Are postage stamps REALLY this bad?!!!

ormandh

I have some stamps that I wish to trade or sell, but I am finding them less than desirable. Is this really the case? -Dan

delistamps

As with anything, it all depends on both what they are and what condition they're in.

covers

Try postal history.

With stamps, don't buy anything that isn't valuable to make an individual auction lot in a brick and mortar auction house catalog. There are a lot more stamps that are worth nothing than coins that are at least worth face value. About 99% of the stamps in existence today are worth less than 25 cents.

WinPitcher

Doesn't a stamp at least retain it's face value?


Steve

covers

About 90% of US mint stamps back to ca. 1940 can be purchased for 65 to 90% of face value (average 80%) including plate blocks, sheets, etc - used stamps of that era are mostly worth virtually nothing.

delistamps

Steve:

It seems that stamps should retain their value. But here's the difference between coins and stamps. If I have a gallon jug of nickels I can take them to a bank and deposit them into my savings account. The teller won't be overjoyed but they will take them from me.

With stamps, you can't directly convert them to cash at face value. People are not mailing as much on their own. And with postage at 44 cents, you would need to lick nine 5-cent stamps to mail one letter. Is there that much room on the envelope? Unless you're sending packages to collectors it doesn't tend to be worth the effort to keep and use old postage.

Richard has a great point...postal history is more interesting and challenging.

David

ormandh

So, is the stamp market getting any better or worse or the same? Where do you see the collectible stamp market 5 years from now? -Dan

Matttodd1

Sort of on topic - I'm kind of excited about all commemoratives being forever stamps starting in 2011. At least mint stamps will actually increase in value. Can you imagine if all those 4 and 5 cent mint sheets from 50 years ago were actually worth the going first class rate?

This might eventually spell the end of the discount postage market.

Matt

DeutscherGeist

What can one do with MINT stamps from Germany before the introduction of the Euro?

I was attempting to collect all Germany stamps since the unification while I lived in Germany in the early 90s. Now its just so tedious to do that since I moved back here in the USA. I took a long hiatus from the hobby. I have so many duplicate 1993 stamps in German Marks. Sure, I would like to trade for ones I am missing in 1990, 1991, 1992 and beyond, but its going to be hard finding other collectors. I would love the equivalent cash value of 2 marks for every euro, but I doubt that is possible.

Here is my take on stamps: They are beautiful, very inexpensive, and offer to teach about history, science, and geography in a very fun way. Its a nice hobby for a young person to have in order to just get a broad based education. Also, nothing wrong with older people looking into stamps as a hobby since there is a lot to learn.
I learned a lot about art from the German stamps that I would not have known otherwise.