General Question On Stamp Collection I Found

Hello everybody,

First posting so sorry if I break any rules.

I have a few tens of thousands of stamps I acquired, and I have spent a few months sorting them. I narrowed it down to a few hundred that *may* have some value based on Scotts catalogue and another stamp site (anything more than $1). I looked on ebay but their selling prices seem to be way, way, way off.

I took the stamps to a local person who ruffled through them for about 30 second and told me to take them home and put them in a shoebox and forget about them. I totally get it: just because it is 150 years old doesn't mean it is worth a fortune...

Now, to my question. I can either post 100's of questions here; or I can pay somebody to help me. Some guys want 10 or 20 dollars per item, which is more than I have/want to pay.

Any advice on the approach I should take would be really appreciated.

I think you already got a pretty good answer from the local person. They are more than likely a starter collection, which, although they are colorful and from many different countries, you probably have the lowest values of each set, in used or poor condition, and all jumbled up. If you want to post one or two pictures of what you consider the best, then please do. Otherwise, I would go again to a local stamp show, see if there is any interest, then just donate them to someone there or a local stamp club.

Also on ebay, you should look for listings that have actually "sold", not so much what people are asking. There are a lot of items listed for prices at which they will likely never sell.

This is just one I had on my table. I have a bunch more like it, some are not used. I have a sheet I scanned too. Will take more pics once I find the stamps in this mess :D

Also not sure why the stamp is 1977? It is these sort of questions I wonder about :/

That stamp is a fairly common stamp from France. The "1977" you are referring to is part of the cancel, indicating the office or area where the cancel occurred. Some cancellations are of value, while most are not.

If you post any more, try to do a SCAN, not a Picture, as the quality is usually so much better. You mentioned a sheet of stamps. If this is anything from 1940 to now, the value is probably minimal also, but let's see what you have.

Makes sense. Some context.... I buy completely random stuff as a hobby. These stamps kept me so entertained that they already paid themselves off - certainly cheaper than booze or gambling :D

So lets say I have 100 stamps each worth a buck - I put them on ebay for 50 bucks, and buy the next lot of junk. If each stamp is two bucks I can buy 100 bucks of junk :D If they totally valueless I just burn them and enjoy the fire...

So really just asking if its a $1 stamp or a $5 stamp. Not expecting to make thousands

I also give a lot of the stuff to charity and they sometimes screw the pricing up completely. I gave them a sewing machine and they sold it for $10

Stamps that catalog for $1-$5 each will not sell for a price which makes your efforts worthwhile. This does not change the more you talk about it or question why. Also remember for items under a five dollar sales price the fees and related costs eat up much of the money received. For a stamp to sell at $5, it likely has a catalog value of $25 or more. This calculation also assumes your labor is free here. Selling stamps at $5 each on eBay (or similar) will not pay you much for your time, if anything.

Now how did you get these stamps? Did you pay for them or did you get them for free? In either case you likely paid the high market value for the material.

Perhaps you could show a scan of the 25c imperforated Louis Napoleon, which appears to be mint.

marketing: if the volume of stamps are minimum value you could 'spend ' a little time sorting by country, then by value. ( I think you've done this somewhat) minimally invest in some small glassline envelopes & place 10 -20 min-values with 1/2 higher values. Go to a local stamp club or show & offer for sale at cents on the dollar. In US$ I would go $0.50 to $0.75 a packet offered as beginners packet, especially in youth area. I assess my mint US collection at 50% of catalog (with some exceptions, mostly pre-1950). I started my collection that way with my paper route earnings going to small packet purchases in the local 'general type' store. (over 70 years ago). (in any cast please do not burn them donate.)

I have a few of those, but I am fairly sure I lost them - will have to go dig them up.

I bought some stuff I wanted and all these boxes came with it. So I guess I technically paid nothing

I think it was this one that I scanned previously

The 1852 President Napoleon 25c blue, Maury #10, has a catalog value of 50 Euros. The copy in mint, if genuine, has a Maury catalog value of 4750 Euros. However, the one posted by CuriousAnomaly is a forgery. Genuine stamps include the engraver's initial under the bust, "B" for Barre.

I noticed that myself after I took the scan.

The thing I am enjoying the most about all these stamps is the amount of nuance in various stamps. I primarily collect toys where the difference is fairly easy to see...

I did not even know that stamps for example have a watermark, or that British stamps have a plate number. I can see how people can spend 50+ years on this hobby :D

Another question, why is the mistake so obvious?

Is it intentional, kinda like a replica? Or is it a forgery intended to fool people?

@eligies - thank you for you advice :) I did what you said, and already made over $200 which I have given to a children's home :)