Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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"Hi To All i have a small collection of russian stamps dating from 1970s and wondered if anybody could help me or tell me if they are worth keeping. "
I don't understand these questions from people. What do you mean by "Are they worth keeping"????????? Do you want to keep them only if they'll make you a millionaire? Better find another hobby. Do you want to keep them, because you like to collect stamps? Then keep them. You don't need anyone else's permission to collect what you want. There is no set of rules on what or how or why to collect. Collect what you want. This fixation by some on V-A-L-U-E only is not the hobby of stamp collecting.
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to rephrase Michael's response, a collection of Russian stamps from the 70s through today would likely be a great basis from which to expand and develop a large Russian collection.
if, on the other hand, you wanted only to sell them, you could place the entire lot up for auction here or on other sites and see what it will bring.
a collection that spans only 40 years, unless it's specialized to a great degree, is unlikely to have much monetary value, and will unlikely be worth it to a dealer to even look at it as it covers a period during which Russia issued enormous quantities of stamps and flooded the market.
however, as a box lot, it is likely to attract lots of bids, although probably not for a lot of money.
if you decide you want to auction it here, i'll help walk you through the process.
David
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Gary,
First let me say Welcome to StampORama and please don't judge the response from Michael as everyone's opinion. We are all stamp collector's here and as such have very mixed feelings when someone joins SOR and the first question out of their mouth is "Are my stamps worth keeping." As pointed out, many SOR people collect every stamp that was ever issued, by every country, at any time period, while others pick and choose what they prefer to get involved with collecting. The great thing about collecting stamps is that you are able to collect what you want, how you want and display them anyway you want. To some of us there are many stamps that have minuscule dollar value, that are still just as beautiful as one that be worth hundreds of dollars.
If you truly have an interest in stamp collecting, then you have certainly come to the right place. We have many collectors that are available to help any other collector with just about any question you might have. But on the other hand, if you are just interested in knowing "Are my stamps worth keeping", then you are probably wasting your time by even being here.
Mike
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Hallo Gary..Mike & the boys are all correct that you collect what you want or can afford.
Russia, even more than the USA, issues lots more stamps than are needed for local consumption, its a very profitable item because the ones that get i to a collectors album are never commercially used. and of course are a very good propaganda tool most useful to dictatorships. Countries used to issue more or less for postal consumption + a little over.
Great Britain the mother of stamps , in the first 100 years issued less than 500 different stamps ,that is for 5 Monarchs, look at their present record from 1952 to date almost 3000, so you will not get fabulous profit unless you have lots of misprints etc. which they have.... Russia before 1950 you are likely find some MOONEY stamps but then up to 90 they are very pretty and all that but you will not get rich on them. If you are looking for money then stick to classics. But you will have a lot more fun with the cheaper stamps,
Good luck to you
Richard
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Russian stamps, from that era ,have some value if they are uncancelled. If they are cancelled, they are worth, very little.
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Same as most of the old Eastern block, their idea was to flood the market with precancels, then came along the African contingeant and so on.
I now collect only, US, Brit Commonwealth, Germany and Great Britain.
The old school stamps were more attractive, more variations, ie shades, perforations etc.
The new look pretty.
Thatttt's all folks
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I'm late to this discussion and everyone before expressed my thoughts about personal and financial valuation of stamps. I acquired through pre-inheritance a complete mint (mostly never hinged) stamp and souvenir sheet collection of USSR stamps from 1969 through the early 1990s. My uncle got these from one of those Mystic Stamp Company offerings and many were still in the original packs; some were hinged (egads, Uncle!) to an accompanying album page. In one of the packets there was a packing slip with a cost of $35 for the set of a couple of hundred items that year. So multiplying $35 by, say, 20 years means he paid about $700 for this collection. Yikes. I doubt you could recover that much.
But I value this collection not only because it was my uncle's but also because I find many of those stamps very beautiful. And, there are a lot of space related stamps in that set, which I have an interest in.
If you decide to unload them, then Dave's suggestion is the one to follow: Sell them as a large auction lot. Individual stamps will just be frustrating to you as they go piecemeal over a number of months or years.
Cheers,
Peter
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06:15:23pm
" ... If they are cancelled, they are worth, very little. ..."
Unless, of course they are properly cancelled on a non-souvenir cover from or between interesting places or people, during the appropriate dates of usage. I guess I should add,
Imagine finding a Cuban postcard from Nikita Khrushchev to a niece of nephew saying that he was just returning from a visit to Havana dated August or September, 1962 and it had been an interesting trip. An item that would have been carried by diplomatic pouch to a distribution point in the Soviet Union and the Russian stamps affixed and cancelled.
I'd save that one.
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couple quickies. I also have the Mystic collection. I purchased along with a large collection from a retired heart surgeon. It was the early russian stuff that had the value for sure. But, I really enjoyed the look and topical stuff from the mystic stuff and have continued to purchase year set now because of it while filling in some more of the bigger ticket items from the earlier issues.
