Stamp Collecting 2024
 

I've been noticing a big uptick in stamps selling at auction for pretty good penny. Is stamp collecting coming back - maybe I'm missing something. I usually do, it's tough staying up with the times for me.

I hope so. It was a lot of fun when I was young. I think stamp collecting is much bigger worldwide than in the US.

The more desireable and higher grade will always keep their value.

I have been buying some lots on ebay and selling off parts until I recoup my money then I stick the rest in boxes to go through and sell o ebay when I retire in a few years.

Bob

I believe it was 5th grade when we had some classes about stamp collecting. I started a very small collection back then and someplace still have a few of those stamps. I have only ever met one person who had a huge stamp collection. My brothers grandma had several albums full of stamps back in the 70s when I was a kid.

Loved collecting stamps and to this day, decades later, I absorbed a lot of US and world history collecting stamps. Was tremendous fun as a kid receiving "approvals" in the mail and going to stamp show.

Stamps turned out to most people to be a dreadful "investment". I know people to this day that use mint commeratives from the 40s and 50s to mail letters (often afffixing 5 or 6 old stamps on an envelope). Better value to just use them as postage than to sell to someone for 15 cents on the dollar.

Know two families that inherited and had to deal with Dad's stamp collection. Not good stories. Like pleading with someone to buy albums of stamps.

And yes, we all know about the Inverted Jenny and the handful of other stamps that have become iconic and skyrocked in value. It's not many.

I've been studying it the last few weeks as I started seeing stamp collections going for big bucks, and I have several autographed first day issue envelopes (Mantle, Mays, etc.) but always stayed away from stamps because it seemed so specialized.

I would love to hear anyone's opinion about the future of the market as I'm thinking about snatching up some rare ones when I see them - however - I know nothing about them so I'm going to be cautious.

For anyone interested, I'm trying to unload around 1200 stamps right now. No clue what, if anything they're worth. Asking $50 but please feel free to pm me with offers:

https://net54baseball.com/showthread...61#post2398561

This is how I feel about my years of stamp collecting. The knowledge of history was invaluable and I love what it gave me.

I doubt any boost is on the way as other than the gold, there just isn’t the interest from new collectors…for many reasons.

The inverts and key errors will always be valuable. Key sets like the Colombian exposition and Graf Zeppelins. However, I fully agree…a hobby renewal is far more than unlikely

Thanks Justin, I don't know the background on stamps like the Colombian Expo, etc., so I think that why it's hard for me to wrap my head around some of the $ I see being paid for stamps. There is seller on ebay, Dr. Bob's stamps, that routinely sells stamps for big bucks. I checked his website, and for all I've read he is pretty legit.

I guess it's like cards, know what to buy and how much to pay.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks. Jim Hoskins

I still collect. Started around 5 and never really stopped.

It's like many of the older hobbies, the really good items are bringing good prices. While the very common are not. A typical price to pay for a collection or accumulation that has some fairly nice things is around 10% of the catalog value of the nicer items.
Most US stamps from the 30s on are as has been pointed out, used as discount postage. Bought that way, maybe 80% of the face value, sometimes less.
Even some from earlier get used that way by stamp collectors. If a stamp catalogs 50 cents or a dollar but has major flaws, it won't sell at all.

Most can be bought for 50% of catalog value.

The fun and the interesting stuff you can learn about are the key, and even some big ticket items don't make good investments.
Generating interest with younger people without the whole "you can find rare expensive stuff with no real effort" angle is hard.
That being said, I do find some pretty good deals, and some really good deals by knowing specialized info, that most dealers can't spend the time to be bothered with.

Congrats on sticking with collecting all this time Steve! What is your take on grading stamps? Does increase the value? Let's say one has a 1847 Scott #1, would it make sense to have that stamp graded or stamps from the Columbian Expo?

Ah the Graf Zeppelins. Really loved those. Showed to my dad once at a show and he was equally entranced. He always talked about buying them but never did. I wonder how they have appreciated over time. Beautiful stamps.

Here's a few early imperfs...

Those are fantastic.

