A strange thought about stamp collecting

ambro51

The USPS prints millions of stamps. Few people actually seem to "use" them. Will in the future (if not now) actual cancelled stamps be more valuable? Odd thought but this situation already exists for Confederate stamps.

nwcoast

Perhaps.
Is's often something no one thinks will ever be valuable, and gets thrown away- in vast quantities- that eventually become collectable.
That is of course dependent on there being at least some collectors being interested in collecting the item.
Baseball cards from the 50's are a good example. Many were trashed by bicycle spokes or thrown out. And the newer market- destroyed by mass production and over hoarding- just the opposite.
Big question is- will there be enough collectors who care about stamps- to support the supply?







Edited for typo:

winky

I could have swore this was a coin forum. Did it change and I not know it?

TigersFan2

I've wondered something similar about modern circulated coinage, particularly the 1999-present quarter series. We're becoming a more cashless society with less need for as many coins to be minted. But in the case of the 199-present quarters, they've been minting a lot of them and likely have a lot just sitting in vaults. Same for the SBA, Sac and Presidential dollar coins. Plus, the clad coinage just isn't as attractive as the silver coinage. So whereas in the past coin values went up as the Mint changed designs and the old design went out of circulation, with the clad coinage, are there so many that design changes and many years will do little to raise the values above face?

TigersFan2

<< <i>I could have swore this was a coin forum. Did it change and I not know it? >>



Don't worry, I just posted to bring it back on-topic for the coin forum.

LindeDad

My printer prints them (labels) for me. And every once in while I get a coin packaged with somebodies stamp collection on it.

MilkmanDan

In a similar way, there are a few examples of trade coinage that are much more valuable with Chinese chopmarks. For whatever reason these issues are hard to find with chopmarks, despite indications that many were exported. Many were likely melted.

TwoSides2aCoin

I don't know the answer to this one, bro…. It's out of my field of expertise like colonials And without a mentor or desire, it's one field that is overwhelming.

DoubleEagle59

Maybe, but where will the demand part of the equation come from?

Who besides our grandfathers used to collect stamps?

I wonder if coin collecting is heading down the path of stamp collecting (just to keep this post coin related).

Baley

Big question is- will there be enough collectors who care about stamps- to support the supply?

nwcoast hits the nail on the head; there are a lot of rare things that mostly got "used up" in history, but do people want to form collections of them, photograph them, talk about their history, form clubs about them, write books, participate in online forums?

Overdate

For the past 60+ years, most U.S. coins have been saved in uncirculated condition in far greater quantities than needed to satisfy collector demand, now or in the foreseeable future.

When I began collecting in the early 1960's, any decent looking 60-year-old uncirculated cent through half dollar was sought after and worth several dollars at least. Today a roll of nice uncirculated late-1950's wheat cents can easily be found for under $10. Many uncirculated nickels from the 1950's are worth barely above face, while the prices of silver dimes and quarters from that period are closely tied to melt. Franklin halves fare slightly better, but only because they are an obsolete type that has not circulated in decades.

Both coins and stamps of the mid-20th century were hoarded to a point that exceeded collector demand many times over. Massive melts of silver coins since that time, and the continuous use of stamps from that period as postage, may eventually bring supply down to more reasonable levels. But most stamps and coins from that period are not likely ever to become scarce or valuable.

TwoSides2aCoin

Guess how many stamps have come across the counter that "dumpster divers" brought in ? Thousands over the past 6 years. Fact.

BillJones

<< <i>Guess how many stamps have come across the counter that "dumpster divers" brought in ? Thousands over the past 6 years. Fact. >>



WOW!

They don't even try to sell them for discount postage?

nwcoast

<< <i>I could have swore this was a coin forum. Did it change and I not know it? >>



My guess is the Stamp forum sees so little activity that this question might go unanswered.
Nice that it was likened to some Moderns to keep it on topic

Zoins

I wonder Confederate stamps will get popular enough for creation of fake cancellations? I guess that could be like artificial wear for coins.

TwoSides2aCoin

<< <i>

<< <i>Guess how many stamps have come across the counter that "dumpster divers" brought in ? Thousands over the past 6 years. Fact. >>



WOW!

They don't even try to sell them for discount postage? >>


Bill, from my understanding , a lot of people just die and "hired hands" come in and "clean out" places. It's unbelievable sometimes. And usually, I send them to the stamp guy.


A friend of mine who died (Bob Osterholm) had a very extensive collection. He was the Tidy House Soap Guy.
Strangely , after his death, his son called and said, "My dad said to only sell these to you or have you deal them".
I told him "John, I don't know stamps , take them to _________" He called me back later and said, "I know why my dad referenced you".

And why people throw stuff away is beyond my comprehension without first researching it. I think this generation is lost. I know I am, half the time.

Edit to add;

A few weeks ago a lady came in ( a dumpster diver/ rough cut gal, but lady nonetheless to me … Time in a bottle )
… and I bought a couple things from her.

One : a letter from 1927 to some sorority sisters ( Univ. Ne)

And this postcard from 1909. Didn't pay much because she just needed a little and only had a little. But it was fair enough. I got a piece of history salvaged from a dumpster.

blu62vette

Isn't any thought about stamp collecting a strange thought?

SaorAlba

When I was in the 5th grade in the late 70s I remember that they had a stamp club, and we had bi-weekly meetings and speakers etc. Even by then I think the hobby had ebbed. I still have some year sets of stamps from that era somewhere, but I haven't had anything to do with stamps other than buying one book of stamps a year to mail out thank you cards greeting cards etc. Otherwise I never buy stamps, let alone care about collecting them.

TigersFan2

<< <i>A friend of mine who died (Bob Osterholm) had a very extensive collection. He was the Tidy House Soap Guy.
Strangely , after his death, his son called and said, "My dad said to only sell these to you or have you deal them".
I told him "John, I don't know stamps , take them to _________" He called me back later and said, "I know why my dad referenced you".

And why people throw stuff away is beyond my comprehension without first researching it. I think this generation is lost. I know I am, half the time. >>



About 20 years ago my grandparents were selling their house and stuff to move to a smaller house next door to my aunt and uncle. I was visiting when they were cleaning out stuff to make the move. It meant downsizing a lot of stuff. They rented one of the super-large dumpsters and were just putting anything not going with the move into the dumpster. There was no thought process of whether anything was an antique or of value because there it as considered too much hassle to handle it any other way. My parents were into antiques and renting space in several antique stores. I was frequently calling my mom to ask her if she'd like this or that that was going to the dumpster. I pulled out a bunch of things my mom wanted for the antique store, but so much just went into the dumpster. It's sad that things can be important to one generation then the next generation just sees the stuff as an inconvenience.

TigersFan2

<< <i>Isn't any thought about stamp collecting a strange thought? >>



It seems like it's outdated. I have a stamp collection from my youth. I probably only did anything with it for a couple of years and by the time I was 10 or 11, I was 100% into coins instead. I still have my stamp collection but nothing has been done with it since the early 1970s. It's a lot of stamps, but likely nothing rare or anything. Family friends were giving me international stamps. I was getting stamps off of old letters and postcards my grandparents had. And it probably includes all the U.S. stamps of the late 1960s and early 1970s. A couple of weeks ago I got it out of the box to see what I have with the interest of selling it on Ebay. But I determined that (1) it would be a monumental effort just to organize it to attempt to sell it and (2) I looked at EBay and saw that stamp auctions for these types of stamps sell for next to nothing. I'm tempted to just spread it out into a pile, take about a dozen photos, and just stick it on Ebay with a large flat rate box for shipping. Getting $5 for it is better than nothing because when I die, there's a 100% chance it's just going in the trash.

cladking

I set aside anachronistic post marks and nice well canceled and readable postmarks.

"Anachronistic postmarks" are stamps that were issued long before the date of the post mark. Many
stamp and coin dealers use old postage to draw attention to their letters and packages and can save
a little money so having a 50 year old stamp with a modern post mark might be of interest someday.

The post office has gotten quite creative with their cancellations and these could be of interest as well.

nwcoast

<< <i>I set aside anachronistic post marks and nice well canceled and readable postmarks.

"Anachronistic postmarks" are stamps that were issued long before the date of the post mark. Many
stamp and coin dealers use old postage to draw attention to their letters and packages and can save
a little money so having a 50 year old stamp with a modern post mark might be of interest someday.

The post office has gotten quite creative with their cancellations and these could be of interest as well. >>



Interesting......

I've used quite a bit of old postage on letters and bills.
It can often be purchased at a deep discount to face value.
Aside from the clutter of assorted low denomination stamps filling the letters, I might note the occasional case of returns marked "no postage" or "postage due", with only the glue remnants left where someone pulled off the stamps, no doubt under some delusion that they were actually worth something!

COALPORTER

Stamp grading and value are mainly determined by "centering" of the printing and other factors
and not so much on new / used condition.
There are already many many cases where a well centered cancelled stamp can sell
for much more than a poorly centered uncancelled one.

I wouldn't put too much stock in any modern stamp every being worth anything.

ambro51

My Grandmother was a big time sheet buyer and I had all the 3,4,5 cent issues spanning decades. I do use a few now and then but mostly condensed the collection to plate blocks of the common stuff. Unfortunately the regular issue or true oddball stuff held no appeal to her. So, no 50 cent face value sheets of 1/2 Franklins... and no sheets of $5 Wilson's . So while as a little kid I knew of Her collection, I was totally blown away finding my dad and his brothers "kid" collections in their old desk in her attic. wOW this was stuff from 1920's issues up to the start of Ww2. My uncles was really good with pairs of stamps. Also lots of postal service letters with stuff he ordered by mail. He did have pairs of high value stamps,souvineer sheets imperforate... And yup he was surprised at seeing it again and that's the last I saw of that. My Father remembered it well and remembered getting sick as a kid by eating lots of stamp hinges his book was single stamps, lots were used and a few ripped off brutally from a letter. He had nowhere the stuff his brother had. Both books were the same, long ago Christmas gifts.

Coupdescrounge

I could have swore this was a coin forum. Did it change and I not know it? >>

You typed 17 words and only one of them was about a coin. Think about that, less than half a percent of the time are you on topic in this thread.

COINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINCOINOCINCOINCOCAINE

SDSportsFan

<< <i>Stamp grading and value are mainly determined by "centering" of the printing and other factors
and not so much on new / used condition.
There are already many many cases where a well centered cancelled stamp can sell
for much more than a poorly centered uncancelled one. >>




While the above comment is certainly true, there are also cases where a used stamp can be worth more than an unused stamp, even when the used one is in worse condition than the unused one. This usually occurs with higher face-value stamps.

An example is Scott #39, a 90 cent stamp picturing George Washington, issued in 1860. In used VF condition, the catalog value is around $11,000, while in unused VF-XF condition, its value is around $3,000.

Another 90 cent stamp of George Washington, Scott #111 issued in 1875, listed in the 2010 Scott Catalog with a value of $7,250 unused, and $225,000 used (both stamps in VF).

Steve

1Bustcollector

I could have swore this was a coin forum. Did it change and I not know it? >>

You typed 17 words and only one of them was about a coin. Think about that, less than half a percent of the time are you on topic in this thread.

If you also consider the word "change" a possibility, that would double his odds!

I used to collect stamps in the late 60's but nothing very serious or valuable. Still have my album to this day - why, I do not know......except because I am a collector at heart. Interesting post.

ambro51

SDSportsfan I think your reply goes to the essence of my original post. InterestinG too you would think used examples would outnumber unused but I suppose the discard rate was high.

mustangmanbob

My dad was an extreme stamp collector, and I am still just starting to figure out how to sell his stuff 5 years after his death.

I have been clearing out the cheap stuff, where a lot of the post WW2 stuff cannot even bring face value.

I ship stuff overseas, and, for example, a cast iron automotive intake manifold can cost $150 or more in postage.

I can get rid of a lot of stamps that way.

Most of his US stamps were never graded, and many of his stamps were oddball not centers, wrong perforations, etc, but are not "marked" so I have no idea what is junk and what is $100.

Worse, he lived in England for years, and had a $500,000 plus collection. However, his main 2 dealers both passed away also, and I struggle with WHO would I just entrust these stamps to sell.

Same issue, many microscopic varieties that are not labeled.

Someday.