I can say with 100%l certainty it's worth somewhere between $0 and $5,000,000.
@Stephanie Linderman Pay no attention to our stupid comments, we have no lives and live for new comments in the forum here. f you have some photos, please show them. (Go with oldest first, if you're not sure where to start). But we need a lot more information to help you evaluate what the value might be. But if they are all "recent" (1930 to 2021), the odds are low of much value, unless there are some errors in it. But without pics, we can't be any more accurate than my introductory statement.
Careful Scott, asking a woman for some photos online could be taken out of context. But we would never do that here because we are still trying to figure out what context means.
Ok well first i have to say that i feel like a dumb ass for not seeing that the pics didn't show up on here...my bad you guys and second ya'll are hilarious.
Hi Stephanie, so in general here's where you find value in stamps: 1) Scarcity 2) Condition 3) Errors (See #1) 4) A quirky history of specific stamps (usually a unique item, also see #1)
Scarcity comes from a few things: It may be an error (like the C3a or famous "Upside Down Airplane"). There was only 1 sheet of them (100 stamps) and it meets criteria number 3 and 4 as well, (it's an error) and it has a quirky story behind it.
Scarcity may also come from some unusual circumstance in issuing of the stamp (Like the Scott #67 -- they didn't like the color, so they reissued it in a darker shade later, as a result very few were issued in the color of the 67 and it's a and b variety). Or the bluish paper issues from the Franklin-Washington era which was an experimental paper that was very short lived because it failed in it's may objective -- to make it cheaper to print stamps.
Condition is also critical. There are a number of points to consider here: 1) Is it well centered? 2) Is it used, or does it have perfect, undisturbed gum on the back? (Though some stamps as used are worth more than unused like the Scott #39 which didn't sell well, and large quantities of it were destroyed by the post office, leaving very few actually used copies available). This also speaks to "survivability" as most stamps are just discarded by the receiver, unless there is some meaning behind the letters they contain. 3) Is it damaged in any way? (Tear, crease, perf missing, pin hole, stained, natural straight edges, etc.) These things will have drastic impacts on the value of the stamp (in some cases can render a stamp worth thousands to maybe worth only a few tens of dollars). 4) Is it altered in any way? (Reperforations, color changes either though accidental exposure to light or corrosive environments, to purposeful alterations like chemical applied in an attempt to create a "Unique shade" or remove a cancel, or "clean" a stamp). Pressing out grills or creases are also alterations that can be detected. Cutting off perforations to make the stamp "appear" to be another more expensive version (imperf or coil stamp). These will all reduce the overall value.
These are the key drivers of stamp value. There are some "common" stamps that can achieve high values IF they meet the right grading (95+, or 100J as examples). This requires specialized expertizing to confirm however, and comes at a cost. And if they don't meet that criteria, that can be an expensive lesson in low-value stamps.
The period from 1900 to around 1940 in the US also has some valuable items in it particularly in the Franklin-Washington era (though a lot of very low value stuff as well). Your 4th stamp, the carmine (red) Washington with value written as "Two Cents" is one such stamp. It is a perf 12 A138 design, must be either single line or double line watermarked, and is NOT on bluish paper. It's shade is not Lake (a deep shade of red) and so can only be a 332 or a 375, which as used stamps have a value of 35c and 25c respectively. But IF the 332 were to grade as used as a 98+ it would have a CV of $180. If it was a J you could add another 30% - 50% premium (for the right buyer/collector). However, yours is not, and in fact would grade below VF even, meaning it's 35c value is actually 25c. IF you could find a buyer for it, it's so common in reality, you'd struggle to sell it for 5c - 10c.
The point here is, take a good look at the contents. What condition are they in? Any stamp in great condition prior to 1940ish has at least the potential to be note worthy. If the condition is poor, (wrinkled, torn, stained, folded, holes, used (in most cases, but the "experts" will know which are not, it's only a handful), then their value will not be great.
I'm a US specialist, not a world wide specialist, but this issue of condition is going to hold true across the board. Also, just because something is "Old" (and I'm even going back to say 1861 the Scott #65) as a used stamp in VF condition, has a catalog value of $3. Why? See #1... this stamp was the workhorse of it's day and there were hundreds of millions of them printed. Hence "Supply and Demand" takes over. Now, an unused with perfect gum on the other hand you might get $300+ for, more if the centering is amazing. This is because very few (survivability) of them still have gum that was never hinged. The same hinged stamp is $125, but still a big gap from $3.
This is why it's very hard to answer your question. But from what I've seen of your random selection, almost all of your stamps are damaged, or badly centered or both (and I'm not counting cancellations as "damage"). They are also largely modern (1940 or later), with a few falling between 1910 and 1930, but those also being very common. The problem with having 1000's but not knowing much about them, is not knowing which ones could be potentially valuable and which ones aren't. Which was why I tried to steer you toward "earliest issues", the other group to look at are those "unused", particularly if they still have their original gum on back, and even better if they aren't hinged, though the albums certainly appear to be hinges (or worse as Kris mentioned, if they are mounted with tape). But so far, agree there as well, the values in pencil look to be reasonable amounts... but don't expect to add up 10,000 stamps of 5c - 25c and expect that someone will pay $1,500 for the entire thing either. If there common, and you got them for free, then odds are collectors are able to source these "freebies" as well somewhere along the line in their history. (Or very near free). If this collection's most valuable stamp is in the 25v range, you'd struggle to sell the whole lot for $150.
These are common stamps collected during a past era , neither rare nor valuable . I would be surprised if anyone offered over $40 for the whole group .