Do you, or anyone, have knowledge of foreign stamps i.e. China, France, etc.?

I have a full set of catalogs, and my wife collects France, so I'm pretty good with France. Not quite as good as with US or Germany.

China is not usually as complex, I have an older specialized catalog, but it doesn't get into many varieties and stuff like that.

It's been like card grading, a lot of resistance in the hobby, but some crazy prices for perfect stamps.
The first company tried slabbing them, and that didn't get much traction, fighting the whole mounting a stamp in an album thing that was established almost since there were stamps wasn't a winning play.

For some issues it can add value, but only at the upper tiers. It's mostly about centering, and stamps that were poorly centered nearly every time benefit the most. Some very cheap stamps have sold for silly prices, but only ones that are really incredible. The top grade is 100J or 100 - the J is for jumbo, one having all borders larger than normal.

The people who want a Scott#1 generally aren't into grading. So the market is just like ours, the handful of registry type collectors that want something someone else says is the best.
The Columbians are maybe more gradeable, but have to be very nice.

I'll use sb1s stamps as examples. Noting first that they're all very nice for the respective issues. I wouldn't reject any of them. Maybe a bit picky on price, but they're all good.

The #1 five cent Frankiln. Presents well, but has one corner cutting off a bit of the border. Very typical on that issue, and much better than most. I wouldn't grade it.

The #2 the ten cent Washington. Just barely what we call a four margin stamp, with the full narrow frame present. It's an excellent example, one all but the most pick or well funded collector would be proud to have.

If they have any special features, like double transfers or something like that, a certificate would add, but only saleability as that variety.

The strip of three - A nice strip, the margins on most plates for the imperfs were very very narrow. Not something I'd grade, but might pay to get a certificate with the plate positions if it includes one of the better ones. I can't tell from what I see, the difference can be substantial. I only have the most common. the others range from "ask permission" to "you're not spending a new car on a stamp" prices.

Of the others. I might grade the three cent Washington... maybe. Not an expensive stamp, but It's a really great example, all four margins, neatly cut.
But that just slightly less large lower margin would probably keep it out of the very top grades. If I was into grading, yes. If I thought it was a #10 and not an 11, yes.

The five cent next to it.... Maybe. I don't think it would get a high grade, but for that issue it's as good as most people can afford. A certificate would verify that it has no faults(damage ranging from trivial to massive) and that would be worth doing as the margins on these were also very small.

The other two are also very nice, I'd be glad to add either to my collection if I didn't already have them. But they just wouldn't grade high enough.

https://auction.siegelauctions.com/sale/1305?PageNo=12

Lot 2234 on this page is a good example of a graded stamp, catalog value is 100 I could find a normal copy for 50 easily, it sold for 400. It's pretty spectacular as far as centering goes, including parts of the stamps next to it.

https://auction.siegelauctions.com/sale/1305?PageNo=19

Lot 2426... Catalogs $8... Graded 95J. Sold for 160!

Browsing that auction will give you a good idea of the higher end of things. Their other auctions are also fully online, and can be real eye openers.

Just like with cards, the ability to tell if a stamp is THAT nice is the key.

I will say that the expertizers /graders have less work, take more time, and are nearly always correct.

Steve, thanks so much for your insight, knowledge and perspective on grading. I've learned a lot already!

I'll check out the auction and information you provided. I'm also glad to hear there are some stamp collectors out there and still active!

I'm finding stamps to be very interesting and unlike today's card market, still affordable.

Check out this company:

https://www.noblespirit.com/

One of the largest sellers on ebay. They have very interesting stamp auctions. They also do videos talking to collectors and others. They support the Spellman (Philatelic) Museum on the campus of Regis College in Weston, MA and are heavily involved in the Stamp Market Index.

I don't collect anymore. I still go to stamp shows to look for interesting covers and souvenir sheets to get autographed by Olympians. An acquaintance of mine and member of my Olympic collecting club is the president of SPI (Sports Philatelists International). I talk with him occasionally about sports stamps.

The Springfield Stamp Club has a show at the high school a half mile from me in April. I found some nice Olympic pc's last year and there is usually a dealer selling sheets of older commens below face value.

