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Best stamp you own.
FRNAllStar
Posts: 322
in Stamps Forum
My best stamp is a NHOG Curtis Jenny C#3 from the year 1919 give or take a few years. Popular stamp and I love the carmine and blue color Schemes on Old U.S. Stamps. I think this stamps goes under the Investment category since it's popularity makes it easy to sell. I hope to collect more of these and create a small hoard of C3 since I feel they will continue to rise in value.
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2000 Gallery PPI Registry Set
Oh well...................................................................................................................................................
As the market for stamps gets smaller, about the only ones that will hold REAL, LIQUID value will be graded and/or certified stamps.We can use terms like "true collector's" and "investors" but ultmately if one is spending thousands on stamps I can just about 99% guarantee that they're expecting those stamps to have value other than their personal pleasure only. Knowledgeable collectors are becoming less willing to shell out large sums of money to dealers for overgraded and/or faulty stamps. Stamps that are offered at 30-40 % more than Scott JUST because they HAVE certs but still grade below Scott's standard of "VF". Really what sane person would want to spend $1000 on a stamp that is certified,has a value of $900 by Scott, but grades Fine and is worth about $400. When the time comes to sell, guess what? You'll be lucky to get 1/2 of what you paid. Of course I understand why so many people dislike PSE's grading: the scenario above has been the norm for many years. The collector's who have spent years buying overpriced, overgraded stamps don't want the REAL WORLD MONETARY value placed on their stamps. That's understandable. But one must underatand that with the advent of Ebay,a person doesn't have to go to 5 stamp shows over 1 years time to find a slightly above average condition stamp and then be so excited that one pays through the nose. On ebay you can find 10 of the same # all of which are competing with each other for your bids. I look back on the stuff I bought from stamp dealers before ebay and am amazed at what I paid and how average the stamps really are. If you can find someone who is NOT a dealer but an honest person selling some decent items you can find some geat deals. Ebay has a lot of crappy dealers now though.
Modern sheets are good for accumulators or for those who like pretty brightly colored wallpaper that cost over face value. Well you can always mail a letter with the stamps. After all that's what they're for,right?
On hoarding C#'s: Collect ones in top quality condition if you want use them as an investment. Poor quality sells for small fractions of book value regardless of their color scheme or popularity. Common sense is a helpful guide with any collectable.
Any non-coin, non-sportscards , non-"I found 3 stamps in a book are they worth a fortune?" people on here?
QE4 VF NH 25 CENTS SPECIAL HANDLING
And after Christmas I should be able to take a picture of it.
Jerry
<< <i>The value will be nominal. This is akin to saying ," Everyone is using those mint stamps from the 40's and 50's for postage so there will be a big increase in value." Or with Beanie Babies, "This one is retired so they're not making them anymore, and mine is mint condtion," Yeah the 400,000 people that bought that $5.00 BB you think theirs are not in mint condition, are there 400,000 different people that wan to pay $20.00 for it now? doubtful! Ok so a 1955 stamp that catalogs 20 cents will go up to 50 cents. OK, you have a 1000 of these, that means they're worth $500 dollars, now just find a thousand people that need one. One will spend more time and effort than that $500 is worth. Sure you could sell them to a dealer but he isn't going to even come close to that. The modern sheets are worth more than say single stamps, in perceived monetary value, but they are by no means rare , whereas stamp collector's are. The popularity of the stamp subject is about all that I can see going for sheets. If it's a popular subject then even non-collector's will be interested,i.e. M. Monroe, Elvis.
