Value of Old Stamp Still on Original Envelope?

My grandfather accumulated a number of old envelopes with U.S. stamps
still on them.

Several are from 1894 and the following 5-10 years. Some have
reasonably valuable stamps such as Scott 240, 291, 311, 327, 299, 310
and E1.

Are these envelopes with stamps more valuable than the canceled stamps
by themselves?

If so, who collects them?

Thanks, Kent

On Jun 14, 8:49 pm, Joshua McGee wrote:
On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:07:49 -0700, Kent wrote:
My grandfather accumulated a number of old envelopes with U.S. stamps
still on them.

Several are from 1894 and the following 5-10 years. Some have
reasonably valuable stamps such as Scott 240, 291, 311, 327, 299, 310
and E1.

Here are some more specific numbers from a specialized catalogue, to make
my point more strongly:

Scott 240: $180 used, $625 on cover, more if with Exposition postmark
Scott 291: $190 used, $1,725 on cover, much more if dated before 17 June
1898
Scott 299: $25 used, $125 on cover (you should be able to get close to
that amount when you sell this popular stamp)
Scott 310: Only $27.50 used, but $700 (!) on cover
Scott 311: $75 used, $1,500 on cover, much more if dated before 6 October
1903 (You really have this on cover? Can we see a scan? If it's a
commercial cover rather than a philatelic one, there might be a nice
premium.)

So, yeah, you're going to want to keep those covers/envelopes away from a
soaking tub, to say the least. Stamp collectors joke about "time to take
a cruise". :^)

You're getting well into "nice enough stuff that a dealer would come to
your house" territory with these covers. It's this last list of yours
that has really gotten me to sit up and take notice, rather than the
"Astronaut and Capsule" discussion we had. The American Philatelic
Society has a service through which a disinterested party in your area
will come to your home and help with the disposition of your collection
-- suggesting dealers, providing guidance on whether outright sale or
consignment to an auction is more appropriate, etc. See http://www.stamps.org, and let me know if you need further help.

--
Joshua H. McGee, Los Angeles, California, USA
Member: APS, ATA, ISWSC, AFDCS, MBPC, MCC, BPS
President:http://www.penguinstamps.org
Trade?:http://www.mcgees.org/stamp-offers/

Joshua,

Thanks for all of your very helpful replies on all my posts.

I was in error about having a #240 cover but I do have the others and
quite a few more.

Most are just personal mailings from one person to another. Some
envelopes were not opened nicely so may have a ragged edge. Many
others are only the front of the envelope with the back apparently
removed.

My grandfather (born in 1883) protected the most valuable ones with
plastic protectors.

I did check #311 which is right in front of me.

Amazingly, it is a $1 stamp which was not needed. It was mailed from
a Reverend in Indiana to a person in Buffalo, N.Y. and the postmark is
7/22/1902. It is just the front of the envelope. It is a printed
envelope with information about Evangelistic Work and the return
address. Very nice condition.

Photos below were taken using barely adequate incandescent lighting a
few moments ago:

http://cjoint.com/data/gphEKni8u5.htm

http://cjoint.com/data/gphFV2DxpT.htm

http://cjoint.com/data/gphGK4NGQD.htm

My effort recently has been to sell my sister's album and I am just
starting to sort through the stamps and covers from my father and
grandfather.

Kent