The World Stamp Expo/Show will be in Boston in 2026. I went to the one in Washington, D.C. in 2006 and had a good time. It was easy for me to attend as I took the subway from work

Attachment 602367
Attachment 602368
Attachment 602369
Attachment 602370

I collected as a kid and its been one of my many on-again off-again side hobbies over the years. Never something I’ve ever spent serious money on or viewed as an investment, its just one of those things that sometimes captures my interest for a few hours on a cold winter evening here and there.

I live in Japan and auction sites here will often sell off 10 to 20 lb bags of on paper used commemorative stamps for like 30 to 40 dollars or so. I buy one of those every 3 or 4 years. Those are always a fun project. Got my son into it when he was about 4 years old but wasn’t able to hold his interest for long. My dad, who got me into it as a kid, is still collecting at 80.

Steve much nailed it. Of the stamps shown two have certs, the 12 cent with an authentication only with no numerical grade, and the 3 cent with a 90J assigned grade. I have some other #1,2's and other imperf with grades as well.

At one time I owned the 1 cent stamp top pop Sc#9 100J, auctioned it and lost money :(

These are all dupes for me. I am open to selling the group. $1,800 for all if anyone is interested.

Scott

I went to Washington in 2006 too. My wifes family lived in the area so I could also take the train/subway from the suburbs.

I'm close to Boston, so I'll probably be a volunteer at the Boston show.

And oddly enough, I've sort of decided to work on Olympic stamps in general. Not signed, but the stamps and covers.

I kind of got interested a couple of years ago when I purchased a big collection of First Day Covers, several autographed and several pretty rare. The previous owner was really into it and was super organized. I've attached a few photos from his college basketball album - which is pretty amazing and has some great autographs; Valvano, Pat Summitt, Wooden, Bob Knight, etc. There are probably 40+ autographed examples - that's a lot of dedication!

There was also a binder for college football and MLB.

Then I noticed the uptick in stamps. I purchased a stamp collection, small but amazing, that I'm waiting to arrive. I spent a substantial amount of money for it, but I think it has some really valuable stamps - so I'm on edge a little. Regardless, I find them interesting and that's why I solicited you guy's input which I appreciate. I'll share pictures, etc. when it arrives.

Someone brought three large binders of stamps to my friends card store today. I am going to make an offer when I go to look at them this week. I expect nothing but common stamps but who knows? Mybe there will be a diamond in the rough.
Bob

Good luck Bob and let us know what you find. Jim

Here are a few of my stamps and Postage Currency with initials WL from when I was a kid back in the 60's & 70's

I run across massive stamp collections at flea markets but only buy when they are super-cheap and have sports subjects. Last one I picked up was a book with hundreds of foreign stamps for a buck for the whole book.

The only other stamp items I buy are the various commemorative ones of boxers, again, if they are really cheap. I have a bunch of Ali, Frazier, etc. Here is a 1964 Slania Clay

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Clay%202.jpeg

This is a knock-off 'Slania' Clay which, ironically, is much harder to find than the genuine article:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ay%20light.jpg

Probably the most I spent was under $10 each for a pair of Olympic sheets of Zou Shiming, the first Chinese boxer to turn pro. Terrific amateur who turned pro relatively late but had a nice run until an eye injury took him out.

Those signed covers are really nice. Definitely something to keep an eye out for.

My stamp collection arrived, and it far exceeded my expectations. There were 2 albums of US Stamps contained in 2 Scott Binders, ranging from 1947 forward. I'll try to get some pictures posted in the next few days, but I think there are some really nice stamps in the collection. There was also a home made (looks like an accounting binder) album that contained stamps for about every country in the world. Most of that collection ranged mainly from mid 1800's to around 1930's, with a few later stamps. Unlike the US collection where the stamps are stored in like individual sleeves, the world stamps were all hinged. There is a nice mix of used - unused mint in the binders.

Since Steve is familiar with France, I thought I would start by adding the France Stamps from the world binder. There are several other French territorial type stamps, but the ones pictured here were in the French section. Anything - anyone - could tell me to educate me on the French stamps is appreciated.

