daveg28
Member 
Posts: 1,015 
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 28, 2017 17:40:42 GMT
Ok, so where shall I start in this forum? This is my first thread start. Let's see what kind of answers I get to this question:
I've inherited a couple of collections somewhat recently. No, this is not a "I inherited dad's stamp collection, how do I sell it?" type of post. A couple of friends of mine knew that I was a long-time collector, and offered me their late parent's stamp collections to add to mine. Jackpot! Treasure hunt! My question is, what do I do with all the new material I've added to my own collection? I'm now the proud owner of 3 volumes of Big Blue. One friend's collection contained Volume I, the other contained Volume I and II. I've cherry-picked some of the U.S. stamps that I didn't have already and added them to my own albums. That was easy. Now I have 3 large albums with scatterings of worldwide stamps, with nothing newer than maybe 1950. Lots of neat stuff I'd never seen before. I have a worldwide album of my own...I'm making my own pages...and my first thought would be to pick what I like and just add them to my own collection. That would leave me with 3 old Scott albums with a few stamps left in them. What do I do with them? Is there a market for them? Is there a fun project I can do with them and keep them? What kind of things have you all done with something similar?
I also received a box full of old first day covers. My friend's mom must have collected them as a young girl. The majority of them are addressed to her, no cachets. There were a number of WWII covers...ship launches, "Win the War", patriotic stuff like that. Those I like very much and I've added them to my own collection in a small binder. I never got into FDCs, and I just don't know what the heck to do with the rest of them. I'm sure it's not worth much, but there was a huge FDC for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Had stamps from France, Great Britain, and the U.S. franked on it. I think it's a Fleetwood cover. I plan to frame that one and put it on the wall of my den.
So, what do any of you do with such a windfall? I'm curious to hear your stories.
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tomiseksj
Moderator 
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,263
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Jun 29, 2017 11:00:12 GMT
Yours is a predicament that we'd all probably like to find ourselves in -- too much material, too little time!
My Father gave me his Scott Internationals a few years ago and that essentially got me started collecting worldwide (now that he has passed, I'll not part with them). Later I happened to acquire a Davo hingeless album that I've been using as the primary album for my Canada collection. I use the Scott Canada pages to hold some of the duplicate material.
As to the albums, judging from eBay sales there certainly is a market for them. I recently acquired one such Scott National BOB album not only for the cut squares and stamped envelopes it held but primarily for the unused revenue pages. The cost of the album with all of its included material was just slightly more than I would have had to pay Amos to get the revenue pages. You certainly don't need two Part I albums so you might try selling one of them as you contemplate what to do with the remaining albums. Or, you can donate them to an organization like Stamps For The Wounded or APS if you decide you don't want to keep or try to sell them.
Regarding the covers, the only first day covers that I actively seek are those for the U.S. Scott 929 with cachets. However, I have somehow managed to accumulate a large number of others along the way, both with cachets and plain. For the most part, they are just sitting in boxes or piles situated throughout my office/stamp room. I'll occasionally sell some of the duplicate material on ebay but the majority is just sitting, waiting for me to get around to doing something with it. In that regard, I'll be interested in seeing what others will suggest here.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jun 29, 2017 12:18:14 GMT
Thanks for a nice response to Dave's questions, Steve ( tomiseksj). I have been thinking about his situation and trying to make some decent suggestions of my own. Here are a couple of thoughts, Dave: The FDCs are problematic these days. There are a lot of them around, and in general, values are way down. I have never collected FDCs, but ended up receiving collections inherited by friends of mine from their parents. Now I have several hundred FDCs, and I want to do something constructive with them. I noted that Ryan previously posted on another thread that he has been finding FDC cut-outs in on-paper kiloware purchases. That gives you an idea of the lengths to which some people are going to move this kind of material. I have been thinking about doing the same thing. As far as the spare albums go, I think that Steve's suggestions are pretty good. Another possibility might be to fill them with as many unwanted duplicates as possible and then try to sell the whole thing on eBay. I have purchased albums full of stamps like that on eBay in the past myself. |
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Londonbus1
Moderator
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 4,864
What I collect: Cinderellas and some Ephemera from Great Britain, France and Israel plus a few beautiful bits from elsewhere !! Topical interests include Flags & Judaica, the latter with an emphasis on the Jewish National Fund.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Jun 29, 2017 14:09:00 GMT
So, what do any of you do with such a windfall? I'm curious to hear your stories. I have never had a 'windfall' like this and am not likely too either. That's life. But regarding FDC cut-outs, I can comment. Some years ago when I was still collecting postage stamps, I purchased from 2 top GB dealers some kiloware/mixtures but when it arrived I found that many were from FDC's. I was so angry. I immediately sent them back and got a refund. So it was going on way back then but it is, to be honest, very bad practice. I have complained many times since when I see it from dealers lists or ebay etc. I advise against this for the good of our hobby. Londonbus1 |
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 29, 2017 16:08:33 GMT
Not familiar with FDC cut outs. What is this?
