What to Do with an Old Stamp Collection

You’ve found an old stamp collection. Now what? This can be one of the most daunting tasks when you know nothing about stamps, but it is possible to find your way through, without the fear of being swindled by someone.

There are many resources online now that will help you identify your stamps and provide an estimate of market value. Let’s break down how to approach the stamp collection itself.

Firstly, you need to try to identify if the collection is older or newer stamps. In Commonwealth countries it’s a bit easier to determine pre-decimal and decimal currencies but aside from this, the look and feel of the stamps will give you an idea of age.

Here is an example of an early stamp versus later stamp. Note the differences in colour and texture.

Next, try to identify any country names that are on the stamps. This will help you narrow down the search for the stamp itself. All stamps have country or regional names on them, except the United Kingdom. They created the first stamp and there was no need to identify itself as a country on them. This tradition lasts to today’s stamps. So if you can’t find any country name on your stamps, they are from the United Kingdom.

Are there multiples of the same stamp in your collection? If so you can approach a stamp club or expert in that particular stamp who will help you identify and value them.

Don’t get your hopes up too high. The likelihood of having one stamp worth a million dollars is low. But, there could be a few thousand dollars in the collection so don’t give up and think it’s worthless. There is always some value in any stamp collection.

Try to find your local stamp club and take your collection along to a meeting. They will help you identify the stamps and advise the best way to sell them. Don’t sell them there and then. Consider the advice they give and any identification and then seek further counsel from other sources.

Resources

This is my favourite site to identify stamps. They also provide an estimate of catalogue value stampworld.com

Here is a site that links to various auction houses that can also help you value your stamp collection findyourstampvalue.com