Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 at
4:54 am
This year I inherited my Granddad's old postage stamps. I have done my best to help preserve his collection and add to it. I have had to learn quickly and I have. My knowledge is so much more than when I started.
I was very enthusiastic when I received them. I went through each of the albums and then ticked off each one that he had against an old postage stamps catalogue. It takes a long time but it is worth doing. It was good to go through each of the stamps and at the same time create a comprehensive record of his collection.
The next thing you need to be concerned about is where you store the old postage stamps. I moved them to my house and piled the albums on top of each other. It became clear from my investigations that I shouldn't be doing this. You need to store them in a dark dry place. It is also important to stand the albums upright to avoid them getting damaged.
When you inherit an old album it is important that you have a plan if you are going to expand it. It is very easy just to start buying stamps here there and everywhere. What are you trying to achieve? Do you just want a lot of stamps or do you want good quality? There are lots of angles that you can take with it.
The way that you buy old postage stamps has changed a lot. There once were stamp shops but these aren't around anymore. Now the best places to buy include the post office, auctions, stamp dealers and the internet. For many of mine I went directly to the post office. They have made a few errors but the service has been good. I have also bough one or two from Ebay.
I hope that my story has given you more information about collecting old postage stamps. The key to it is to enjoy the experience and learn from it.
Saturday, September 11th, 2010 at
3:45 am
Early this year I took possession of my Granddad's old postage stamps. He had a really great collection and it was my job to help preserve his memory. There has been a lot to learn and I think that I have done well.
One of my first activities when I received the old postage stamps was going through them and cataloguing them. I found a book on Amazon which had all the issue releases in it. I then compare my Granddad's stamps with those in the book. I really enjoyed this but it took a while. You need to make sure you have a proper record of your stamps.
If you are new to stamp collecting you probably won't know where to store your stamps. The best place to do it is in a cool, dry and dark place. You need to keep your albums in an upright position. I didn't do this initially and mine were left flat. There is a chance that you will damage your old postage stamps storing them that way.
When you first get an album the first thing that you want to do is add to it. This is understandable and I did the same. I think that it important that you decide exactly what you want your album to be. There are so many stamps out there that you are in danger of getting a confused album. I have decided to collect in a theme.
There are lots of places to buy old postage stamps. I have bought a number of mine from the post office. As you can imagine they have made mistakes. I have also bought a few over the internet on Ebay which went well. When you become more experienced you can look at going to an auction or a stamp dealer. This is better for more rare offerings.
I have really enjoyed collecting and learning about old postage stamps. You too can learn about them and have a great experience doing so. You don't have to do it like I did.
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at
10:41 pm
I have been doing my best this year learning about old postage stamps. The reason for that is because my Granddad had a collection and it is now my responsibility to maintain. It is amazing the amount of things that you have to know to maintain them correctly.
I really enjoyed going through the collection and marking everything off. I went throught the entire collection and recorded each stamp, it took me and my girlfriend a very long time. It is always good to have a complete record of your collection. It also helps for insurance purposes.
I was very keen to take them home and as a result I stored the old postage stamps incorrectly (for a short time). I had them in a flat position on the floor. This can damage the stamps. You should have them in a upright position. You also want them to be left in a dark place that is cool and dry. You don't want any humidity if you can help it.
Once I had the album at home I wanted to buy some stamps for it. I was keen to 'stamp' my personality on it. I started buying any stamps that I liked but I don't think that did the collection much good. I decided it would be better to do a theme and therefore make it a little more structured.
These days you can buy old postage stamps all over the place. I found that the post office has a useful website for information. There you can buy them at face value although they aren't presented very well. I have found buying them over the internet to be ok. I have found one or two bargains on Ebay. You also can go to a specialised stamp dealer or have the excitement of an auction.
I have progressed a lot in knowing about old postage stamps. I have learnt a lot and hope to learn more in the future. I want to pass the albums to my children.
Monday, June 7th, 2010 at
4:30 pm
Writing about old postage stamps is a way for me to highlight the greatness of my Grandad's stamp collection. My Grandad was very passionate about old postage stamps. He would subscribe to newsletters and had an unblemished history of getting First Day Covers.
It wasn't just a hobbie for him. His old postage stamps were a passion. A passion that has gained some interested with me. It was when I was a child that I was more interested. When his old postage stamps arrived in the post I would go to his house and would help them mount them into his albums. First Day Covers easily went into a sleeve. Individual stamps are harder. There was a correct place for them to go.
I don't really remember this part of my life very well. My familly tell me all the time about how much I liked it.
I can really remember collecting football stickers as a teenager more. I didn't like sticking the sitckers into my album. I had the album to know when I had all the stickers... I still don't.
His old posage stamps collection was always going to be passed onto me because of my interest. It was recently that I asked my Nan if could have the stamps collection at my house so that I could learn more about it. So I now have the old postage stamps at my house.
