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I got out my collection...wow!

BillyKingsleyBillyKingsley Posts: 2,661 ✭✭✭✭
I'm blown away by what I have here. It's about double the size of what I remembered it being, and it appears most of them are from the 1950s-1970s range! As I may have mentioned before, my mom gave me her collection, which was apparently quite sizable. I had thought that she pulled most of them off letters back when they were new, but when talking to her about it it seems like she actually purchased most of them at a local shop, which she thinks may still be in buisness in her home town! (We'll be finding out, soon)

I have not gone through the entire collection in more than a decade- I'm not actually sure if I've ever gone through them in their entirety! I have not even looked into the box since 2008.

This photo does not include the ones I've bought from myself, (small number, about 300 world issues), or the ones I've been pulling off letters for the past 12 years or so.

It looks like there are about 500 stamps in the box, maybe more, maybe less...mostly from the US but not totally. (There is quite a large selection of Hungary and Sharjah- I don't even know where Sharjah is! They seem to really like cats, though). I know there are duplicates. Almost all of them have been used (IE, mailed and cancelled- I'm spelling it out because I don't know if used is the right term) I know I have a bunch of the Peace Corps 8 cents issue and more Conserve/Develop Energy issues from 1977 than I know what to do with, lol.

I am going to catalog what I've got, here. That has never been done before, or if my mom did catalog what she got- the catalog no longer survives. I'll be doing it in Excel. The ones in the lid are what I've typed in already, that's already 68 different stamps and I've barely scratched the surface here.

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I can really see myself getting into this hobby. I like the artwork on them, I like the variety of them, and I especially like the fact that I can get a lot of them for low prices. As I'm pretty low on the scale for hobby funds, a hobby that I can go far with a low amount of spending is a very pleasing prospect. The fact that I really do prefer quantity to quality doesn't help my other hobbies, lol. I was in an antique shop last year that had a big tub of stamps for $10. Now I'm kind of regretting not buying them, but on the other hand, I don't really want to start adding to the collection until I know what I have for sure. I wouldn't want to spend money on duplicates, if I'm going to spend money, it's going to be on something new. So far all I've added was a sack of 300 at my local Hobby Lobby (which I started a thread for a few months ago) and a packet of 15 at a historical museum I visited this past September.

About the only thing I don't like is the fact that most of them aren't dated. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to dates and numbers, but I know there is a catalog which would tell me that info- I believe in a previous thread I was given the name of it (I'll have to find that thread)

What do you guys think? I'm sure I'll have some more updates as I go through entering them into my Excel chart- But I'm not going to rush it, I expect it's going to take me a while to get these all typed in!
Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History

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    SmittysSmittys Posts: 9,876 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Sounds like fun! There's something magical about going through a bunch of stamps and seeing what's there. It sounds like just maybe you've been bitten by the bug and may never recover.

    Matt
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    BillyKingsleyBillyKingsley Posts: 2,661 ✭✭✭✭
    Oh yeah, that is most definitly the case! There were a lot in there, I estimated the total by less than half. Oddly though there were tons of duplicates. More than one stamp was repeated 30 times over! The majority of the collection does appear to be late 50s through early 70s. A few older, a few newer, but the 80s are harldy represented at all, and the early 90s is not much better, but I am very happy to have what I do have.

    Since I posted this I've already gotten as a gift from my mom almost 50 new stamps, and older than most everything that I had before!
    Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History
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    SCDHunterSCDHunter Posts: 686 ✭✭✭
    If you enjoy going through accumulations, you might be interested in this.

    There seems to be plenty of "goodies" in there.image

    Not my auction and I am not affiliated with the seller in any way.
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