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Valuing a Stamp Collection
Aim
This article is intended for beginners to the stamp collecting hobby or
people who have inherited a collection. After collecting for some years
you either know the value of the stamps in your collection or you
simply enjoy them without worrying about the value.
Valuing a collection with no experience is however a long job and some
stamps of value can be missed. It is sometimes better, if you have no
interest in stamps, to simply take the stamps to your local stamp
dealer or to sell them as a collection on e-bay. The value is then what
you get. If this is what you decide then visit my home page (just a
cheat to get my hit rate up) and I will wish you luck in selling your
collection. However Valuing a collection is sometimes the spark that
gets you interested in a hobby that has fascinated millions of people
for years.
Still with me? Then let’s get down to finding the value of
your stamps.
Author's
Note
The thoughts expressed here are mine alone and are based solely on my
experience over the last forty years in collecting stamps. Values can
vary greatly and it is only with experience that you can find the true
value of a stamp collection whether for sale or a personal value. My
collection for instance has a value of a few thousand but is absolutely
priceless to me. I hope if you have inherited a collection or have just
found the boyhood album that reading this and following these steps
that your interest in stamp collecting will be started or rekindled and
that you have many happy hours with your collection.
Condition
of the collection as a whole
The condition of a collection as whole has a great effect on the
overall value. For example let’s take two collections one
from each end of the scale. Two collections of Polish stamps, with
exactly the same stamps in each, one in a cardboard box and one laid
out in an album dedicated to Poland. The collection in the cardboard
box will realize a lot less than the album mounted collection sometimes
as low as only ten percent of the value. The collector cannot see what
is in the collection when in a cardboard box and must take a rough
guess as to whether the stamps in the box are what he wants, this rough
guess is always on the low side. The album mounted collection on the
other hand allows collectors to easily see the stamps in the collection
attracting both beginners and experts alike to the collection. The
album
will also add to the overall value if in good condition and which can
be updated.
There are many states in between, with collections mounted using stamp
hinges or hinge less mounts, in stock books or even in whole world
albums. I will write an article about stamp mounts and albums later.
Catalogs
and values
Keeping the condition of the collection in mind stamp catalogs are
the next thing required to value a collection. These are many and
varied and most are available to borrow or as reference works in your
local library. To start use the ones from the local library as
catalogs are very expensive. They are used mainly by collectors to
organize their collections and to check for errors on stamps etc. This
can get a little specialist at the beginner stage so it is best if you
can find a “Simplified Catalog”. Most catalogs
these days come with nice colour illustrations of the stamps making it
easy to identify the stamps in the collection. A word of caution
however. Some stamps are very similar and may differ only in the face
value check very carefully as this can mean there is a big difference
in the value of the stamp.
Values in a catalog, usually one for mint and one for used are the
catalog publishers best guess, at the time of going to print, of the
saleable value of the stamp in good condition (more about condition
later). Values can rise and fall sharply after a catalog is
published. The next point to note in a catalog is that you will see
many many stamps listed at a very low value. Usually 15p in Great
Britain. This is not a value for the stamp, but represents a handling
charge. This means that it is a charge for finding and passing on what
is to all intents and purposes a worthless bit of paper (except to a
collector of course). These are usually stamps that were issued in
great quantities and are very common, one example of each appearing in
just about every bodies collection. The last point about catalog
values is that the value stated is not what you can sell the stamp for
or buy it for for that matter but is a representation of the value of
the stamp compared to the cheaper stamps. The higher the value the
rarer the stamp is (usually).
This is where a little experience comes in. To get a rough guide the
cheaper stamps should be discounted, not thrown away though, as in a
collection in an album they will enhance the value of other more
valuable stamps. The other stamps should have a weighting applied to
the catalog value. This weighting should be a proportion of the
catalog value. In my experience somewhere between 25% and 50% of the
catalog value is a good guess. I tend towards the 25% when Valuing my
collection.