I bought a book from Amazon about old postage stamps. This was to help me catalogue his collection, give it a proper record. It did take quite a while for both me and my girlfriend to catalogue the stamp collection against each of the entries in the book.
That gave me an idea of the value of old postage stamps. I wanted to know for a number of reasons. I needed to know for insurance reason plus I want to see if I could increase the value of the stamp collection. Please don't take this as me wanting to sell the collection. I would not want that at all. If it was valued at £1miliion then I wouldn't sell, it is something to be treasured.
Most stamps don't have much value and some appeared to have lost their face value which was a bit disappointing. The volume of the stamps did mean that it worked out at quite a bit. Because of the costs, it means that I too will be able to add to the collection.
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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at
3:26 pm
So what determines the value of old postage stamps? Well that depends on normal market forces – supply and demand. Supply and demand not just for the individual old postage stamps but for stamps in general.
What then influences supply? How old the old postage stamps are do affect the value because the old they are the less likely they are to have survived until today. Also the higher value of old postage stamps tend to be rarer because not many of these would've been bought in the first place.
Real scarcity really adds to the value of old postage stamps and often this scarcity comes from errors in production. As production was stopped early on if an error was noticed they are quite rare.
In recent years, the demand for old postage stamps has increased through investors being in the market for alternate was to increase their wealth. All collectable are in demand from antiques and wines to old postage stamps.
Like anything the condition of the old postage stamps are a factor in their value. The better the condition the higher the value so it is important that you have the correct storage in place for your old postage stamps.
If an old postage stamp has been used it will also affect its worth. Old postage stamps may be worth more if they have been used.
Another big influence of the value of old postage stamps is the type of stamp used in cancellation. The stamp has a higher value the more unqiue it is. This is why First Day Covers that have an unusual stamp used for cancellation have higher values.
So when you are thinking about the value of old postage stamps you need to think in terms of supply and demand. So if the latest stamp issue is really popular now, it doesn't then mean that it will worth a lot in the future. Old postage stamps that were popular in the past are likely now to have a high supply so keep that in mind.
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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at
9:24 pm
Old Postage Stamps
I have recently inherited my Grandad's old postage stamps.
I am not sure exactly what I will be contributing to the old postage stamps. I don’t just want to buy new stamps. I want to buy old postage stamps. It will have some history to it.
Yes I think that I will choose castles. Why? Well castles have always interested me and it seems that I have many different ones to choose from. There may be more popular topics like railway, kings and queen but they don't really appeal to me.
My Grandad has a whole collection about Kings and Queens. The Sumner Collection is its name. A collection that was designed to be solely about them. It is obvious that kings and queens were important to him.
He also has other albums where there are spaces with all the available spaces to put your stamps. A bit like when I used to collect football stickers. Each player had a space within a team. Likewise there is a space for each new issue.
I also want to know more about the foreign old postage stamps. Do people collect old postage stamps abroad? I don't doubt it, my Grandad has lots of foreign stamps. I do not know how he got into collecting which adds to the mystery but I can see his personality in the collection.
What about the value of old postage stamps? I wonder the value of stamps now? Not the new one, old postage stamps. I am already looking to see if I can spot a bargain to add to the collection.
Obviously I would never sell his albums but would love to add to their value. Something to be treasured in our family. Something that each generation could look about on and be proud that they contributed to a part of history.
When I was a child I really enjoyed being part of his passion and I hope that I will be able to feel that again. I am clearly as passionate as he is but I think that by taking an active approach with the old postage stamps collection now I will feel that little bit closer to him.
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Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at
5:51 pm
There are quite a number of places where you can buy old postage stamps. A place that it is becoming more rare is stamp shops. There aren’t too many stamp shops around these days. I think that is because like a lot of areas retail has moved towards the internet.
If you do come across a stamp shop then you are likely to be able to buy a bag which contains 1000 unsorted old postage stamps. There isn’t likely to be anything in there of great value but is a good place to start postage stamp collecting.
You may not be able to find stamp shops but there are often local dealers for old postage stamps. You can find these on the internet. They are likely to do mail order and offer free valuations for your stamp collection.
Look out for stamp fairs in your area. Each year there are a number of large stamp fairs usually held in exhibition centers. Make sure you keep an eye on the local paper for upcoming events. Stamp fairs are a great place to buy old postage stamps as well as meeting other who are into postage stamp collecting.
Another popular way to buy old postage stamps is in auctions. There are 2 different sorts of auctins, you have the auctions conducted via the post as well as those where you bid against other collectors in a room.
Where you are bidding against other people, while great fun, you can get carried away. This is something that you need to be careful with and you should set a maxiumn price you are willing to pay beforehand.
If you think that with postal auctions, you won't know what other offers are being made so you will probably put if a bid that reflects its value to you. The problem with postal auctions is that you don’t get to see the old postage stamps before you bid.
Old postage stamps are now being bought on the internet. If you have a look at Ebay you will see thousands of stamps. Although you can’t see them first hand there are good pictures for you to look at.
Although most sellers can be trusted it is always best to view their feedback history.
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