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First you need to find out if it worth anything. Take a representative sample of the stamps and get prices on the internet. I think it is very likely the the grandfather either took stamps off of the letters he received or bought commemorative stamps at the Post Office and virtually all the stamps are basically worthless. If it is worthless just donate it.
I volunteer at the Postal History Foundation in Tucson, AZ and we handle a lot of similar donations. I have seen small collections in a shoebox come in. I have seen 65 cases come in from one estate.
First, you need to assess what you have. If the material are just stamps on paper that have been collected over 50 years, the value is pretty limited and you are not going to get much for it. If it is US material after 1940, generally, the value is the face value of the stamps. Take it to a dealer and you might get 50-60 cents on the dollar on a good day.
If the material is older and your grandfather saw a need to put the stamps in albums, you might have something of value. You can look on E-bay and get some idea of the value. You can pull Scotts catalogs from the library and get some idea of the Scott's value which will need to be discounted from 25-50% depending on the material.
If the collection is a major one, you will have to get a professional involved to give you some estimate of the value. This is not easy nor cheap.
Non-profit organizations will give you tax receipts for contributions you donate. However, most charities will NOT place a value on the collections. If you want a good estimate, you will have to make it yourself or you will need to pay for the above appraisal. If you have a formal appraisal, the charities will generally hold the stamps for three years to get past the audit period.
I volunteer at the Postal History Foundation in Tucson, AZ and we handle a lot of similar donations. I have seen small collections in a shoebox come in. I have seen 65 cases come in from one estate.
First, you need to assess what you have. If the material are just stamps on paper that have been collected over 50 years, the value is pretty limited and you are not going to get much for it. If it is US material after 1940, generally, the value is the face value of the stamps. Take it to a dealer and you might get 50-60 cents on the dollar on a good day.
If the material is older and your grandfather saw a need to put the stamps in albums, you might have something of value. You can look on E-bay and get some idea of the value. You can pull Scotts catalogs from the library and get some idea of the Scott's value which will need to be discounted from 25-50% depending on the material.
If the collection is a major one, you will have to get a professional involved to give you some estimate of the value. This is not easy nor cheap.
Non-profit organizations will give you tax receipts for contributions you donate. However, most charities will NOT place a value on the collections. If you want a good estimate, you will have to make it yourself or you will need to pay for the above appraisal. If you have a formal appraisal, the charities will generally hold the stamps for three years to get past the audit period.
I hope that helps.
To the OP, JL's advice is about as good as advice gets.
All I can do is rehash, are the stamps unused or used (cancelation marks) pulled off an envelope. Are they US or foreign. Are they single stamps or blocks of stamps. To find stamps of real value you generally need them to be from before FDR. The Scotts guide is THE book for prices but as JL01 said, the price listed is sort of a "full retail" price and not anywhere near what a dealer, or even another collector would actually pay. If the stamps are US the Post Office has an excellent full color guide for sale. It has the latest Scott price plus pictures so you can compare what you have, with year it was released and the Scott Catalog number. EBay is a good source to see realistic prices.
On a sentimental note, it was my grandfather that got me started collecting as a kid in the 60's. Nothing valuable but he taught me what to look for.. When he passed in the 80's he left me his collection. It was a very impressive collection and I love having a piece of history that spans the 19th to the 21st centuries. I would not part with it.
Please let us know what you find out, very curious to hear what you have. Good luck.
Retirement hobby for we introverts! I have an extensive stamp collection since I've been collecting since childhood. The Russian and USA stamps take up volumes and are mostly unhinged. I wish I could get motivated to ID all the stamps and sell. The problem I ran into is I haven't the experience and knowledge to determine the condition of a stamp and the very old stamps can be either worth a fortune or not and to me, they look identical.
For those looking to identify stamps, check out some of the newer software programs including a stamp recognition program by EZstamp. There are some companies out there that will take your collections, identify them and sell them but I don't know what percentage of sale you get. Locally, the best I was offered was 20% of Scott value.
Get it appraised ASAP. And insured.
Then decide if you need the money or just want to admire it.
Lucky girl you have a remembrance of your grandfather.
Get it appraised ASAP. And insured.
Then decide if you need the money or just want to admire it. Lucky girl you have a remembrance of your grandfather.
Excellent and to me, oh so true. My maternal grandfather died before I was born. My paternal grandfather I saw exactly twice - once at age seven and once at age 11. Pitiful and in the end I was underwhelmed.
I inherited an older stamp collection where the "newest" stamp is the mid 1950's.
It appears a lot of them are from the 1800's, all USA.
What did you do with it?
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