O/T : Need Help W/Stamp Collection...

[Bamacollection]

Here is the situation:

My brother-in-law's father passed away from an extended illness earlier this week. He left what has been discribed as an extensive stamp collection to his wife($100,000 face value). This afternoon, he called me and asked if I knew anyone in the vintage stamp world. I only could think of all of you members. If anybody, individual or otherwise, can help me guide him in a safe direction, I and he would be most appriciative.

I know most here do not agree with this type of thread, but I will thank you all in advance for the tolerance.

Lance

[JamesGallo]

Lance,

Depending on what era the stamps are from they may not have any value above face. If they are 50-60s or later then there is likely nothing worht more then face, if there are earlier you might have a shot.

I know Phil Weiss does stamp auctions and has done very well with them. His site is www.prwauctions.com.

James G

[Bamacollection]

James,
Thanks for the reply. I won't know exactly what they are until next week. From what little he told me, they sound like vintage stamps.

Lance

[Steve D]

Actually, you really need to get before 1930 for the most part in order to have anything worth any significant value. Franklin Roosevelt was a stamp collector, and because of this, stamp collecting exploded in popularity during his presidency. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing therefore, printed exhorbitant amounts of stamps, and these stamps are still worth very little.

If you don't have anything from before 1930, your best bet might be to try to sell them to a dealer(s) for use as postage. Some have been known to pay around 75-80% of face-value. Otherwise, you can always use them as postage, but if you really have ~$100K face-value, this could take beyond your lifetime to accomplish.


Steve

[barrysloate]

I collected stamps for several years and sold some on ebay, so I might be able to help. The information above is correct. U.S. Stamps post 1930 are rarely worth much more than face value. Even the ones from 1900-1930 only have value if they are unused. And while all unused 19th century stamps have some premium value, used ones often aren't worth very much either (although there are always rare ones).

Now you didn't say if these were only from the U.S., and worldwide stamps demand a great deal of knowledge. Anyway, try to find out some more about them and we'll try to help you.

[Goose]

If you get to view this collection and see things like Graf Zeppelins, Scott 1 and 2, and complete Columbus sets take some pics. I've always wanted to get a 1 and 2 just for the heck of it.