Stamp
condition
As mentioned before the condition of the individual stamp also affects
the value, even in a cardboard box. These conditions are defined by
stamp collectors but vary from collector to collector and dealer to
dealer. Above all be honest with yourself on this it is so easy to
imagine that you have a pristine copy of a stamp only to see one much
better when you sell yours. I categorize my collection into five
conditions but the stamps can vary in these as well.
1. Unmounted mint. This is a stamp which looks as if it was purchased
today. No matter how old the stamp is. The back of the stamp still has
all it’s gum or if no gum was applied is a consistent colour
all across the stamp. The are no mounting marks on the stamp at all.
These vary by being dirty or grubby looking sometimes looking
“tired” all the way down to torn specimens. A stamp
that is torn is usually worthless, not even worth the handling charge,
but check the value anyway as if it is a rare stamp it will still fetch
something at auction. Optimistically this would have a value roughly
50% of the catalog value.
2. Mounted mint. These should be the same as unmounted mint but with
indications of how the stamp was mounted in an album. These marks are
usually indicated by a discolouring in a bar near the top of the back
of the stamp. Many early stamps were mounted, the craze for unmounted
mint being fairly modern. In perfect condition other than the mounting
marks on the back a stamp in this category could be worth up to 30% of
the catalog value.
3. Fine Used. This condition falls into the unmounted mint class with
the exception that it has been postally used. The post mark should be
clean and clear without detracting from the design of the stamp. The
postmarks on this classification are usually circular marks, not the
normal wavy lines. A stamp in this category, which is the norm, could
be worth up to 25% of the catalog value.
4. Good Used. This is the next classification down from the fine used.
Similar to mounted mint. If the stamp has been mounted it will fall
here also if the postmark is heavier than the light circle mentioned
above. Now we get to it lots of stamps fall here and their value could
be estimated at 15% of catalog value.
5. Heavy Used. This is the final classification. This is where all the
stamps with heavy postmarks blurred and smudged across the face of the
stamp go. Other examples are where you have torn copies or where stamps
have been cut from envelopes for charity and the cuts have gone into
the stamp. I sometimes think this category should be renamed Almost
Worthless. The only value a stamp in this condition can attract is when
it is a very rare specimen indeed. What can I say here. The value of
these stamps ranges from 0% to anything and is entirely dependant upon
the rarity of the stamp in question.
Forgeries
When Valuing your stamps do not get carried away if you find a stamp
valued at thousands of pounds. Most of the older stamps have been
forged in the past, sometimes for postal use and sometimes by
collectors who wish to enhance the value of the stamp for sale. It is
best if you find a valuable stamp to lay it aside for an expert to look
at.
Other
Considerations
All the above deals with single stamps off paper. Other considerations
also affect the value. These can include blocks of stamps, errors on
the stamps themselves, stamps with the sheet margin with the plate and
or cylinder number, recognizable plate numbers on early line engraved
issues, is the stamp still on it’s envelope or was the stamp
even used for postal purposes, some were used to indicate the payment
of stamp duty and some were perforated in the design for use by local
councils or companies.
A thing to bear in mind if you wish to sell the stamps is where to
sell. A general auction is one of the worst places. A single stamp
album here will attract almost no attention unless yo are lucky. The
best today is eBay for collections with no rare stamps but if you find
rare stamps in the collection the best way is to take them to a
specialist auction house who will have a list of clients looking for
the particular stamps.
Finally...
Follow these short steps.
Look at the collection as a whole and write down a percentage ranging
from one to a hundred. 1% = cardboard box 100% = plush dedicated album
in perfect condition.
1. Value the individual stamps following the guide lines above. Write
down each value based on the weightings and catalog values. Keep out
of the valuation any stamps which fall into the other categories. If
these are valuable stamps consider these as separate from the
collection.
2. Add up all the values from step two and multiply by the percentage
for the complete collection. First without the cheaper stamps and then
second with the cheaper stamps. The value will fall between these two
figures. Although I tend toward the lower figure when thinking about
my own collection.
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