Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
My question to the group is how would you begin to sort this? Winter is coming and I know I will have plenty of kitchen table time, but I don't know where to begin. I don't currently sell or trade online.
Any advice?
Geoff
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Sounds like fun or maybe too much fun. I’m not sure. The good thing is that they are off paper. The only thing to do is to sort by country and package by weight. Keep everyone here posted and sell what you don’t want!
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Geoff, i am sorting a shoebox of stamps now...most are on paper..so i have to remove the most common and heavy cancels...but i always find something interesting to make it worthwhile. Perhaps you can sort by country first...starting with the country you are most interested in. Have fun...i am always sorting and soaking...mindless work..but for me its good therapy !
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Thanks for sharing the process with us Geoff.
Regards ... Tim
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The big sort has begun. There are way too many countries represented in the pile, so I chose 8 groups to sort into, based on my collecting interests and geography: United States and Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia/New Zealand. I put aside anything that piques my interest, such as overprints.
I'm sorting into compartmented containers and once they fill up I may sort further by country, or more likely just bag them up for later. I mis-weighed the bag, it is actually over 11 lbs. (5 kg) of stamps.
Geoff
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Geoff, I have never had 5kg of stamps off paper to deal with, but when I have purchase kiloware lots what I do is the following.
I start sorting from one end of the pile, making a large number of smaller piles by country or continent. The most common stamps I put aside, for later sorting or for whatever purpose I can think of. Damaged ones - for crafts or into the bin.
It could be that 99% of the value is in only 5% of the weight. This makes things easier once those 5% are identified and pulled aside.
Happy sorting ! :-)
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The first thing 'I' would do is go through and discard all stamps that are damaged so that they NEVER find their way back into another kiloware lot.
That should cut down the number of stamps you have to sort into countries.
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Patches,
Good point. As I come across anything with tears, creases, paper flaws, etc., they go into a discard pile. A few with minor flaws I have put aside to "investigate." So far I am finding a rather broad world wide selection, with more Africa and Central/South America than I expected. Plenty of definitives but a nice selection of commemoratives also. I've probably gone through well less than 10% right now.
Geoff
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Good luck Geoff.
I have a Medium Priority Mail box of Norway stamps that are off paper. The only problem I have is finding the time to sort everything when I have to find time for other things.
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In the past when sorting such accumulations I would first sort by Scott Catalog volume. Unfortunately I never got past that first sort so now I have plastic bins numbered 1-6 for that volume. But from there I would sort by country, and then go from there.
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Jerry,
That makes terrific sense but I am too far along now to sort again. But I am not especially interested in catalogue value; I do have a separate pile of the few that I want to learn more about.
Geoff
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Geoff,
Keep that in mind for your next hoard! Even if you're not particularly interested in catalog values, it breaks a hoard down into 6 parts instead of one huge one. Depending on your expertise level, one could group them by geography, country & colonies (all British Commonwealth, all German area, etc), or other criteria. The concept is to break it down into something hopefully more manageable.
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10:15:25pm
Long story, but a friend in Florida sent me about 7 lbs (3,2 kg) of stamps she purchased at an auction. On first glance it looked like a big load of definitives, but a plus was they were all off paper. As I dug in, however, I started coming across glassines, cards, and a wide range of countries, most of which I don't collect. There does seem to be quite a few from Belgium, so maybe I have a new collecting area.
My question to the group is how would you begin to sort this? Winter is coming and I know I will have plenty of kitchen table time, but I don't know where to begin. I don't currently sell or trade online.
Any advice?
Geoff
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11:10:22pm
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Sounds like fun or maybe too much fun. I’m not sure. The good thing is that they are off paper. The only thing to do is to sort by country and package by weight. Keep everyone here posted and sell what you don’t want!
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Geoff, i am sorting a shoebox of stamps now...most are on paper..so i have to remove the most common and heavy cancels...but i always find something interesting to make it worthwhile. Perhaps you can sort by country first...starting with the country you are most interested in. Have fun...i am always sorting and soaking...mindless work..but for me its good therapy !
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Login to Like.
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Thanks for sharing the process with us Geoff.
Regards ... Tim
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10:50:00pm
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
The big sort has begun. There are way too many countries represented in the pile, so I chose 8 groups to sort into, based on my collecting interests and geography: United States and Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia/New Zealand. I put aside anything that piques my interest, such as overprints.
I'm sorting into compartmented containers and once they fill up I may sort further by country, or more likely just bag them up for later. I mis-weighed the bag, it is actually over 11 lbs. (5 kg) of stamps.
Geoff
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Login to Like.
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Geoff, I have never had 5kg of stamps off paper to deal with, but when I have purchase kiloware lots what I do is the following.
I start sorting from one end of the pile, making a large number of smaller piles by country or continent. The most common stamps I put aside, for later sorting or for whatever purpose I can think of. Damaged ones - for crafts or into the bin.
It could be that 99% of the value is in only 5% of the weight. This makes things easier once those 5% are identified and pulled aside.
Happy sorting ! :-)
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
The first thing 'I' would do is go through and discard all stamps that are damaged so that they NEVER find their way back into another kiloware lot.
That should cut down the number of stamps you have to sort into countries.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
07:09:24pm
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Patches,
Good point. As I come across anything with tears, creases, paper flaws, etc., they go into a discard pile. A few with minor flaws I have put aside to "investigate." So far I am finding a rather broad world wide selection, with more Africa and Central/South America than I expected. Plenty of definitives but a nice selection of commemoratives also. I've probably gone through well less than 10% right now.
Geoff
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Login to Like.
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Good luck Geoff.
I have a Medium Priority Mail box of Norway stamps that are off paper. The only problem I have is finding the time to sort everything when I have to find time for other things.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
In the past when sorting such accumulations I would first sort by Scott Catalog volume. Unfortunately I never got past that first sort so now I have plastic bins numbered 1-6 for that volume. But from there I would sort by country, and then go from there.
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this post
10:48:15pm
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Jerry,
That makes terrific sense but I am too far along now to sort again. But I am not especially interested in catalogue value; I do have a separate pile of the few that I want to learn more about.
Geoff
Login to Like
this post
re: A Big Bag of Stamps
Geoff,
Keep that in mind for your next hoard! Even if you're not particularly interested in catalog values, it breaks a hoard down into 6 parts instead of one huge one. Depending on your expertise level, one could group them by geography, country & colonies (all British Commonwealth, all German area, etc), or other criteria. The concept is to break it down into something hopefully more manageable.
Login to Like
this post