Thanks and enjoy.

CORRECTION - I meant to say 1847 forward - my bad!

Well I made my friend an offer and I am waiting for him to check if the seller accepts my offer. They wanted a little more than what I wanted to pay but hopefully they will consider my offer.
Bob

A big thanks to Steve for his insight on the France stamps. Here is the Germany portion of the album.

There may be an expert out there on Germany!

That's a nice assortment, nothing too expensive, but fun stuff and in some ways almost "complete" (By the US catalog, by the specialized german one no. And even they don't list everything. )

The last group, the upper left three are from private posts run within cities.
The big one is a meter imprint.
The bottom few are revenue stamps, but I'm not sure for what exactly.
For some, the stamp went on the document, other schemes had half the stamp going on the document, the other half retained as a reciept, which cleverly parts the stamp preventing it's reuse.

Again, thanks Steve - much appreciated. If there are any other countries you might like to check out, let me know - I probably have them.

The U.S. portion of the collection is quite extensive and contains some pretty nice stamps. 150 stamps from the 1800s including #1, Columbian Expo, Trans-Mississippi expo, etc. In addition, probably about every stamp from the 1900s included in the first book. The second book contains mainly back of the book, Revenue, cut squares, Confederate States, etc. with the vast majority being 1800s and early 1900s.

I've been learning a lot this week researching the stamps! Some countries I've never heard of and some countries no longer exist.

It's been entertaining.

The 1800s US official stamps are my main thing.

I collect them in some depth, plate varieties, cancels, pretty much anything I can afford.

Which is odd, because I avoided them for years. Many are in bad shape, and are still expensive. But I started trying to get the ones with the specimen overprint, figured the 1 and 2 cent were possible and not expensive. ALong the way to that, I got a few really good plate varieties, and just kept going.
Eventually found and example of a 3c post office printed on an experimental press that hadn't even been described for 80 years. So long missing the experts had figured that none actually existed.

Long fun and slightly strange journey. It did get me out of the mindset of having to have things complete. Some are so expensive They were never going to be ones I had. There are some varieties that were described in the 1930's, but haven't been seen since, and may have been someone misinterpreting what they had. The writers then weren't fussy about facts.

I have a solid maybe for one of them, and a couple shaky maybes for another. But todays standard is finding two with an identical flaw. so more searching.

Steve, post a picture of what you have and what you're looking for and I'll check what I have.

So, it's "only" a bit under 100 face different stamps, 120 different counting the two main different papers.

But what I have almost fills two 2" binders.

Card and india paper proofs and Specimens pretty much make it 4x that, and varieties....

And I generally don't have the expensive ones.

And people say stamps don't take up much room......

I'll see what I can put together.

If it's not paywalled, here's one of the articles about one department.

https://chronicle.uspcs.org/PDF/Chronicle_227/19433.pdf

I have a couple maybes for the 10cent double transfer which is essentially unknown since its listing in 1935.

Yeah

I posted in post # 23 about a collection I had the chance to buy. I finally did buy it. I do not expect lot of value here, but it will be a lot of fun go go through. Here are some pictures. The China Express letter in pretty cool but I decided to put it on ebay.

Attachment 608442

Attachment 608447

Attachment 608448

Attachment 608449

Attachment 608450

More
Attachment 608452

Attachment 608453

Attachment 608454

Attachment 608455

Attachment 608456

More
Attachment 608457

Attachment 608458

Attachment 608459

Attachment 608460

Attachment 608461

And More
Attachment 608462

Attachment 608463

Attachment 608464

I’ve seen on eBay PSA graded stamps. Does anyone know if they ( PSA) use the same criteria that a philatelist would use. My gut feeling says “ No”.

I think it is PSE and not PSA but it is part of the PSA group and I think they do grade using the same criteria as a Philatelist.
I think they were also created and grading before getting into cards.

I see what you’re saying,Robert. And there is also a PSAG certification. But what I’ m talking about is this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/17599264790...Bk9SR7jlt_etYw

Oh Wow. I have never seen that before!

