Stamp condition

Hi all,

I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it
in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he
is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't
really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any
value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many
George V era and a couple of Queen Vic.
Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have
to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ?

Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing
them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old
album intact ?

Your help is appreciated.

From: Craig
Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy!
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:14:25 GMT
Subject: Stamp condition

Hi all,

I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it
in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he
is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't
really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any
value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many
George V era and a couple of Queen Vic.
Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have
to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ?

Short answer: for any given stamp, the closer it is to perfection the better
price it will command.

Longer answer: Some very rare stamps can be in deplorable condition and
still be worth a great deal of money. Some common stamps can be in perfect,
gem-like condition and be worth squat -- even less than face value. That's
why so many dealers use "old" stamps as postage. They are worth more that
way than as collectibles. For "average" stamps, obvious damage such as
thins, creases, short, blunted or missing perforation teeth, ugly cancels,
surface scuffs, heavy hinging, damaged gum are all considered the kiss of
death; such damaged stamps will be worthless, literally, as an investment.
Badly centered stamps are also worth considerably less than well-centered
copies.

Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing
them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old
album intact ?

This has to be a personal decision. Moving stamps of little value to a
"professional album" -- is there such a thing? -- will not raise the value
of the stamps. In effect, it will lower their value, because the cost of the
album would have to be subtracted from any future sale. Used albums, even
those in good condition, have almost no resale value.

I you are hoping to interest your son in stamps, then it might be worth
working with the collection, discarding stamps that have the "uglies" and
replacing them with good copies, putting them into a new album. By resuming
your own collecting, your son might be more encouraged to try stamp
collecting than he would if you said, down the road, "Here's some stamps for
you," in which case he might say, "Thanks, Dad" and go back to his computer
game.

If you are thinking that the stamps might be an investment for his education
or any other purpose, it would probably be best to forget stamps, which are
simply not a good investment. When God made stamps (he was a bit late, not
getting around to it until 1840), he meant them to be for collectors, not
investors.

Bob


-------
"The brain-workers and manual workers of today need a hobby ‹ some quiet
pursuit of perennial interest and charm to smooth their journey through a
none-too-easy world." ‹ The Honourable J.C. Elliott, Postmaster General of
Canada, referring to philately in foreword to the 1938 Annual Review of the
British Columbia Philatelic Society
-------

Thanks for the reply. I had hours of fun when i was younger sorting
them out and swapping with mates, i hope the offspring can find the
same pleasure. By professional album, i meant an album that can store
them without hinges, never really liked them when i collected and
looking at the markes that have left on some of my collection, i would
not use them again.
Funny, i haven't touched these for almost ten years, but have spent
the last eight hours organising, looking at web sites and planning
what i'm going to do (all for the boy of course) once hooked...

Craig

From: Craig
Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy!
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:14:25 GMT
Subject: Stamp condition

Hi all,

I have just retrieved my old colection from the loft to try and put it
in some sort of order, as i wish to hand them down to my son when he
is old enough It's been a long time since i looked at them and can't
really remember the conditon they need to be in to be of any
value(future not current). I am sorting out the UK first and have many
George V era and a couple of Queen Vic.
Obviously rips are out but what about the perforations ? do they have
to be totally crisp ? what if the corners where once folded ?

Short answer: for any given stamp, the closer it is to perfection the better
price it will command.

Longer answer: Some very rare stamps can be in deplorable condition and
still be worth a great deal of money. Some common stamps can be in perfect,
gem-like condition and be worth squat -- even less than face value. That's
why so many dealers use "old" stamps as postage. They are worth more that
way than as collectibles. For "average" stamps, obvious damage such as
thins, creases, short, blunted or missing perforation teeth, ugly cancels,
surface scuffs, heavy hinging, damaged gum are all considered the kiss of
death; such damaged stamps will be worthless, literally, as an investment.
Badly centered stamps are also worth considerably less than well-centered
copies.

Also many have been hinged in an ond SG album, is it worth removing
them and keeping them in more professional album or leave the old
album intact ?

This has to be a personal decision. Moving stamps of little value to a
"professional album" -- is there such a thing? -- will not raise the value
of the stamps. In effect, it will lower their value, because the cost of the
album would have to be subtracted from any future sale. Used albums, even
those in good condition, have almost no resale value.

I you are hoping to interest your son in stamps, then it might be worth
working with the collection, discarding stamps that have the "uglies" and
replacing them with good copies, putting them into a new album. By resuming
your own collecting, your son might be more encouraged to try stamp
collecting than he would if you said, down the road, "Here's some stamps for
you," in which case he might say, "Thanks, Dad" and go back to his computer
game.

If you are thinking that the stamps might be an investment for his education
or any other purpose, it would probably be best to forget stamps, which are
simply not a good investment. When God made stamps (he was a bit late, not
getting around to it until 1840), he meant them to be for collectors, not
investors.

Bob


-------
"The brain-workers and manual workers of today need a hobby ‹ some quiet
pursuit of perennial interest and charm to smooth their journey through a
none-too-easy world." ‹ The Honourable J.C. Elliott, Postmaster General of
Canada, referring to philately in foreword to the 1938 Annual Review of the
British Columbia Philatelic Society
-------

From:
Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy!
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 22:13:30 GMT
Subject: Stamp condition

Thanks for the reply. I had hours of fun when i was younger sorting
them out and swapping with mates, i hope the offspring can find the
same pleasure. By professional album, i meant an album that can store
them without hinges, never really liked them when i collected and
looking at the markes that have left on some of my collection, i would
not use them again.
Funny, i haven't touched these for almost ten years, but have spent
the last eight hours organising, looking at web sites and planning
what i'm going to do (all for the boy of course) once hooked...

Craig

Welcome home, Craig! :^)

To hinge or not to hinge, that is the real question, and it remains
unanswered, although nearly everyone has answered it for themselves.

In my opinion, mounting commonly available mint stamps with hinges is both
easier and more cost-effective than using plastic mounts, especially if you
happen to have any packets of Dennison hinges lying around; that's Dennison
with an "o" -- not Dennisen with an "e". And there is nothing wrong at all
with mounting used stamps with hinges. My collection is for me, not for
someone else down the road.

You can certainly buy hingeless albums, but they are very expensive. Think
of all the stamps you could buy instead! And this brings up the question of
albums: pre-printed albums are very restrictive, in that there are no spaces
for anything "unusual" such as coil strips, color and other printing and
paper varieties (yes, even gum varieties), blocks and other multiples,
covers, and collateral items such as letters, postcards, photographs,
labels, revenues, stamps on piece, etc. etc. You might want to consider
designing and printing your own pages.

Anyway, welcome to the group. I hope that you are well and truly hooked; for
my money, there is no better hobby than stamp collecting.

Bob

-------
A stylish, registered first day cover from 1947, addressed to a Vancouver
stamp dealer, celebrates the contributions of Alexander Graham Bell. Beverly
Fox of Weeda Stamps did some detective work to flesh out the story. Go to
http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/dealerair.html.
-------

"TC" wrote in message
...

Do you mean your son "the boy" or
"the boy in you" ? ;-)


reminds me of my father-in-law and how he got started. His daughters (I
married one of em) started collections for Guides or something like that. We
of course he got into it, helping them out. He ended up hooked - I can't get
my wife interested though :-(. He now has a very respectable collection and
has helped me out greatly. The neat thing is that both his sons in law
collect stamps (the other is highly specialized in Germany and inherited a
grandfather's collection (his grandfather's original collection was
confuscated in Germany during the war and it was his second collection) (btw
he is 1st generation Canadian so the collection literally travelled from
Germany including some neat hingless albums).

Frank