The fourth photo down may be of some interest as it shows, perhaps, the earliest image of a president tatting a "2" on his cheek. Who knows, maybe that's where the term tattoo came from, unless of course, Al Gore invented them.
Comments
Stephanie...we can try to help but without any images, we couldn't even get started.
@Stephanie Linderman Pay no attention to our stupid comments, we have no lives and live for new comments in the forum here.
f you have some photos, please show them. (Go with oldest first, if you're not sure where to start). But we need a lot more information to help you evaluate what the value might be. But if they are all "recent" (1930 to 2021), the odds are low of much value, unless there are some errors in it. But without pics, we can't be any more accurate than my introductory statement.
I have a life. It's pathetic, eccentric, and kinda freaky, but it's still a life
And I have thousands of those, too
1) Scarcity
2) Condition
3) Errors (See #1)
4) A quirky history of specific stamps (usually a unique item, also see #1)
Scarcity comes from a few things: It may be an error (like the C3a or famous "Upside Down Airplane"). There was only 1 sheet of them (100 stamps) and it meets criteria number 3 and 4 as well, (it's an error) and it has a quirky story behind it.
Scarcity may also come from some unusual circumstance in issuing of the stamp (Like the Scott #67 -- they didn't like the color, so they reissued it in a darker shade later, as a result very few were issued in the color of the 67 and it's a and b variety). Or the bluish paper issues from the Franklin-Washington era which was an experimental paper that was very short lived because it failed in it's may objective -- to make it cheaper to print stamps.
Condition is also critical. There are a number of points to consider here:
1) Is it well centered?
2) Is it used, or does it have perfect, undisturbed gum on the back? (Though some stamps as used are worth more than unused like the Scott #39 which didn't sell well, and large quantities of it were destroyed by the post office, leaving very few actually used copies available). This also speaks to "survivability" as most stamps are just discarded by the receiver, unless there is some meaning behind the letters they contain.
3) Is it damaged in any way? (Tear, crease, perf missing, pin hole, stained, natural straight edges, etc.) These things will have drastic impacts on the value of the stamp (in some cases can render a stamp worth thousands to maybe worth only a few tens of dollars).
4) Is it altered in any way? (Reperforations, color changes either though accidental exposure to light or corrosive environments, to purposeful alterations like chemical applied in an attempt to create a "Unique shade" or remove a cancel, or "clean" a stamp). Pressing out grills or creases are also alterations that can be detected. Cutting off perforations to make the stamp "appear" to be another more expensive version (imperf or coil stamp). These will all reduce the overall value.
These are the key drivers of stamp value. There are some "common" stamps that can achieve high values IF they meet the right grading (95+, or 100J as examples). This requires specialized expertizing to confirm however, and comes at a cost. And if they don't meet that criteria, that can be an expensive lesson in low-value stamps.
The period from 1900 to around 1940 in the US also has some valuable items in it particularly in the Franklin-Washington era (though a lot of very low value stuff as well). Your 4th stamp, the carmine (red) Washington with value written as "Two Cents" is one such stamp. It is a perf 12 A138 design, must be either single line or double line watermarked, and is NOT on bluish paper. It's shade is not Lake (a deep shade of red) and so can only be a 332 or a 375, which as used stamps have a value of 35c and 25c respectively. But IF the 332 were to grade as used as a 98+ it would have a CV of $180. If it was a J you could add another 30% - 50% premium (for the right buyer/collector). However, yours is not, and in fact would grade below VF even, meaning it's 35c value is actually 25c. IF you could find a buyer for it, it's so common in reality, you'd struggle to sell it for 5c - 10c.
The point here is, take a good look at the contents. What condition are they in? Any stamp in great condition prior to 1940ish has at least the potential to be note worthy. If the condition is poor, (wrinkled, torn, stained, folded, holes, used (in most cases, but the "experts" will know which are not, it's only a handful), then their value will not be great.
I'm a US specialist, not a world wide specialist, but this issue of condition is going to hold true across the board.
Also, just because something is "Old" (and I'm even going back to say 1861 the Scott #65) as a used stamp in VF condition, has a catalog value of $3. Why? See #1... this stamp was the workhorse of it's day and there were hundreds of millions of them printed. Hence "Supply and Demand" takes over. Now, an unused with perfect gum on the other hand you might get $300+ for, more if the centering is amazing. This is because very few (survivability) of them still have gum that was never hinged. The same hinged stamp is $125, but still a big gap from $3.
This is why it's very hard to answer your question. But from what I've seen of your random selection, almost all of your stamps are damaged, or badly centered or both (and I'm not counting cancellations as "damage"). They are also largely modern (1940 or later), with a few falling between 1910 and 1930, but those also being very common.
The problem with having 1000's but not knowing much about them, is not knowing which ones could be potentially valuable and which ones aren't. Which was why I tried to steer you toward "earliest issues", the other group to look at are those "unused", particularly if they still have their original gum on back, and even better if they aren't hinged, though the albums certainly appear to be hinges (or worse as Kris mentioned, if they are mounted with tape).
But so far, agree there as well, the values in pencil look to be reasonable amounts... but don't expect to add up 10,000 stamps of 5c - 25c and expect that someone will pay $1,500 for the entire thing either. If there common, and you got them for free, then odds are collectors are able to source these "freebies" as well somewhere along the line in their history. (Or very near free). If this collection's most valuable stamp is in the 25v range, you'd struggle to sell the whole lot for $150.
If you decide to open a store to sell these, please let us know. I might be interested in some of the United States stamps.
Regards,
Larry