Don't Know Where To Start On All These Covers

As part of a purchase some time ago I acquired a bunch of attractive covers. I don't collect postal history and would like to sell them, but have no idea what they are worth - $2 or $200 I don't know. (Though I expect most of the are closer to $2.) Is there any place to go to try to get an idea of value on these? There are another dozen or so including a bunch of V-Mail letters from ships etc. Looking at eBay hasn't helped. How do people learn about these things? Is there a site that is postal history for dummies or something? Should I just put them on auction and take my chances?

That Clipper Airmail cover is gorgeous - if I found that on eBay I would bid on it.

I had a feeling that was a good one.

I buy covers like these on ebay sometimes, and I pay $2-$10 for them - not really sure if I'm getting a deal or overpaying - the amount isn't enough to worry about. The airmail ones might go for more - depending on what they are commemorating. All of the value in these is in the cover - not the stamps. They are going to be hard to sell one at a time. . .selling to a dealer or in 1-2 lots on ebay would lower your proceeds significantly, but lower the amount of time you'd need to spend correspondingly - and some of them will linger on ebay unsold for a long time.

While the Clipper cover is pretty what drives the real value there is the ship from which it was sent. The USS California had quite a history during WWII beginning 12-7-1941 in Pearl Harbor. Without a notable cancellation location, it is still a popular collected cover.

For the other covers, you are spot on generally with them selling for a couple of bucks. Understand that unlike stamp values, postal history valuing has many more moving parts. It takes time to learn how those parts affect pricing coupled with the fact a lot of postal history pricing is an art-form, not a science.

For sources other than eBay pricing search Jim Forte's website (Jim Forte Postal History) postalhistory.com as well as Dick Keiser's, DK Enterprise [Stamps, not engineering] website. dickkeiser.com

Edit: I will provide pricing information on the Clipper cover in a separate post below.

Thanks for the suggestions. The clipper cover comes with a letter written while at sea. One of the V Mail letters is a poem about how he can't write about anything because it's all secret. Do these kinds of things add to their desirability?

yes, content matters
also some V-mail are illustrated, which adds value

Here is an overview of some similar covers

1937 from USS Langley


Sold at auction $22,50 plus costs, three bidders, bought by a dealer (feedback 18,300+). Note slightly different cachet and has location shown, Pearl Harbor with Clipper Stamp.

1940 USS West Virginia includes a two sheet letter.



Cycling several months at auction opening of $60 with buy it now at $85, however, note the manuscript in the cancellation which detracts price. No location and has Clipper Stamp. Difficult to sell due to manuscript.


1940 USS Arizona



Unsold in one auction now a buy it now at same $230.00 as auction opening. Dealer normally accepts 80% less if contacted directly or via his website. Note different cachet and long map stamp. Will sell at 80% or more when the proper buyer comes along. Long Map less common than Clipper Stamps.

1938 USS Arizona with letter and photo.




Sold for $87.89 plus costs. Note lack of location in cancel, has Clipper Stamp.

Edited to answer posts while I was assembling this one.



Letters add interest and thus some additional value depending upon content.




During war it is all secret and censorship looks for such inappropriate information along with other issues. Content matters, your poem adds interest as does various drawing made by the military sender.

As to your general other covers, content can add interest but "event covers" often have no content. Also the cachet can add value, for example on USS (Meaning US Naval Ships) covers, cachets which contain one or more mermaids, mermen or images of non-white men/maids all add value and can be specifically collected for same.

This is great information. Thank you. I take it most of the others I posted aren't considered very interesting - they go in the dollar box (if I had one)

That is not what I wrote. In general those cachet covers are just a few bucks each, but you cannot really guess what will attract a buyer. The ship, the cachet, the cachet maker, the location, the date, the auxiliary marks, the sender, the addressee, the rate paid and general eye appeal are just the major drivers of a buyer with who knows how many minor facets driving the interest.

Here is a thread I started about "just a cover" which when researched became a "wow-cover:" http://goscf.com/t/88220

My other story about pricing was being left in the dust by a factor of 10+ on what I saw as a simple real photo postcard with a parcel post stamp. I bid more than average as the stamp was a positional piece that I wanted. The seller told me the reason I lost, the two (or more) bidders recognized the that the photo was a rare card for a small but popular town for certain postcard collectors. As such, philatically pricing did not stand a chance against the card collectors pricing.

If you list material on eBay or Hip, list them at $3-5 AND make offer. Do not be offended by an offer--at least eBay does not allow offers under $1. Or swap them to a stamp/cover dealer at a show.

In summary, postal history is not just a sum of its parts but really about the story it tells. Or in a business cliche, 'sell the sizzle, not the steak.'

Thanks for that. I'll do some experimental listings and see how it goes.

A variation on the theme: For the first listing cycle of anything you do not know a value of, I would list them at a modest start price in auction format *without* the "make offer". Let the marketplace run its complete cycle first, and only then consider adding "make offer" or "buy-it-now" as options for the second listing cycle on the unsold lots. There are too many sharks willing to make quick low-ball offers before everyone else even has a chance to see the lots.

I don't respond to low ball offers. However, Ebay tells anyone who looks at the page that there is an offer pending. That will sometimes result in someone making a higher offer for fear that the item will sell.

Historical Note: Covers from USS Arizona may be intrinsically valuable if you research the return address writer. Possible a ships crew member assigned to Arizona (especially any with Pearl Harbor noted in postmark. (I would think that sans Pearl Harbor the ship was at sea). Then Google ships company for 12/7/1941.

That is exactly what is going on in the link I made in my post above, which was why I referenced it. Also it, the thread, is a good read.