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#1
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Stamp condition
Hi all,
I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many George V era and a couple of Queen Vic. Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ? Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old album intact ? Your help is appreciated. |
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#2
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From: Craig Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:14:25 GMT Subject: Stamp condition Hi all, I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many George V era and a couple of Queen Vic. Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ? Short answer: for any given stamp, the closer it is to perfection the better price it will command. Longer answer: Some very rare stamps can be in deplorable condition and still be worth a great deal of money. Some common stamps can be in perfect, gem-like condition and be worth squat -- even less than face value. That's why so many dealers use "old" stamps as postage. They are worth more that way than as collectibles. For "average" stamps, obvious damage such as thins, creases, short, blunted or missing perforation teeth, ugly cancels, surface scuffs, heavy hinging, damaged gum are all considered the kiss of death; such damaged stamps will be worthless, literally, as an investment. Badly centered stamps are also worth considerably less than well-centered copies. Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old album intact ? This has to be a personal decision. Moving stamps of little value to a "professional album" -- is there such a thing? -- will not raise the value of the stamps. In effect, it will lower their value, because the cost of the album would have to be subtracted from any future sale. Used albums, even those in good condition, have almost no resale value. I you are hoping to interest your son in stamps, then it might be worth working with the collection, discarding stamps that have the "uglies" and replacing them with good copies, putting them into a new album. By resuming your own collecting, your son might be more encouraged to try stamp collecting than he would if you said, down the road, "Here's some stamps for you," in which case he might say, "Thanks, Dad" and go back to his computer game. If you are thinking that the stamps might be an investment for his education or any other purpose, it would probably be best to forget stamps, which are simply not a good investment. When God made stamps (he was a bit late, not getting around to it until 1840), he meant them to be for collectors, not investors. Bob ------- "The brain-workers and manual workers of today need a hobby ‹ some quiet pursuit of perennial interest and charm to smooth their journey through a none-too-easy world." ‹ The Honourable J.C. Elliott, Postmaster General of Canada, referring to philately in foreword to the 1938 Annual Review of the British Columbia Philatelic Society ------- |
#3
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Thanks for the reply. I had hours of fun when i was younger sorting
them out and swapping with mates, i hope the offspring can find the same pleasure. By professional album, i meant an album that can store them without hinges, never really liked them when i collected and looking at the markes that have left on some of my collection, i would not use them again. Funny, i haven't touched these for almost ten years, but have spent the last eight hours organising, looking at web sites and planning what i'm going to do (all for the boy of course) once hooked... Craig From: Craig Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:14:25 GMT Subject: Stamp condition Hi all, I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many George V era and a couple of Queen Vic. Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ? Short answer: for any given stamp, the closer it is to perfection the better price it will command. Longer answer: Some very rare stamps can be in deplorable condition and still be worth a great deal of money. Some common stamps can be in perfect, gem-like condition and be worth squat -- even less than face value. That's why so many dealers use "old" stamps as postage. They are worth more that way than as collectibles. For "average" stamps, obvious damage such as thins, creases, short, blunted or missing perforation teeth, ugly cancels, surface scuffs, heavy hinging, damaged gum are all considered the kiss of death; such damaged stamps will be worthless, literally, as an investment. Badly centered stamps are also worth considerably less than well-centered copies. Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old album intact ? This has to be a personal decision. Moving stamps of little value to a "professional album" -- is there such a thing? -- will not raise the value of the stamps. In effect, it will lower their value, because the cost of the album would have to be subtracted from any future sale. Used albums, even those in good condition, have almost no resale value. I you are hoping to interest your son in stamps, then it might be worth working with the collection, discarding stamps that have the "uglies" and replacing them with good copies, putting them into a new album. By resuming your own collecting, your son might be more encouraged to try stamp collecting than he would if you said, down the road, "Here's some stamps for you," in which case he might say, "Thanks, Dad" and go back to his computer game. If you are thinking that the stamps might be an investment for his education or any other purpose, it would probably be best to forget stamps, which are simply not a good investment. When God made stamps (he was a bit late, not getting around to it until 1840), he meant them to be for collectors, not investors. Bob ------- "The brain-workers and manual workers of today need a hobby ‹ some quiet pursuit of perennial interest and charm to smooth their journey through a none-too-easy world." ‹ The Honourable J.C. Elliott, Postmaster General of Canada, referring to philately in foreword to the 1938 Annual Review of the British Columbia Philatelic Society ------- |
#5
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"TC" wrote in message ... Do you mean your son "the boy" or "the boy in you" ? ;-) reminds me of my father-in-law and how he got started. His daughters (I married one of em) started collections for Guides or something like that. We of course he got into it, helping them out. He ended up hooked - I can't get my wife interested though :-(. He now has a very respectable collection and has helped me out greatly. The neat thing is that both his sons in law collect stamps (the other is highly specialized in Germany and inherited a grandfather's collection (his grandfather's original collection was confuscated in Germany during the war and it was his second collection) (btw he is 1st generation Canadian so the collection literally travelled from Germany including some neat hingless albums). Frank |
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