Valuing pre-decimal sheets - help please

Hello L,

I think i found a similar listing for the first sheet on ebay, hope it helps .

www.ebay.com.au/itm/1947-1d-Purple-Marriage-Of-Princess-Elizabeth-Full-Sheet-Of-160-MNH-VGC-No-WM/172747677781?hash=item2838906055:g:id0AAOSwal5YGU5q

Thanks Bombadil,
I had seen those, but, they aren't sold, and I've been warned about taking prices from unsold items (in case the seller has overpriced them).
Additionally, the KGvi sheet is not the same as mine. It's similar, but mine has gutters through the horizontal, every fourth row. It would be interesting to know how much difference this makes to its price.
Kindly,
L.

Mike - thanks HEAPS for your advice, it's excellent.  I read it to my daughter and she said it was a great idea, so I think this is what I'll do with many of my items


I have another question about selling sheets of stamps, so I thought I'd put it into this post rather than start a new one...

A few of the sheets of stamps I have are not full sheets but aren't a neat block either.
For example, I have one 3/4 sheet, which, when a whole sheet is 10x10 stamps, but there's a block of 5x5 missing from the corner.
Would it be better to try to sell it as a whole 3/4 sheet, or, break it into two blocks, 5x10 and 5x5?

Would the answer be the same if it was an irregular block like this:



An additional question with regard to this sheet is that, as you may be able to see, this has been folded and unfolded, and this has created a tear in the perforations (I've carefully put a purple folder corner through the slit so it can be seen). Should I leave this tear in the full sheet (and obviously mark the ad to reflect this ad), or should I split the sheet here and create more even, unbroken, blocks?

What about if I have three sheets of stamps, where there are three stamps in the set, and the sheets are different sizes.  Using this sheet as an example:


In this set, there are three stamps: a 21/2d, a 31/2d and a 51/2d. I have part-sheets of each, but each sheet is a different size. They're all slightly more than half a sheet (in this case a half-sheet is 6x5 and there's a gutter).  Would it be better to split each sheet at the gutter and sell a set of three half-sheets as a set, then do something with the 'off-cuts'? Or would it be better to just sell each sheet individually in the size it currently is?  (And, if I should split it, should I split it along a perforation, or cut up the centre of the gutter?)

Finally, I have a few sheets which have a VERY definite fold in the sheet. An example is here:


You can see there are 9x4 stamps in this sheet, but, there's a very sharp fold between columns 6&7. 
Should I just leave this as it is, or split the sheet and sell it as 6x4 and then either sell the balance as 3x4, or break it down again into two blocks of 3x2 (or three of 4x4)?

What about smaller blocks?
I have one which is a block of four (2x2) with a fifth stamp hanging off it...  Should I neaten that up to a 2x2, and a single stamp?
The above block is unused, but I have another one with a row of three connected to a row of two (a 2x2 with another stamp hanging off the lower left corner) - but in this one the whole postmark is visible and it's still connected to the envelope. The stamps 

My two criteria are saleability and value. I would *think* the value will be about the same, particularly if the stamps are only worth 50c or $1 each, but I'm concerned about what collectors WANT. Additionally, I would like them to sell quickly. Personally, I don't have any 'sheets' in my collection, but I understand some people do collect them. I'd like to provide these in the format people will want.
Additionally, the historian in me is extremely reticent to split perforations in sheets. I can cope with the idea if there's a split in the perfs or such, but in general, particularly with whole unbroken sheets, I'm very reticent to break up sheets, particularly old pre-decimal ones (but I will if it's considered the right thing to do philatelically, I just won't tell my History prof at Uni about it! lol).

Thanks for any help...

L...

Wow, L., you have some very interesting questions there.  If TSF gave out awards for asking the toughest questions, yours would be in contention for top honors!

I wish I knew more about selling multiples and partial sheets to be able to answer this.  I am hoping that someone else will be able to offer better advice than my meager contribution....

For the mint block with one additional stamp hanging off, if it were mine, I would remove the "hanger" and sell the two items separately.  For the used, unusual size multiple on cover or on piece, I would tend to leave that intact and try to sell it in original condition.

As for the partial sheets, I am really not too sure, but I would think that you would want to keep the gutter portions intact, rather than splitting the sheets there.  I say that just because I have certainly seen the pictured stamps often enough in my time as a collector, but I have never seen any cross-gutter multiples of these stamps.

I'm going to stop there, because I don't feel confident enough to go any further.  I hope that someone else who knows more about collecting sheets and multiples will be able to give more/better advice. 

Thanks for your further comments, L (tempphilatelist)!  Yes, indeed, I think that you really are posing some excellent questions: actually not insane, but rarely asked, which makes them all the more worthwhile for thinking about and answering!

I hope that you saw the informative post from @falshung too.  He made his post at about the same time as I was making mine, so I did not see his response until after mine was completed, but he crafted a very nice image for you, which I have shown again in this post, indicating a potential plan for breaking up the sheet.  He has confirmed my thinking that preserving cross-gutter multiples makes sense, as this is a less-common form in which to find these stamps.

Anyway, please let us know what you ultimately decide to do and how it goes for you when you offer these for sale.  Thanks for sharing your questions and activities with us, and best of luck with all of it!

I will, Judith.
I have some singles of this stamp, and many others which will go.
If you'd like to give me a list of what singles you need, I'll see if I have them.
My dad passed in 2006, but stopped collecting about 2002, so there's not really anything past about 2000.
Still, if you need anything prior to 2000 I'd be glad to have a look through the singles to see whether anything is on your list.
L.

How can you get tired of sewing?!?! lol
Seriously, though, my sewing has been curtailed because my back is so crap now that I can't sit up at a sewing machine.
I'm hand-quilting the 'la passacaglia', and am nearly finished that, and I do a lot of embroideries, but I admit, I'm having a great deal of fun with these stamps.
Unfortunately for me, though, someone else has a share in these, so I have to sell them (or, in good conscience, pay for any I want to keep).
I really love stamps with animals on them, though, so I might keep some of those (although not the kangaroos! lol).
There are some international stamps which aren't really worth anything but have animals on them. I might keep those!
L.

Full sheets are very difficult to sell and are usually broken down for a better sale, mostly in blocks of 20 and less and in strips and singles, but that depends on the value of the stamps, the sheets you have displayed are of common issues. Stamp dealers have many of these stamps and will not have any interest in them.

I noticed you have a sheet of 1951 King George VI 3d stamps, if the stamps are of the thin paper variety, then you might have something there as the stamps are worth about $40 each, of course the dealer will need to make a profit, but nonetheless, a very nice profit can be made on your part as well. There is 144 stamps to that sheet, and the stamps retail at $40 each, even if a percentage is taken for the stamp dealer to make a profit, it still will rake in a small fortune.

If they are not thin paper, they too will have no collector value to a dealer.

To see if they are thin paper, look at the back of the paper, you will be able to see the front from the back. I have both the thin and normal paper displayed below.


The colour is claret, the normal paper is on the left and the thin paper on the right (with the reverse showing transparency) draws in more ink making the colour stronger, in this case the colour of the thin paper is known as deep claret.