stainlessb
Member 
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,906
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Jan 17, 2019 5:21:52 GMT
I have numerous FDC's, most are addressed (some handrwitten, some typed, and then some with no addressee). I am in the process of both organizing everything/cataloging, and also trying to make decisions on whether something is worth keeping, best offered as a lot/make offer , or what.
With the FDC's from what i've found in some discussion, those with addressee's are either of little interest/value or both
Additionally, I have "Official Business" postcards and envelopes (unused), and of course some that were sent through the mail...
both the cards/envelopes and FDC's are a bit bulky and I'll most likely try and clear these out just to make some more room (and my wife a bit happier)
What is the consensus here?
thanks
Stainless
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,912 
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 17, 2019 10:02:49 GMT
Thanks for your post, Stainless ( stainlessb ). I am not sure if there will be a consensus, but you can certainly collect opinions here. For me, I like to collect stamps by country and in sets, and I find covers in general to be problematic from a storage/space point of view. So, even though I think that they can be very attractive, I have been actively trying to eliminate FDCs and other covers from my collection. I have seen comments from others here on TSF regarding low values on many FDCs, and examples cited of stamps in kiloware and mixtures that were actually removed from FDCs. But others here like Ryan , feebletodix , Londonbus1 , tomiseksj , jimwentzell , etc. are probably better qualified to comment on that than I am. |
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firstfrog2013
Member
Posts: 3,276
What I collect: BNA Liberia St Pierre U.S. Bolivia Turkey
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Post by firstfrog2013 on Jan 17, 2019 13:00:35 GMT
stainlessb I came to the same conclusion as BG some years ago.I disposed of all my covers FDC,First flights,Post cards.all of them.My storage habits were doing them no justice and it just didn't seem fair to them.If you find any you just can't let go I suggest you find an album dedicated for their storage.
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tomiseksj
Moderator
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,385
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 Jan 17, 2019 16:31:12 GMT
The "worth keeping" decision is a uniquely personal one. Clearly there is interest in FDCs or there wouldn't be a specialty society devoted to them. I only actively pursue first day covers for a few issues with my most sought after being FDCs of the U.S. Scott 929 stamp that have cachets. Initially I only sought those cachets listed in the Mellone's specialized cachet catalog but, as the Mellone's-listed became more difficult to obtain, I've since expanded my collection to any original cachet that I don't already possess (I don't collect add-ons). As others have indicated, the vast majority of FDCs can likely be had for a fraction of their catalog value although some can fetch multiples of CV -- a review of the sold listings on eBay should support that. The Scott US Specialized catalog offers the following info on valuation: I don't know for sure but I imagine the above "guideline" applies similarly to first day covers from other countries. Unlike many here, I've never obtained a first day cover that I didn't keep but I will gladly dispose of duplicates (perhaps a giveaway is in order). |
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beaverstamps
**Member** 
Inactive
Retired
Posts: 21
What I collect: Hunting & Fishing, US 19th Century
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Post by beaverstamps on Jan 18, 2019 4:36:27 GMT
I feel your pain...I've been trying to downsize my closet full of covers...It's a slow process. RB
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