Long time coin collector with stamp question

Mark

I've been participating on the coin side of these chat boards since 2001 and so I understand how annoying a newbe question can be. However, I'm hoping you will forgive my ignorance and help me out. I know that the stamp market has been in a long-term decline for years. Both my parents collected stamps and when I inherited them 25 years ago, I (wisely) sold off my father's large collection. But for some reason I kept my mother's collection, which I believe consists in part of UN issued stamps from when the UN was formed until circa the early 1960s. I just uncovered where my (late) wife had stored my mother's collection and the question occurred to me if there is anything in it that I should look for because it is valuable. Yeah, I fully understand how greedy this question makes me sound, but figure any money from the stamps can be spent on my coins. ( ) So, thanks very much.

291fifth

Go to your local library and ask if they have copies of the Scott Stamp Catalog (many libraries do). Find the edition that has the UN issues and check it against what you have. I once had a UN stamp collection but sold it about 24 years ago so I don't have a feel for the current market. Keep in mind that dealer buy prices will be a small fraction of what the catalog lists.

Mark

@291fifth Good idea about the library--thanks!. I know that dealer buy prices are a LOT less than what the Scott Catalog shows. As a kid, I often wondered why the Scott Catalog was so out of line. Nowadays I wonder why the PCGS Price Guide also seems so off...

JBK

Pls post if you find any rarities.

Not too long ago I bought a similar collection of UN stamps which I am using for postage on letters mailed from UN headquarters in NYC. I paid 20% of face for them.

bronco2078

@JBK said:
Pls post if you find any rarities.

Not too long ago I bought a similar collection of UN stamps which I am using for postage on letters mailed from UN headquarters in NYC. I paid 20% of face for them.

you are close to the U.N. in new york to use that as your post office??

JBK

@bronco2078 said:

@JBK said:
Pls post if you find any rarities.

Not too long ago I bought a similar collection of UN stamps which I am using for postage on letters mailed from UN headquarters in NYC. I paid 20% of face for them.

you are close to the U.N. in new york to use that as your post office??

I wish!

I guess in the old days they had a big mailbox out front where you could deposit mail, but as I understand it, now you have to go inside past security to mail letters.

I take several letters with UN stamps on them and put them inside a larger envelope that I mail to the UN for remailing. That's why I can/will only pay no more than 20% of face for the UN stamps. I use discount US postage on the outer envelope. The biggest savings comes when I am mailing letters overseas.

bronco2078

@JBK said:

@bronco2078 said:

@JBK said:
Pls post if you find any rarities.

Not too long ago I bought a similar collection of UN stamps which I am using for postage on letters mailed from UN headquarters in NYC. I paid 20% of face for them.

you are close to the U.N. in new york to use that as your post office??

I wish!

I guess in the old days they had a big mailbox out front where you could deposit mail, but as I understand it, now you have to go inside past security to mail letters.

I take several letters with UN stamps on them and put them inside a larger envelope that I mail to the UN for remailing. That's why I can/will only pay no more than 20% of face for the UN stamps. I use discount US postage on the outer envelope. The biggest savings comes when I am mailing letters overseas.

How does this remailing work?

JBK

@bronco2078 said:

@JBK said:

@bronco2078 said:

@JBK said:
Pls post if you find any rarities.

Not too long ago I bought a similar collection of UN stamps which I am using for postage on letters mailed from UN headquarters in NYC. I paid 20% of face for them.

you are close to the U.N. in new york to use that as your post office??

I wish!

I guess in the old days they had a big mailbox out front where you could deposit mail, but as I understand it, now you have to go inside past security to mail letters.

I take several letters with UN stamps on them and put them inside a larger envelope that I mail to the UN for remailing. That's why I can/will only pay no more than 20% of face for the UN stamps. I use discount US postage on the outer envelope. The biggest savings comes when I am mailing letters overseas.

How does this remailing work?

1. Write letters and put them in envelopes addressed to recipients.
2. Put UN stamps on the envelopes.
3. Put all those envelopes into a larger envelope that is addressed to the UN Postal Administration in NYC.
4. Put US stamps on that envelope and drop in a mailbox.

When they get to the UN post office they are postmarked by the UN podt office and put into the mail system. The UN essentially turns them over to the USPS as would be done with letters brought in from a foreign country, and they get sent on their way to the addressees.

They do not necessarily do this the day they get them, and it seems they sometimes can wait a few days before they process.

Also, it is mainly for letters - you can't use this process for shipping ebay sales, for example.

If you write lots of letters you can cut postage costs, especially for letters sent overseas. I find that sending 4 or 5 letters at once is a sweet spot for maximizing the benefit. If you bundle too many together then your outer envelope would be too thick and would have to go as a package.

bronco2078

So letters that are not time sensitive then, not my mortgage or credit card payments

I have so many UN stamps I could put 4 letters in an envelope and mail them to Switzerland to have their UN mail them to my next door neighbor

Mark

Well, I am exceedingly glad I managed to save @bronco2078 some money. I've still got to get to the library, however.