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Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,720
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
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Post by Ryan on Jun 29, 2017 16:28:29 GMT
Not familiar with FDC cut outs. What is this? That's when somebody has a pile of first day covers that they don't know what to do with, so they cut the stamp off the cover and throw the rest of it away. I'm happy with such stuff, as I'm a general worldwide collector and I have come across a lot of stuff that I would never have received otherwise, like this Finnish mini-sheet which I soaked off of an FDC cutout. Certainly this is something I wouldn't expect to get in the mail on a normal day, so an ex-FDC copy will be all I ever see, I'm sure.  Ryan |
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 29, 2017 16:32:49 GMT
This is considered a bad practice? I think I've come across a few of them and never thought twice about it. I don't see the harm, unless it's a valuable cover in the first place.
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Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,720
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
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Post by Ryan on Jun 30, 2017 2:57:44 GMT
Some people buy kiloware specifically for the postal usage treats to be found (specifically, "real usage"), and for them, first day cancels are considered low-grade. Sort of like how many collectors hate cancelled-to-order stamps but others don't mind. As I said, I'm happy with FDC cutouts - different stamps are my priority over different cancellations, and collections of cutouts from old first day covers will turn up all kinds of commemorative stamps that I never see from postal usage. I don't have any of those Finnish cartoon stamps except for that complete sheetlet, and unless / until I start specifically buying more Finnish stamps, I kind of doubt I ever will. In that regard, yay FDC cutouts!
Ryan
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jun 30, 2017 7:51:10 GMT
Many thanks to both Londonbus1 and Ryan for contributing some substantive comments on this issue of FDC stamp cut-outs. This whole discussion illustrates perfectly why I like TSF so much. Even though I have been collecting for 50 years, I had never heard of this practice before, until Ryan mentioned it. Now I am getting both perspectives on this practice, with LB1's comments. I think I can see both sides on this question. For me personally, the problem is exactly what Dave has written in the first place: what to do with material that we may acquire which is not in our main collecting interest. I have been having a real problem finding anyone who wants FDCs at all, and now I have boxes full of them, and it's starting to look like donating them to some organization may end up being the best way to find them a new home. There just doesn't seem to be enough interest, and as a result, not enough value to make them worth selling, which is a real shame. |
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Londonbus1
Moderator
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 4,864
What I collect: Cinderellas and some Ephemera from Great Britain, France and Israel plus a few beautiful bits from elsewhere !! Topical interests include Flags & Judaica, the latter with an emphasis on the Jewish National Fund.
Member is Online
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Post by Londonbus1 on Jun 30, 2017 9:58:32 GMT
Many thanks to both Londonbus1 and Ryan for contributing some substantive comments on this issue of FDC stamp cut-outs. This whole discussion illustrates perfectly why I like TSF so much. Even though I have been collecting for 50 years, I had never heard of this practice before, until Ryan mentioned it. Now I am getting both perspectives on this practice, with LB1's comments. I think I can see both sides on this question. For me personally, the problem is exactly what Dave has written in the first place: what to do with material that we may acquire which is not in our main collecting interest. I have been having a real problem finding anyone who wants FDCs at all, and now I have boxes full of them, and it's starting to look like donating them to some organization may end up being the best way to find them a new home. There just doesn't seem to be enough interest, and as a result, not enough value to make them worth selling, which is a real shame. Thanks Chris for your comments. I was a bit vague in my post because I omitted to say that when I purchased those 2 lots that I returned they were advertised as Postally used kiloware/stamps. Many or most collectors of used stamps, worldwide or country specific, collect postally used examples as I did way back when. There is nothing wrong with collecting stamps soaked off or cut from First Day Covers if that is one's interest. But to sell them as postally used is wrong and that is what I objected to. Another example. I DID collect CTO's within my Flag collection because then the design of the stamp was the most important factor, and generally the c CTO's or FDC stamps were much nicer for that collection. Horses for courses as they say. But selling something in place of something else because it's convenient is outright cheating. I am never afraid to complain to a dealer or seller who believes this is OK. It is not. Happy collecting anyway, it's all good. Londonbus1 |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jun 30, 2017 10:03:38 GMT
Thanks for the clarification, LB1. It makes perfect sense. False advertising or misrepresentation is never OK.
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 30, 2017 13:12:16 GMT
LB1...Now I understand your complaint. Indeed, they were falsely advertised. A FDC is not a postally used item. However, If a stamp is needed for a spot in my collection, I would have no problem removing the stamp from the FDC. As for the stack of them that I have: I'd been hoping to just use those FDCs for trade fodder, but that seems unlikely. I do like that I have an entire set of Prexie FDCs...sans the $1, $2, and $5 ones...and I'll likely keep those. I may cherry pick some of the ones I like out of the rest, and try to dispose of the rest. I'd just toss them in the trash, but I have a hard time bringing myself to throw out stamps.
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tregeor
Member
Inactive
Posts: 52
What I collect: GB Victoria to Queen Elizabeth pre-decimal and Falkland Islands
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Post by tregeor on Jul 8, 2017 6:40:04 GMT
Interesting question and thread. Sorry for my late reply but I've been on holiday and not long back  . People have mentioned selling unwanted stuff on E-bay etc but what about our own boards on this site? You could try to sell pretty much anything or even swap it or if you are feeling very altruistic you could offer to give them away. I'm still toiling towards 50 posts and then I hope to be buying and perhaps selling. |
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. People have mentioned selling unwanted stuff on E-bay etc but what about our own boards on this site?