briefcase of stamps and I want to store in book the right way I have a card holder but I want to save them stamps are President stamps,documentary,and country stamps,and stock transfer stamps I never done this and like help thank you
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re: Just found them
Dear Jfed,
Be warned my friend, this hobby can become addicting. I've been at it over 70+ myself, and am still pondering/collecting. That said, SOR will be able to help. Ask any/all questions. We are with you and are very patient.
Welcome,
Dan C.
Login to Like
this post
re: Just found them
from the very little information you provided, it sounds like you have revenues, which can be found in Scott's catalogue in the R sections.
The "presidents" could be anything: more revenues or any of 40 different stamp series.
If you have pictures, we can start helping you sort into groups
an old Scott catalogue would be very helpful; and old ones can be had very cheaply
Login to Like
this post
re: Just found them
Jfed, Most people that ask this type of question are wondering if Grandpa's stamps are as valuable as they always thought they were. I'm going to assume this is your question.
Your stamps are either worth a lot of money or they are worth next to nothing. If you happen to want to collect them, great and you will probably learn how rewarding the hobby can be, go ahead and get an album or stock pages.
A suitcase full of stamps is not that much unless of course they are better stamps. People usually collect mostly cheap stamps that are easy to acquire. Others will take it much more seriously and invest sizeable sums of time and money. Unless your grandfather was the latter, mounting the stamps you have properly will do nothing for their value. The value of the collecting of stamps is usually in your appreciation of them and the pursuit of getting them. It's hard to tell someone how rewarding the hobby is but I can tell you, you will most probably will not regret it.
You need to post some scans or pictures of what you have. We can quickly tell if you have anything of monetary value. If there is an album or two or a stock book scan the first few pages of them, if there are stock cards with stamps, scan some of them, values are usually written in the top right corner of the cards. These are the things that are most likely to have value.
Login to Like
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04:39:40pm
re: Just found them
First, most stamps are common. Governments do not print stamps to make stamp collectors rich. They print stamps for use with various postal and revenue purposes.
Second, most of the over 600,000 stamps printed since 1840 are common, meaning catalog value of less than $5.00, with a large percentage of the common stamps worth minimal catalog value. A collection of 1,000 minimal-valued stamps (25 cents in the Scott catalogs), is not worth $250.00. Such a group is probably worth 5 cents per stamp. Scott discusses this factor in its catalog introduction.
Third, catalog value does not connote how much a stamp is worth. A stamp is only worth how much someone is willing to pay for it. The final market price for a stamp is highly contingent on its condition. ANY and ALL flaws will impact of almost every stamp. Common stamps with flaws are generally worthless, even though you'll see people trying to sell such garbage on most sites.
Fourth take your time to learn the hobby so that you don't get snookered and wind up paying too much for a stamp. The catalogs have information regarding stamp valuation. Just remember that catalog value (what the catalog publishers say a stamp should retail for if it is in the condition from which the catalog value is based), is much different than the market value (what a collector will actually pay for the stamp at the time the sale is made).
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