Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
04:54:57pm
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I cut off at 1940!
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It is hard to keep up due to the large number of stamps issued each year, and for these reasons as well:
- post offices do not get a supply of all new issues
- many stamps are issued in coils that are expensive to purchase in full rolls
- Stamp Fulfillment Center has the stamps, but again, many coils cannot be bought in strips, just the full rolls
- twice a year rate changes mean stamps get more costly every six months
- Priority Mail and express mail stamps have very high face values, and are difficult to get from dealers, so don't miss out on them from the post office as these are gaining in value (above double face value) in the catalogues
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The USPS does sell "mail use" packets so you do not have to purchase entire sheets. Here is an example of a high value packet and they usually have the last few years. The packets do not have all stamps (like presort, etc). I have read complaints about the stamps not being cleanly removed from sheets.
My suggestion is have to find around 20 like minded people, buy the sheets, and break them down yourself.
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Philatelic magazine from United States Postal Service lists high values for sale in blocks of 4.
The 2023 program seems larger to me - here’s a pic of the poster that arrived yesterday.
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You can get a free copy of the poster above on the United States Postal Service website. It is included inside the USA Philatelic magazine.
https://store.usps.com/store/results/phi ...
Apologies moderators but I cannot activate a link on an iPad Pro.
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(Modified by Moderator on 2023-04-08 09:37:34)
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I still collect US stamps - one of the collections I keep up with. I order the stamps every couple of months from the post office fulfillment center but try to get the one off's (like Michael said - a single coil from a roll) at my local post office if they have them. It has become harder and harder to get them. I sometimes have to buy some of the stamps I can not get via a Hipstamp US stamp seller and pay the premium. Every year I think maybe this is the year - I should cut it off since I am on my 4th Scott Minuteman Binder. This was a collection my father started and I have been keeping it up each year. I wonder why I continue because I have no children and my nephews have absoultely no interest in Stamps. (My Baseball collection on the other hand interests them !) Sometimes I think I should start selling it but it was my dad's pride & joy and although I have sold off most of his worldwide collection now - I just can't seem to part with it yet. Steve
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The USPS Stamp Fullfillment Center used to offer singles of selected high denomination stamps (i.e. Priority and Express Mail) and small coil strips, but discontinued that service several years ago.
That leaves only full panes and full coil rolls available for purchase, which forces a collector to either buy singles or multiples from dealers or their local PO. Unfortunately, many POs only order what they commonly sell rather than a supply of every issue. Thanks to Forever stamps, POs are not motivated to move to the newest specialty stamp (extra ounce, post card, etc) until they exhaust their supply of the previous issue. This is also true for Priority and Express Mail stamps; they use the old ones and add metered postage to make up the difference. The advantage is the PO doesn't have to maintain inventories of multiple redundant issues. It can take many weeks after a stamp is issued before they are available - if at all - in smaller POs.
I stopped collecting most new US issues when the PO went over to all self-adhesive stamps. The only exceptions are a few topical collections (Non-Machineable, Love, Global, Semi-Postal) and any issue with a denomination of $1 or more. Since I also collect plate blocks as well as singles, I make sure to get these expensive items, mostly for my grandchildren, who will inherit my collection. It will be prohibitively expensive for them to go back and fill in decades worth of Priority and Express Mail singles, let alone the plate blocks. It's getting there even for me these days.
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Nice pages.
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I collected from the mid 1960s until the late 1970s. Then I walked away for a while. So the stamps that are near and dear to me are up to maybe 1979. Right now my free range style stamp albums go thru 1976, but I have been meaning to complete them through 1980 at least.
When I was on my hiatus I still had one eye open for stamps, so I would put things I found in my stamp cabinet for the future. If I bought a sheet of commemorative stamps for mailing, I'd save the plate block and a few stamps. I always tucked away interesting covers. I added covers to my NJ postmark collection.
Then I came back in 2017. My wife had an operation and I stayed home with her for a dozen weeks. I thought this would be a good time to dig out my boxes and see if I could put together a reasonable USA collection. Early on I decided to find one item per stamp issue. I didn't care if it was a single stamp, mint or used, a plate block or a cover. One item could represent that stamp. But it soon got out of hand!
I started buying large lots of stamps and covers. I filled in my intended pre 1980 slots, but started to warehouse stamps, blocks and covers after that date. With every discount postage lot I buy, I still see stamps I never saw before, so I save them. Right now I have three 500 cover boxes of first day covers, all different, after 1976! That's probably some 1500 covers! And stock books full of stamps. Maybe someday I'll get it all into the collection. Some days I feel more like an inventory clerk than a stamp collector!
As far as subject matter of later date stamps, there are a lot of themes I don't exactly like. Then I realize that the post office is aiming these at the general public, especially a much younger general public, who thinks it's just fine to have stamps with cartoon characters and Star Wars on them. So be it.
So I'm not going to put a lot of effort in my 1980 onward collection, and may even cut off completely at some date in the twentieth century. In the meantime, I will keep storing what I come across in stock books... heck I can always use it for postage!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
07 Apr 2023
04:54:57pm
A friend of mine gave me a really nice used US souvenir sheet on piece from about 2000, I think, the first in the US nature series. I looked it up in my US specialized because it was interesting. I started looking at the newer US material since my US cut off is 1977. The material is very attractive, but it goes on, and on, and on, ... With all the souvenir sheets, booklet panes and individual stamps how could anyone keep current with US material and how many albums would it take? I have one bulging US Liberty (Harris) album for my puny collection. What would I need if my US collection was not cut off? The mind boggles!!
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08:27:09pm
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
I cut off at 1940!
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01:53:13am
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
It is hard to keep up due to the large number of stamps issued each year, and for these reasons as well:
- post offices do not get a supply of all new issues
- many stamps are issued in coils that are expensive to purchase in full rolls
- Stamp Fulfillment Center has the stamps, but again, many coils cannot be bought in strips, just the full rolls
- twice a year rate changes mean stamps get more costly every six months
- Priority Mail and express mail stamps have very high face values, and are difficult to get from dealers, so don't miss out on them from the post office as these are gaining in value (above double face value) in the catalogues
1 Member
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re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
The USPS does sell "mail use" packets so you do not have to purchase entire sheets. Here is an example of a high value packet and they usually have the last few years. The packets do not have all stamps (like presort, etc). I have read complaints about the stamps not being cleanly removed from sheets.
My suggestion is have to find around 20 like minded people, buy the sheets, and break them down yourself.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
Philatelic magazine from United States Postal Service lists high values for sale in blocks of 4.
The 2023 program seems larger to me - here’s a pic of the poster that arrived yesterday.
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
You can get a free copy of the poster above on the United States Postal Service website. It is included inside the USA Philatelic magazine.
https://store.usps.com/store/results/phi ...
Apologies moderators but I cannot activate a link on an iPad Pro.
Link active
(Modified by Moderator on 2023-04-08 09:37:34)
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re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
I still collect US stamps - one of the collections I keep up with. I order the stamps every couple of months from the post office fulfillment center but try to get the one off's (like Michael said - a single coil from a roll) at my local post office if they have them. It has become harder and harder to get them. I sometimes have to buy some of the stamps I can not get via a Hipstamp US stamp seller and pay the premium. Every year I think maybe this is the year - I should cut it off since I am on my 4th Scott Minuteman Binder. This was a collection my father started and I have been keeping it up each year. I wonder why I continue because I have no children and my nephews have absoultely no interest in Stamps. (My Baseball collection on the other hand interests them !) Sometimes I think I should start selling it but it was my dad's pride & joy and although I have sold off most of his worldwide collection now - I just can't seem to part with it yet. Steve
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08:17:09pm
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
The USPS Stamp Fullfillment Center used to offer singles of selected high denomination stamps (i.e. Priority and Express Mail) and small coil strips, but discontinued that service several years ago.
That leaves only full panes and full coil rolls available for purchase, which forces a collector to either buy singles or multiples from dealers or their local PO. Unfortunately, many POs only order what they commonly sell rather than a supply of every issue. Thanks to Forever stamps, POs are not motivated to move to the newest specialty stamp (extra ounce, post card, etc) until they exhaust their supply of the previous issue. This is also true for Priority and Express Mail stamps; they use the old ones and add metered postage to make up the difference. The advantage is the PO doesn't have to maintain inventories of multiple redundant issues. It can take many weeks after a stamp is issued before they are available - if at all - in smaller POs.
I stopped collecting most new US issues when the PO went over to all self-adhesive stamps. The only exceptions are a few topical collections (Non-Machineable, Love, Global, Semi-Postal) and any issue with a denomination of $1 or more. Since I also collect plate blocks as well as singles, I make sure to get these expensive items, mostly for my grandchildren, who will inherit my collection. It will be prohibitively expensive for them to go back and fill in decades worth of Priority and Express Mail singles, let alone the plate blocks. It's getting there even for me these days.
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re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
Nice pages.
Login to Like
this post
re: Is it really possible to keep current on US stamps?
I collected from the mid 1960s until the late 1970s. Then I walked away for a while. So the stamps that are near and dear to me are up to maybe 1979. Right now my free range style stamp albums go thru 1976, but I have been meaning to complete them through 1980 at least.
When I was on my hiatus I still had one eye open for stamps, so I would put things I found in my stamp cabinet for the future. If I bought a sheet of commemorative stamps for mailing, I'd save the plate block and a few stamps. I always tucked away interesting covers. I added covers to my NJ postmark collection.
Then I came back in 2017. My wife had an operation and I stayed home with her for a dozen weeks. I thought this would be a good time to dig out my boxes and see if I could put together a reasonable USA collection. Early on I decided to find one item per stamp issue. I didn't care if it was a single stamp, mint or used, a plate block or a cover. One item could represent that stamp. But it soon got out of hand!
I started buying large lots of stamps and covers. I filled in my intended pre 1980 slots, but started to warehouse stamps, blocks and covers after that date. With every discount postage lot I buy, I still see stamps I never saw before, so I save them. Right now I have three 500 cover boxes of first day covers, all different, after 1976! That's probably some 1500 covers! And stock books full of stamps. Maybe someday I'll get it all into the collection. Some days I feel more like an inventory clerk than a stamp collector!
As far as subject matter of later date stamps, there are a lot of themes I don't exactly like. Then I realize that the post office is aiming these at the general public, especially a much younger general public, who thinks it's just fine to have stamps with cartoon characters and Star Wars on them. So be it.
So I'm not going to put a lot of effort in my 1980 onward collection, and may even cut off completely at some date in the twentieth century. In the meantime, I will keep storing what I come across in stock books... heck I can always use it for postage!
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