Stamp Collecting

Collecting old stamps, especially vintage postage stamps can bring great value. Collecting old stamps can be fun and educational, it can be affordable, and it can bring about understanding of history, art, travel and many other areas of culture as well. Here is an explanation of why collecting old stamps can be beneficial to you.

1 – Stamps are enjoyable. Collecting old stamps is something that is personal, and as a result it can be really enjoyable. You can collect any type of old stamps that you want and you can collect them in any way that you like. There is no right way or wrong way for you to collect stamps, and the only time that it matters what you collect is when you intend to sell your stamps. If you are collecting purely as a hobby, then what you collect and how you collect is completely up to you.

2 – Stamps are affordable. Collecting old stamps can be really affordable if you know where to buy your stamps and how to value the stamps that you buy. You can easily come across 100+ year old postage stamps for as little as $1.25. Even extremely old stamps can be affordable, especially if they are in postal condition which means that they have been used. Collectors looking to sell their stamps won’t be interested in these used stamps, but why can’t you purchase them if you are collecting purely for your own personal enjoyment?

3 – Stamps are Cultural. Every time you open up your stamp album, the stamps you have collected are you going to take you to different places historically, geographically and culturally as well. You can collect stamps from American history, World history, wars, different geographical locations around the world, art periods, renaissance periods and anything else that you like. If you have a particular passion in your life, there are more than likely going to be old stamps that correspond with it. Are you a music buff? Choose historic music stamps. Do you love animals? There are plenty of old stamps that feature state animals, endangered animals and so on. Stamps are very culturally diverse, and there are thousands upon thousands of different directions to take your stamp collection in.

4 – Stamps are Valuable. You can come across old stamps that are extremely valuable. Stamps can easily be worth thousands of dollars because of different things such as rarity or because of a tiny error in printing. If you care about the value of your collection, then rare old stamps are a good way for you to go.

5 – Stamps are important. Stamps, new and old, allow us to communicate through writing letters. The way that mail was sent was revolutionized by the first adhesive stamp in the world, which was invented in England.

Photo Credits: kevindooley

Originally posted 2009-08-12 05:41:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Often people ask me for advice on what to do with their newly inherited or given stamp collection, usually with a bent on selling it. These are a few pointers I have slapped together. Number one: do not get your hopes up. Most people see albums or boxes full of old stamps and they think “eureka!” The boring reality is that the greater parts of the majority of stamps are fairly common, and are therefore worth next to nothing, even the really old ones. Another fact is that most collectors do so for personal enjoyment, and not for an investment.

That said, there are a few exceptions and certain collections could be worth quite a bit. How would you get an idea of the worth of a collection? Easiest method is to find records left by the original collector that details the contents of it and its value. Should the collection have been insured, the total of the insurance taken out can also be an indicator. You do need to be aware though, that collectors value all of their stamps at retail, meaning what it would cost you to buy the stamps from dealers. You also need to figure in a collector’s natural tendency to exaggerate the value a bit. If you do go and sell the collection, do not be surprised if the offers you get are only in the neighborhood of 10% to 20% of the claimed value, possibly less.

If you are unable to get an approximate value of your collection due to lack of records and such, you do have several other methods by which you could approach the problem.

Do the footwork yourself. This method will involve a lot of time as well as effort, but in the end it will be the best way to obtain an accurate idea of what all is in the collection, as well as what it really is worth. Basically, the process goes as follows. Buy a Scott Postage Stamp Catalog, which can be had in many a public library. The catalogs come in six different volumes, each of which contain listings, and pictures, and are organized by country.

You should locate each stamp you have and the catalog will have its value. This “catalog” value is, theoretically, the price you would have to pay to buy this stamp through a retail stamp dealer. Really, this value also tends to be rather inflated, and you will be able to buy stamps from a dealer for a lot less than that value. You should expect to actually get a lot less than this when selling.

Contract an appraiser. You can pay an appraiser who will then examine the entire collection and provide you with a written estimate for its value. The appraiser is not someone who is interested in buying your collection, and so has no personal motivations to value your collection too low in the hopes that they could get a good deal, in case you were worried about that. You pay an appraiser a fee, and this fee should always definitely be agreed upon ahead of time to prevent any issues.

Photo credits: Le Petit Poulailler

Originally posted 2009-12-09 03:19:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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