Flatly Philately

May 12, 2024 12:36 PM

Are any of these stamps worth anything?

The reason I ask is because I looked the first one up on the internet and I see one selling on ebay for $300. There could be all sorts of reason why the one I have isn't with 2 cents, but I thought I'd ask. Assuming little or no monetary value, is there someone that who want these?

Just to be clear, the monochrome images are not actuall stamps, just placeholders in a book

posted by falsedmitri to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

What you have here is a nice beginning stamp collection probably generated by someone born in the late 1950s or the 1960s. Its highest and best use would be as a gift to someone young or old who is interested in starting to collect stamps. I do not see any particular monetary value here (unless you want to pick out the unused stamps to use when you mail a letter--but keep in mind that it would take 23 3c stamps to mail a letter or card at today's 68c rate). [And don't rail against the USPS for raising postage rates, as the current rate in the U.S. is 1/3 to 1/2 of any other industrialized country.] I did not see any stamps in your scans that would be marketable. Best to donate (perhaps to a family who teaches by home schooling...) or give to a beginning collector.
posted by ruthie.f at 2:14 PM on May 12 [6 favorites]

I've been an amateur stamp collector for 30+ years and agree with ruthie. And you are correct that a stamp worth $300 looks identical to a stamp worth $0.10 to the uninitiated. It's very tricksy. If that stamp was one of the valuable ones, the odds are the rest of the collection would be more complete/robust, which is not the case here.
posted by Saucywench at 7:49 PM on May 12 [3 favorites]

Boys Town is a worthwhile charity with an active philately program. I sent them my whole collection several years ago for a tax deduction.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:54 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]