various questions about inherited stamps
bronco2078
Posts: 10,220 ✭✭✭✭✭
I inherited a large collection that I'm slowly looking through and figuring out. There are a lot of things I don't understand about how my uncle collected stamps so maybe as I go along and have questions I can ask them here?
I know this forum works at a more relaxed pace I'm in no real hurry 
He seemed to have changed how he collected over the years . Right now I'm trying to focus on US stamps and separate them into what I think are keepers because they are worth more than face or maybe I like them , and pure postage.
With respect to postage , I have a few ebay seller ID's so within reason (not willing to place 100's of tiny stamps on a package) I can use them to mail items I sell. I literally got all these for free so if I can mail packages with them it is going to save me quite a bit of money.
Question #1 , dividing stamps into glue and self adhesive is it safe to assume everything self adhesive is purely postage?
Question #2 ish can I use forever postcard stamps as 34 cent stamps along with a 10 and a 5 to mail a first class letter?
along those lines what about additional ounce stamps? or can 2 ounce and 3 ounce stamps be used as there current value on packages to add up to the cost ? So if I am mailing a package that costs $3.00 can I put I guess 4 2 ounce stamps plus an additional ounce stamp?
Question #3 some stamps aren't forever stamps but don't exactly have a value , what does a B on a stamp mean in terms of its face value?
more questions to follow at random intervals if anyone feels like answering
Comments
Buy something like these for individuals. Also send photos of any you are curious about!
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most of the loose stamps are in books that have pages with horizontal clear pockets . I didn't think much of them initially because they were labelled stock books. I opened one and there were over $1500 worth of forever stamps in booklets tucked in it. Some of which were labelled with things like BEP , SVS ,ABN , 7978 SVS but to me look the same as others of the same design.
If you sell them on ebay , will you use tracking? Guess i'm not understanding how ppl are selling .99c stamps with free shipping. Can only use a minimum of First Class in order to track.
No tracking , I'd be using stamps to mail the stamps. I have 3 ebay seller accounts, the main account is a store where every item has tracking. The second account is for single coins mailed in first class envelopes that never get tracking.
On a 99 cent item , if you get it for free and mail it with a stamp you also got for free you can pocket 40 cents or so. If you get a complaint just refund the buyer and move on. That would be less money out of pocket than a single tracking number would set you back.
Never gave multiples a thought. Geez the brain is mush. Makes sense thanks.
"forever" stamps are good for their current face value in any combination. B stamps are nondemominated stamps that have a value, but you need to look it up (they were issued when the rates were changing and they did not know the new rate).
Whoever collected these paid close attention to the varieties (different printers, etc.). In theory, some of them could be worth something.
If you are confident that some are just good for postage, put them all in one pile (or multiple piles), add up the face value, and sell them as discount postage of X amount face value. You should get 65-70% of face on eBay. (Or list them, here on BST). I buy discount postage all the time - there is an active market for them on eBay.
Also, if they are 1st class forever stamps, you would get much closer to face - maybe 90% or so, depending on if you had free shipping or not.
He has these stock books with sheets of higher face value stamps. Like 20 90 cent stamps or 66 cent stamps , 71 cent stamps , They are just mounted onto blank pages , One book probably has over $1000 in sheets like that , I feel like I'll use them to mail packages .
I think I will gather up the booklets and sheets of stamps with values from 32 to 41 cents and list them for sale . Keep the forever and higher value stamps for myself and then try working my way through the albums to see whats what.
Beyond US stamps , there are about 6 albums labelled Israel , 5 labelled Europa , about 20 labelled UN , 5 or 6 from Micronesia and Marshall Islands each , about 10 from Canada .
Then there is a set of Scott Blue colored world stamp albums that end in the 70's , And a set of Minkus Master Global Albums with the latest pages around the year 2000. The scott world albums are filled to some extent , the stamps in those are mostly cancelled. The Minkus albums are nearly all unfilled pages but the few stamps in them seem to be unused
I've spent the last few years working on one of those Scott Blue albums - 1840 to 1940. There are spaces for 35,000 stamps and I'm just shy of 15,000 now.
I might be interested in your Blue album as a feeder album if it's still available
I'm feeling like I might keep the scott albums for sentimental reasons but I'm on the fence. There is also a minkus global set , I'm trying to decide which to keep or should I try to merge the minkus stamps into the scott and sell off the un needed minkus stuff.
Sorry about the slow reply but it is the stamp forum , the only forum here where a post from febuary is still on page one
A 0.15
B 0.18
C 0.20
D 0.22
E 0.25
F 0.29
G 0.32
Click here for a four-page USPS color guide containing all non-denominated stamps:
https://pe.usps.com/qsg_archive/pdf/qsg_archive_20140728/Q604a.pdf
So is it ok to put 2 E stamps on a letter to make up a 50 cent rate? I'll use those myself if that is the case , The mail goes through an automated sorter so I shouldn't have to worry about clerks not knowing what the stamp is worth
It is ok to use two E stamps to make up the 50 cent rate. You can also combine a B and G or D and F (although the latter would be 51 cents).
By the way, your comment about not having to worry about the clerks not knowing what the stamp is worth is another matter. Some won't know and you may have to simply tell them and let them know if they have any question they can check the postal service's non-denominated guide.
I've been using stamps on packages lately and I always go out of my way to make that less annoying for them. Like I figure out what its going to cost and try to use all of one denomination and paste them on in a grid so they don't have to count and multiply too much. Also I overshoot in order to use just 1 denomination.
So if it is $10.00 I'd put 32 32 cent stamps on in a 4x8 layout . Sure I could put 31 of them then a 5 cent 2 cent and 1 cent but thats annoying if there are 5 people in line waiting.
As far as letters , if I drop them in the box , I'm assuming a computer scans the postage and knows what all the stamps are. I'll test the theory out though before I go mailing my mortgage payment in with some oddball collection of stamps on it
I'm also learning that stamps don't work well on bubble mailers they tend to flex and fall off.
I don't worry about any of that. I do know that there is a limit on the weight of packages with stamps on them dropped in mailboxes. That was a result of the unibomber. Also, I tend to take a pen and write how much the postage is at the top right area of the envelope or package. That way most clerks look at it, think "he knows what it costs to mail this" and "I'm sure if he was careful enough to weigh it and check postage he probably put the right amount on it."
what is the deal with these marshall islands and micronesia stamps in the collection? I can't think of any connection my uncle had with either place that would cause him to collect their stamps.
I understand the Canada and Israel stamps he felt a connection to both countries , but he never went anywhere near the marshall islands or micronesia
Some mail order dealers like to sell Marshall Island and Micronesia, your uncle probably got mailers from them and bought stamps from there.
They were very popular in the 70’s with the mail order companies. They were marketed via approval service and people liked them because they were colorful and from a exotic location.