When I lived in Thailand I collected stamps and currency. I'm on a hockey trip this weekend, but I will post them when I get home. Their artwork was fantastic even if value was meaningless once I returned to US. I didn't care about rarity. I figured if I ever put together a shelf display that they would be great items to add color. They had pictures of everything. They had dealers in front of many post offices selling discontinued stamps. I wanted stamps that were quintessentially Thai. So I bought stamps of the royal family, tuk tuks, muy Thai, ceremonial dancing, folklore, the Buddha, etc. It's a walk down memory lane when I come across the binder and peruse it.

The one item I never collected was religious pendants. I was a Christian missionary and it didn't seem right to buy something that Buddhists put spiritual value in, but which was only an artistic item to me. However, they were cool and they chronicled the historical aspect of Buddhism. Different poses have various meanings. Some pendants had famous monks from bygone eras. A lot of people I talked to stated that new monks were not worth spit because they live a plush lifestyle. The best monks were solo, living in forests, trying to survive. The sellers resembled MR. T because they wore so many around their necks.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

Robert, congratulations on your purchase! It will be interesting sorting through them.

Eddie, I have never seen a postage stamp graded by PSA. I had no idea they would even grade a postage stamp! Never too old to learn I guess. Thanks for posting.

I'm learning more every day about stamps.

Thanks for everyone for their information. Keep it coming!

PSE began grading stamps years ago, I'm not sure if they are or were related to PSA, but they used a slab that was similar to the ones used for coins.

Slabbed stamps got little traction, most stamp collectors prefer an album - maybe something about the 150+ years of albums being the main storage...

I haven't checked, but I think most of the big US expertizers will give grades on the certificate. The same debate about that being a good thing or not had been going on since it became a thing there.

Unlike cards, you can get a certificate just stating if it's genuine or not, and as a bonus listing any flaws spotted at the time it got the certificate. Or you can get that same certificate with a grade. The couple I had a friend send in for me I didn't bother with a grade. I think PF won't grade if a stamp has faults, so the grade is pretty much just centering.


PSA has essentially no traction in the stamp hobby. All I've seen them grade are sports related stamps, and the asking prices are usually pretty well insane. That same Ruth Stamp can be had in full sheets, occasionally for under face value if it's in a bulk lot of "discount postage" basically anything a dealer has too much of (Nearly everything after about 1930 or so.) It's bought in bulk, for under face value, because few people want the nuisance of sticking 8 stamps on a letter. It's also sold in bulk, often for a percentage under face value as well. The ruth stamps usually get pulled out because some dealers have an easier time selling them for more.

When I look at stamps in binders, going all the way back to the 1800s, I am amazed at how much work, research, and man hours go into putting something like that together. Most was accomplished prior to the internet, when research was done manually from reference books. Today finding information, etc. is at our fingertips. I couldn't imagine doing that before the internet! Hell, let's say in 1966, how would a regular person find a China Stamp from 1899, properly identify it, and then safeguard it for all these years. Mind blowing. Sports card collecting pales in comparison to stamps when it comes to research.

It's too bad card collectors didn't learn more from stamp collectors in the 1930s!

By the early 1900s there were catalogs that identified and priced most stamps. (I forget when the earliest one was, but it was well before 1900. )
Many of them were literal mail order catalogs. And the companies that made them are still around, Scott in the US, along with Harris. Stanley Gibbons in the UK. Most have separated the publishing company from the stamp dealing company.

A guy named Luff wrote a huge book about the stamps of the US around 1902. He worked from documents held by the post office department, but did make some mistakes. And didn't really get into plate varieties.

In the 1930's was when some of the incredibly detailed study was done. Plating of many of the 1850's issues was attempted. Picture the work Pat has done on T206 with the plate scratches, only there were documents telling how big the sheets were and how many different plates there were.
And in the 30's, those stamps were relatively common and inexpensive.

Stuff is still being discovered about those stamps 170+ years after they were issued.

The 1873 officials I collect still haven't been fully plated, and most only have one 100 subject plate. The tiny differences are there, but for some there just are so few pairs to know what goes next to what.