As the market for stamps gets smaller, about the only ones that will hold REAL, LIQUID value will be graded and/or certified stamps.We can use terms like "true collector's" and "investors" but ultmately if one is spending thousands on stamps I can just about 99% guarantee that they're expecting those stamps to have value other than their personal pleasure only. Knowledgeable collectors are becoming less willing to shell out large sums of money to dealers for overgraded and/or faulty stamps. Stamps that are offered at 30-40 % more than Scott JUST because they HAVE certs but still grade below Scott's standard of "VF". Really what sane person would want to spend $1000 on a stamp that is certified,has a value of $900 by Scott, but grades Fine and is worth about $400. When the time comes to sell, guess what? You'll be lucky to get 1/2 of what you paid. Of course I understand why so many people dislike PSE's grading: the scenario above has been the norm for many years. The collector's who have spent years buying overpriced, overgraded stamps don't want the REAL WORLD MONETARY value placed on their stamps. That's understandable. But one must underatand that with the advent of Ebay,a person doesn't have to go to 5 stamp shows over 1 years time to find a slightly above average condition stamp and then be so excited that one pays through the nose. On ebay you can find 10 of the same # all of which are competing with each other for your bids. I look back on the stuff I bought from stamp dealers before ebay and am amazed at what I paid and how average the stamps really are. If you can find someone who is NOT a dealer but an honest person selling some decent items you can find some geat deals. Ebay has a lot of crappy dealers now though.
Modern sheets are good for accumulators or for those who like pretty brightly colored wallpaper that cost over face value. Well you can always mail a letter with the stamps. After all that's what they're for,right?
On hoarding C#'s: Collect ones in top quality condition if you want use them as an investment. Poor quality sells for small fractions of book value regardless of their color scheme or popularity. Common sense is a helpful guide with any collectable.
Any non-coin, non-sportscards , non-"I found 3 stamps in a book are they worth a fortune?" people on here? >>
That's a wee bit harsh... as with any collectible, most people simply don't know if what they have is valuable or not, or they've relied on the advice of those selling them the merchandise (always a bad idea).
Yes, with very few exceptions, mint U.S. stamps issued after 1930 can pretty much be used as postage, since most dealers will probably only pay you 80-85% of face value. The same holds true for plate blocks and mint sheets. First day covers post 1930, with the exception of certain cachet makers and/or tagged stamps, are quarter bin material. So-called "gold stamps" aren't.
Sad to say it, but philately seems to be a dying hobby, as evidenced by increasing average age of collectors. I attend both the local stamp and coin shows; most stamp show attendees and the members of the local stamp club are predominantly retirees. Very little new blood in the hobby. Contrast this with the infusion of interest in coin collecting following the start of the state quarter program.
I'll admit that I spend all my time in the DarkSide forum (World Coins) and rarely look here, simply because the traffic is so sparse. In fact I don't know of any philatelic boards that get any kind of traffic.
I'm actually first and foremost a stamp collector, over coins. I've been a member of the APS since 1993 and the ARA (American Revenue Association) for the past 3 years. For most of my collecting life I've been more of an accumulator rather than a specialist, although I pretty much stay with pre-1945 material. I have a penchant for 19th-century material, as I love the intricate engraved designs from that era. Countries I collect in depth: Germany and Empire, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Persia (Iran), Iceland, and Austria.
One area I do consider myself to be a bit of an expert in is U.S. revenue stamps, particulary the 1st-3rd issues (Civil War era). I have a fairly extensive collection of them:
http://www.revenue-collector.com
So yes, there are some stamp collectors on here...
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
Coinpictures, shame on you!
Send apology coin, preferrably a nice Victorian copper, before I link this over to the Darkside!
myEbay
DPOTD 3
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
Swept up in the space race as most kids my age were, I got myself a blank envelope and with a brand new set of Venus Paradise Art Pencils, drew a first-day cachet of the 4-cent Project Mercury stamp which was to be issued on Feb 20, 1962 just as soon as word arrived that astronaut John Glenn had safely splashed down after being USA's first man in orbit around the earth.
Not for nothing, this cachet I drew was so darn cute - I mean I even misspelled the word "Freindship", and I did it unintentionally! Anyway, when I got the envelope back with the First Day of Issue cancellation, I re-shipped it out, this time to NASA to the attention of astronaut John Glenn.
Well, I got it back autographed by John Glenn alright, and I also got a nice little hand-written note saying how Glenn and all the other Mercury astronauts were constantly moved, touched, and inspired by the way America's youth had gotten behind the space program and how it meant so much to the Mercury team as a group.
You know what? I truely believed that Glenn's note was sincere and from the heart when I got it in the mail...and I still believe him today...maybe that's why the political machine couldn't have him as our President!
The FDC's value? Not much I would think, but this piece is what you'd say had sentimental value....as far as I'm concerned, it's the best stamp/postal stationary that I own in my collection.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee