Stamp Collecting
stevepk
Posts: 238 ✭✭✭
What do you guys think about stamp collecting?
Back when I was in elementary school, stamp collecting was a thing. It may have even been as popular as coin collecting for a while. Our school teacher kept an assortment of US and world stamps at her desk, and when we did something right or behaved ourselves, we were entitled to pick a stamp from her desk to add to our collections. Being the nerdy little kid I was, it grabbed my interest. My grandmother and great-aunt also shared old stamps with me from letters addressed to them years and years ago. I saw them as a window into a time long-long ago. I was always curious to look up the value of my stamps in the price guide, and of course I did not have a full comprehension of the laws of supply and demand back then. Still, it was fun. I remembering thinking the 'Penny Black' would be awesome to own. I never took it seriously. I never spent more than a dollar or two on any assortment of stamps or even went as far as to develop a strategy. It was more of an accumulation than anything.
Today, I have very little if any interest in stamps. I find coins to be far more interesting. Maybe someone on this board will disagree with me. Allow me to compare the two hobbies:
Similarities:
both have a long history as collectables
both produced by the government
both depict political heroes
both can be linked to united states history
both have references to monetary denominations
production of modern products has run wild
Differences:
collecting a tiny piece of paper vs a piece of metal, sometimes silver or gold
coins have held value better than stamps due to demand
one is completely ruined by high humidity, the other is simply spotted to toned
a collection of stamps carries virtually no weight while a coin collection can be hefty
far fewer stamp shows than coin shows (once again, due to lack of demand)
I can remember getting coins back in change, but have a hard time remembering the last time I used a stamp
postage stamps are becoming obsolete at a faster rate than coins and currency
coins are money, postages stamps are something you honesty would rather not have to buy with your money
a heavily worn stamp is extremely fragile while a heavily worn coin is highly unlikely to disintegrate in your hands
I'm trying not to be biased here, but I obviously think more highly towards one hobby than the other. Maybe someone here can yell some sense into me with the caps lock key on.
Comments
@stevepk
If you ever get interested in FDC's, I will mail you 2,000, just pay postage.
I'm not sure of the reason, but in MHO stamps have all but disappeared.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
I am not an avid stamp collector. I do however have a small selection of US stamps with historical figures/events/places with patriotic themes.
The shop I work at used to deal in bullion/coins/stamps/sports cards. In the 80's they cut out stamps. In the early 2000's they cut out sports cards. I don't see coins going away anytime soon, mostly because it is my livelihood and I work hard to keep customers happy and bring in new customers. Stamps are a tough one though. I know of 2 others with stamp collections, neither of which has bought a stamp from a dealer in over 20 years as the USPS supplies them with a bounty of new products every so often.
When I was a kid I did plate blocks. Think what killed it for me was no upside. Of course no real downside as I bought em for face and can still use em today
I have collected and dealt with many stamps, primarily US Stamps, Chinese stamps, and Japanese stamps. I still have my stamps but I am not currently pursuing them.
I save some special stamps and some FDCs that appeal to me. Older stamps are attractive and well made, most being engraved and printed like our paper money. But, the market has collapsed. The USPS has some responsibility in damaging the hobby, but it is largely due to demographics and not enough new collectors. The result is that I can mail my letters using 40 or 50 year old stamps that I got gor less than face value.
Sports cards are completely useless they should have gotten the axe first. At least you can mail something with a stamp.
@bronco2078
You're right about usefulness for sports cards, however the did have a big uptrend in the late 90's. Only once eBay became mainstream that they started to fall in value.
Stamp collecting has been fading away for decades. If you think the average age of coin collectors is high just go to a stamp show. You will feel young again.
I always have said and still do to this day! If I could get what I paid for the stamps I bought in the late 60's- early 70's I would jump for joy!
I find stamps very interesting and bought a huge collection 10 or so years ago...almost hooked me again...then I thought about it...and quickly got rid of them! I still have may Harris Citation album packed with stamps!
I collect US but not nearly as avidly as coins. Very few stamp shops left around here (Akron-Cleveland-Canton OH area.)
About fifteen or twenty years ago, the great Clyde Hubbard told me that if he needed to act or pretend that he was sad, for some reason, he would just start to think about the financial debacle that had befallen the poor stamp collectors. He said it worked for him.
Yes, I collected as well when I was a kid. Plate blocks were a favorite of mine. I still have the somewhere.
I had a stamp collection as a young kid. I got a lot of them from family and envelopes and from the company that mailed them to you in little wax envelopes. I had quite a box full between all the stamps and books. When I moved out at 18 and was putting things in storage (humid here) the stamps were sold at garage sale for very little. Kept the coins of course.
I was in a stamp shop today and ask about the stamp market and its direction. The dealer advised me only a very few U.S. stamps were in demand.
Its much like coins in that the very high grade rare issues were still doing relativity well. I mean the issues like the dollar denominated Colombia and stamps along with the ognh Zeps (airmail issue) and the first airmail stamps in unused and in very good condition. He defines high grade as strong 90 or better. The rest of the stamp market was dead as like other people I am using what I accumulated in the 1970s for postage. He also mentioned the common unused stamps can not be sold at face value.
I only buy a few and frame them as wall hangers as some foreign stamps are beautiful but nearly worthless. My focus will remain on coins but I will say like stamps only the high end of the coin market will do reasonably well going forward. This means my procurement rate will be slow as I like branch mint gold but the ones I like are not in any way cheap.
I check what is for sale on HA.com and you can get all the $20 from the San Frisco mint coins you want but the low pop New Orleans and Carson City coins are appearing with less frequency, especially in AU. I only get PCGS graded coins , which means there are some dates no uncirculated have been slabbed or others very few.
I keep hearing about how the stamp market is dead, etc.
So I try to pick off some auction bargains, but I rarely win.
I bid $600 on this one: ebay.com/itm/382214468843
When I was a child, my father showed me his old stamp collection. Dad never threw anything away. I remember seeing many denominations of stamps of Hitler and General Franco. Each denomination had a different color. They all appeared to be in mint state. Some of the colors were attractive, even though the person on the stamp was not.
I have no idea where he got them, as he didn't leave the country until he was in his forties. Perhaps stamp collecting was more popular when he was growing up. He gave it to my nephew, who did who knows what with it.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
The consolation is that those Hitler head stamps are still readily available at low cost.
In a general sense, stamp collecting is absolutely dead.
There is however a spattering of collectors (especially worldwide and not from North America) who are avid collectors, as witness with fairly strong bidding for early quality material on Ebay.
Like many here, I collected as a kid in the 70's (who didn't collect back then!), but unlike many I sort of got back into it a couple of years ago by buying a few estate collections and starting compiling a worldwide 1840-1940 album.
I do it strictly for enjoyment, kind of a relaxing exercise, with full knowledge that monetarily speaking, I'm definitely behind the eight ball (kind of like investing in Nortel).
The stamp hobby is really in the tank. A local dealer who does stamps and coins has told me his stamp business is mostly for discount postage. Even the Zeppelin stamps, which used to be the holly grail of American stamps, have fallen way down in value.
I lived in new hampshire in the 90's and hockey cards were like tulip mania for a while. Stores were opening up all over the place to trade cards. I can't think of anything more wretched than cards ......... well there's pogs I guess
I've never seen that stamp. I'm surprised with the millions of them that have passed through my hands over the years. Sure shows that the hobby is not exactly dead......
The Hitler Head German stamps were brought back to the US by the duffel bag full after WWII. The only remaining retail stamp dealer in my area recently bought a large hoard of them.
Stamp collecting was at its peak in the 1930s and 40s. Franklin Roosevelt was an active collector, a well known fact at the time, and this helped popularize the hobby.
stevepk: PM sent.
I like that particular stamp because of the Western Prospector theme.
I did manage to buy a proof version of it some months ago.
Quick story....
A few years ago after buying an estate album in Buffalo NY, I was stopped at the border (crossing into Canada) for inspection of this album.
The two guards thought I had a gold mine of old stamps that were 'undeclared'.
I told them that I collect only for relaxation now and that the hobby was essentially dead.
After about 5 minutes of back and forth friendly conversation, trying to make my point, I finally said to them "who do you know, besides your Grandfather, that collects stamps?"
They both looked at each other and said to me "you're clear to go".
This was always my thinking as well. Demographics of an aging collector base has left few of these collectors by now.
I never collected stamps as a hobby... I do have a plate sheet of the Bicentennial stamps put away in a large book in my library.... Might have some old, cancelled attractive ones in a box somewhere.... When I was about nine years old, I sent for some from a comic book ad... got some from Afghanistan... no idea what happened to them..... Cheers, RickO
I am still working on liquidating my dad's collection, over $1mil on the Hyper Inflated Scott catalog prices. Maybe worth $100000 to $50000.
There was a whole bunch of UN and Israel stamps, probably he got them in some package deal. Woe Woe Woe, those were all destroyed when our house flooded and the cabinet where those were was soaked. The insurance company paid them off at Scott Catalog type prices. Too bad more of it was not at home.
Stamps will be back with a vengeance some day.
I'm not holding my breath.
Are coins, like Stamps?
Some years ago
I bought a small but high quality coin collection with very nice coins in it for a considerable 5 digit price in $ CAN. all I actually wanted out of it was about about 30 top shape and grade, rare Queen Victoria Canadian halfs ,quarters, dimes and nickels and a few other German colonials. So I thought I keep the ones I wanted and the rest could be gravy... the Estate was delighted to get some serious money for the two " Banana boxes".
contents included Albums with NFL, German and French stamps from the turn of the century and before , including some German, Dutch and French Colonial stuff . I already was a happy camper about the coins in the purchase.
So I did a little stamp research just to see and posted 2 of them on German Ebay. Surprise, surprise.... on the first day of the listing they went to over 150 Euro each, sat around for a few days and ended up selling for 185 and 210 Euros .....
Happy guy!
I contacted a German auctioneer, specialising in stamp auctions. He requested close up images of the album pages.
He asked to send the albums with FedEx to him at his cost. I did one better. I took them myself to Europe as I had frequent business trips to Europe anyway.
Here is the offer he made: An outright buy out for a nice 5 digit amount or go to auction at a 90/10 split . he guaranteed everything would sell at least 10 % over the starting price.
Either way I knew I would be a very happy camper. I choose the auction route for fun and it was well, well worth it.
During auction time I had other business trip to Europe. so I attended the auction.
Amazing how many high end stamp collectors where there, including dealers.
Over dinner after the auction the auctioneer explained that it is similar as with coins. There are ups and downs. But these fluctuations are barely noticeable with high end rare and in demand material, if they are there at all.
he told me he knew that all my stuff would sell high because of most of it being rare.
he also told me that about 60 % of it was purchased by dealers.
So , please do not discount stamps completely... yet
There is some serious money out there looking for the right and perfect stamp. It is usually missing in most collections.
One only has to have the right items. Just like with coins...
This was the best purchase I have ever made when buying coins......and I am not a dealer.
Zepps on flight covers are doing okay. Prices are higher than when I bought a few on eBay five years ago.
On the other hand, I recently won a small lot of these for $2.40 each. And they were flown by Lindbergh!
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
THat's a cool link to aviation history for $2.
In the tank or no, that's $2 well spent IMO.
Agree. That's a cool cover for $2+ !!
I heard that Stamp Collecting can be a sticky business
Steve
I think about it &
then rapidly put it out of my mind
BHNC #203
I went into a Stamp/Coin shop last week, there were two on the staff, the younger one said,"I'm the coin guy, sales are great!" I looked at the older guy and said, "You must take care of the stamps part of the shop!" He looked at me and said, " Yep! But stamps don't have as much of a following as they used to."
The Post Office always displays some very attractive stamps though! I have to admit, I bought a sheet of Elvis stamps and a sheet of State stamps also. But collecting stamps kind of overwhelms me, learning coins is challenging enough!
When I was in elementary school a 7th grade teacher there used to do similar things to your teacher and would award us with old us coins based on passing certain levels of knowledge within the year.
first milestone got-and then
1 wheat cent (you choose any year from the 10,000+ coin far
2x wheat cent
3x
5x
1 indian cent
1 buffalo nicke
liberty nickel
roosevelt dime
merc dime
barber dime
$1 silver certificate
wash quarter
standing liberty quarter
barber quarter
$2 red seal
1964 kennedy
franklin
walker
barber half
peace dollar
morgan
$5 red/blue seal
Throughout the year there was also raffles that we could enter to win some super cool "odd" coins like a large cent, 2 cent piece, 3 cent piece
I credit him tremendously for fueling my passion and for giving myself and many other kids the "bug" in elementary school. I have since gone back and seen him at least 5-6 times to see him and supply him with more coins that just come in an get accumulated.
This was back in 1999 or so when putting together the entire above group was under probably under $50 per person (silver was MUCH cheaper) and at 27 people for the class that would be under $1500 of his salary which ensured he was the most popular teacher.
As with every collectable, it is what you know. I collect stamps among several other things (you name it I probably have some books and some items).
Those who go into a hobby expecting to become rich are usually fooling themselves but I've had the luck of buying several unattributed stamps (between $10 and $30) and selling them for several hundred dollars at the same show. When you get into stamps on covers, the postmarks and usage comes into play.
Stamps went thru the TPGS phase a while back and many common forty cent stamps in perfect condition sell for hundreds! A reward for those who always collected the unappreciated "best."
The fact is, when I go to the National Sarasota Stamp Show, the tables are packed, there is no parking, etc. Yeah, yeah, stamps are dead...NOT! As with anything, prices rise and fall, some countries are hot and then cool. And talk about interesting varieties of watermarks, color, and paper types. Makes me wish I was not involved so deeply with coins so I could add what I've learned to the literature.
Additionally, many commemorative stamps were issued along with the coins. If you enjoy "detail" and beauty, put a glass on the Trans-Mississippi stamp above and you'll see the eyes on the pioneers! I collect checks, engravings, and paper money also. It all comes together. A stimulation of you mind and senses. Let the value come what may or may not. You cannot put a value on mental stimulation and enjoyment! Just as with coins there is a wholesale and retail difference and as with coins many of the transactions at the show are dealer to dealer.
One last thing. In the good old days you could sit at a coin dealer's table and go through his stock in red boxes pulling out gems. Hard to do any more. Go to a stamp show and sit at a table looking through boxes of junk looking old letters priced at $1 each and you'll be rubbing shoulders with some of the most knowledgeable and wealthy collectors in the area!
I could fill pages with suggestions, stories of treasure, and recommendations but hopefully you'll get the idea.
Two other things I've learned as a collector:
Stamps appeal to me, but I feel like collecting paper requires a little bit more attention to storage and safe keeping than I am capable of providing. An entire stamp collection can be destroyed by a spilled cup of coffee, and I do spill a lot of coffee
. I already killed an $800 laptop by dropping a cup of cappuccino on the keyboard; it poured out the USB slots like little fountains. Knowing myself well, I have always stuck to non-paper items for my collectibles.
When they first came out, I picked up several souvenir sheets of the 1998 reissues of the Trans-Mississippi stamps. $3.80 per sheet for a pristine complete set - I could never have afforded the originals. It was also fun to use some of the stamps as postage. Same for the 1992 Columbians, which still show up occasionally near face value on eBay.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
When I was growing up Dad used to take me to visit a friend of his some Sundays after church. Mr G. had inherited a nice business and had been collecting stamps since the 1930's. He had all the US issues from the very first, in top grade, in his albums, I think he stopped with the 1930's. Multiple top quality zeppelin stamps, Trans Mississippi, Panama Pacific, airmails, revenues, a complete sheet of one of the CSA issues, errors (imperforates, off center), I was in awe. He told us (and I have no reason to doubt) that he had a chance to buy one of the inverted airmail stamps in the 30's for $500, but passed. My collecting never progressed beyond plate blocks from the 50's and 60's, but the bug was planted I guess since I started collecting coins after my father passed.
Mr G's collection was sold in a special auction by Steve Ivy, who had a full color catalog printed up. I think he used the proceeds to travel around the world with his new, much younger wife.
Collect stamps......new, much younger wife......something to consider
Oh Ya/....traveling around the world too
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
I collect stamps created by US Mint Chief Engraver Robert Scot, which are the first federal revenue stamps, to raise money for navy ships to fight the Quasi War and First Barbary War. Adam Eckfeldt had a large role in these, contracting to fabricate 18 screw presses.
Very nice stamps
Thanks for sharing them...something new for me
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
When I was growing up in the early-mid 1970s, I collected US stamps, as my dad was a collector. He had also collected coins, but stopped collecting them many years prior. I always preferred stamps to coins, as each stamp was different. To me, there was just no real difference between a 1921 and a 1922 silver dollar; they were both basically identical.
I still collect some stamps, mainly to try to fill in certain pre WW1 gaps in my dads old collection, that I inherited when he died.
Steve
I collected stamps in the past. I threw some away just yesterday.
It's dead.
THAT is really cool!
Each year, fewer and fewer U.S. coins seem to be in demand. My understanding is that only the rarest and highest quality stamps are doing well. That sounds a lot like the direction of the rare coin market.
If unused, you could have sold them to the practice to mail patient billing statements.