The beau recently inherited a gigantic box of stamps. What's the best way of going about getting a gigantic box of unorganized stamps spanning about 70 years appraised?

8/9/2010 12:46:48 PM

antiques roadshow!

8/9/2010 12:49:09 PM

Yeah that's what I told him but he's concerned about potentially getting ripped off since we have no idea what we're looking at and it's literally a HUGE box of unassorted stamps. It would take someone hours to go through the thing.

But anyway, if we did do it through a roadshow or convention, how much would we be looking at paying someone to go through the thing?

8/9/2010 12:54:48 PM

http://www.stamps.org/services/ser_aboutexpertizing.htm


yep, just like baseball cards and coins, the stamps will NOT sell if they're not authenticated and graded

so that's your first step

8/9/2010 1:05:36 PM

Good to know! And I learned a new word today: philatelic

8/9/2010 1:22:01 PM

The odds are pretty high that they aren't going to be worth all that much. If they aren't sorted at all then they're probably mostly common issue types that aren't too hard to come by. I imagine you're hoping to have someone look through them to figure out if there are any choice $$ ones in there, but it may not be worth it to have that done in the first place when you could just sell the whole box (or part it out) to a collector advertised as an un-picked-through mix.

8/9/2010 1:37:09 PM

^ Yeah, that's what I keep telling him I'd be shocked if there was something incredibly valuable in there myself. But I guess you never know...

8/9/2010 4:05:31 PM

(sarcasm incoming)
Don't stamps have their value printed on them?

8/9/2010 4:09:35 PM

I have a suggestion.

Save them for your children. They will make a great gift for a 8-12 year old.
Or divy them up now for nieces and nephews.

8/9/2010 4:27:47 PM