Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I found my mothers old stamp book, filled with old Soviet stamps dating 1940 and up, so I am asking. Does anybody have any experience with stamps? I would like to know the worth, but I would not sell them yet. I can post some pictures when I ger to my house
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I have no knowledge of stamp collecting, but a quick internet search found many stamp collecting forums. Your best bet might be with the experts on these forums. I would have to assume Russian stamps from WWII might be worth more than scrap.
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Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Try here:
Stamp Community Forum they have a forum
Outside of rarities and maybe stamps from China the market for stamps has been declining for decades since few young people collect and the old guys are literally dying off. Common stamps sell for 10-25% of Scotts catalog value if you can find a buyer.
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Stamps are like coins.
One in a Million is worth a bit.
And even when they are worth amount X catalogue value, you are lucky to get 10 cents on the dollar.
They are more as a hobby, than a business.
Any small large quantity items tend to sell best sold as is.
Take a TON of pics when listing on ebay and you get some decent price for it.
Just my 2 cents worth on that subject.
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Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I took a gander at the stamp forum through the link provided. It's full of information I knew nothing about. Not that I'm gonna start collecting stamps. But, I'm always up for learning something new. I pick up the most random things, and now I can check stamps as another thing that may have value. 100 pounds of iron will get me $2, maybe a unique stamp will get me $2. And $2 is $2 any way you look at it.
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I know if the stamp has not been canceled it is probably worth more.
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Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Your mother apparently spent a great deal of time, effort, and sweat to collect those stamps, they are a small part of her life. Why not hold onto them.
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Been collecting stamps since I was 12. ( not so much in the last 20 years though ) US mostly ,but my grandad has a collection of foreign that he gave me that was pretty impressive. Like anything it's all about demand . rarity and condition. It takes alot of time and effort to appraise a decent sized collection and it may cost you if you have an expert do it. no one could just throw out a ballpark figure and there are very specific grading standards for them just like coins.
i often though about selling my collection but stamp collecting is all but dead ( except for the most sought after examples specimens ) kinda like baseball cards so i would not get much for them I expect.
good luck in whatever you decide.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Collecting should be a fun hobby, not an investment. I also used to collect stamps when I was younger and still snagged a few new sets from Greece as far as a few years back. Baseball cards and Comic books pretty much are worthless except for old rarities (pre 1950's stuff). The thing is even rarities will drop in price if the hobby collapses. You need some 15 year old kid to collect comics now so when he is loaded and 50 years old he will buy the rarities for top dollar. That's kind of what happened with stamps, no new blood so the hobby is a dead end for old people.
Unless you do find a rare stamp (and just sell that one) I would hold onto the stuff unless it means nothing to you. Most people collect common stuff that means something to them, that rarely means rarities unless there was no wide scale hobby at the time (people have collected stamps since the British Penny black in the 1800's).
PS. Some canceled stamps are worth more then unused one, say like a stamp that was canceled on the mail service on the hindenburg airship.
Last edited by unknownk; 12-08-2015 at 07:17 PM.
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Sadly, stamps are a dying hobby. Not only are stamps becoming a thing of the past, the stamps produced are not interesting and not attractive. My favorites are the flat plate printed, two colors are nice. They have the look and feel of currency rather than the slickness of a magazine page that comes from a roller press. The roller press stamps are more often multi colored. It is hard to just look at a stamp and know if it has significant value unless it is a stamp you are aware of. If the collection is not something you are interested in collecting or keeping them, list them as a bulk and do your best to describe the collection.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
For US stamps I loved the pre 1930's pictorials (or anything pre 1900), the coil line pair transportation series, famous people plate block sets. Anything self adhesive sold today makes me sick.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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My grandfather was into stamps and coins. We eventually sold off or used most of the US stuff, and the rest in a lot for not much money. More and more unused US stuff is valued at face value simply to use as postage. You can buy lots at a fraction of face and just use it. The coins we have expanded on and I see those as always having value, especially the silver era coins.
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