As has been stated here already .. the "worth" is in the eye of the collector !
Also, you mention a diplomatic packet. Dahomey is my specialty and one of my favorite covers is a diplomatic cover from US embassy in Cotonou back to US and franked with US stamps after arrival in the states... If I every figure out how to get images uploaded properly I will drop it on for show and tell :-)
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11:29:44am
Hi To All i have a small collection of russian stamps dating from 1970s and wondered if anybody could help me or tell me if they are worth keeping.
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11:33:40am
re: russian stamps
"Hi To All i have a small collection of russian stamps dating from 1970s and wondered if anybody could help me or tell me if they are worth keeping. "
I don't understand these questions from people. What do you mean by "Are they worth keeping"????????? Do you want to keep them only if they'll make you a millionaire? Better find another hobby. Do you want to keep them, because you like to collect stamps? Then keep them. You don't need anyone else's permission to collect what you want. There is no set of rules on what or how or why to collect. Collect what you want. This fixation by some on V-A-L-U-E only is not the hobby of stamp collecting.
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re: russian stamps
to rephrase Michael's response, a collection of Russian stamps from the 70s through today would likely be a great basis from which to expand and develop a large Russian collection.
if, on the other hand, you wanted only to sell them, you could place the entire lot up for auction here or on other sites and see what it will bring.
a collection that spans only 40 years, unless it's specialized to a great degree, is unlikely to have much monetary value, and will unlikely be worth it to a dealer to even look at it as it covers a period during which Russia issued enormous quantities of stamps and flooded the market.
however, as a box lot, it is likely to attract lots of bids, although probably not for a lot of money.
if you decide you want to auction it here, i'll help walk you through the process.
David
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re: russian stamps
Gary,
First let me say Welcome to StampORama and please don't judge the response from Michael as everyone's opinion. We are all stamp collector's here and as such have very mixed feelings when someone joins SOR and the first question out of their mouth is "Are my stamps worth keeping." As pointed out, many SOR people collect every stamp that was ever issued, by every country, at any time period, while others pick and choose what they prefer to get involved with collecting. The great thing about collecting stamps is that you are able to collect what you want, how you want and display them anyway you want. To some of us there are many stamps that have minuscule dollar value, that are still just as beautiful as one that be worth hundreds of dollars.
If you truly have an interest in stamp collecting, then you have certainly come to the right place. We have many collectors that are available to help any other collector with just about any question you might have. But on the other hand, if you are just interested in knowing "Are my stamps worth keeping", then you are probably wasting your time by even being here.
Mike
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re: russian stamps
Hallo Gary..Mike & the boys are all correct that you collect what you want or can afford.
Russia, even more than the USA, issues lots more stamps than are needed for local consumption, its a very profitable item because the ones that get i to a collectors album are never commercially used. and of course are a very good propaganda tool most useful to dictatorships. Countries used to issue more or less for postal consumption + a little over.
Great Britain the mother of stamps , in the first 100 years issued less than 500 different stamps ,that is for 5 Monarchs, look at their present record from 1952 to date almost 3000, so you will not get fabulous profit unless you have lots of misprints etc. which they have.... Russia before 1950 you are likely find some MOONEY stamps but then up to 90 they are very pretty and all that but you will not get rich on them. If you are looking for money then stick to classics. But you will have a lot more fun with the cheaper stamps,
Good luck to you
Richard
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10:49:02pm
re: russian stamps
Russian stamps, from that era ,have some value if they are uncancelled. If they are cancelled, they are worth, very little.
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11:21:55pm
re: russian stamps
Same as most of the old Eastern block, their idea was to flood the market with precancels, then came along the African contingeant and so on.
I now collect only, US, Brit Commonwealth, Germany and Great Britain.
The old school stamps were more attractive, more variations, ie shades, perforations etc.
The new look pretty.
Thatttt's all folks
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07:50:59am
re: russian stamps
I'm late to this discussion and everyone before expressed my thoughts about personal and financial valuation of stamps. I acquired through pre-inheritance a complete mint (mostly never hinged) stamp and souvenir sheet collection of USSR stamps from 1969 through the early 1990s. My uncle got these from one of those Mystic Stamp Company offerings and many were still in the original packs; some were hinged (egads, Uncle!) to an accompanying album page. In one of the packets there was a packing slip with a cost of $35 for the set of a couple of hundred items that year. So multiplying $35 by, say, 20 years means he paid about $700 for this collection. Yikes. I doubt you could recover that much.
But I value this collection not only because it was my uncle's but also because I find many of those stamps very beautiful. And, there are a lot of space related stamps in that set, which I have an interest in.
If you decide to unload them, then Dave's suggestion is the one to follow: Sell them as a large auction lot. Individual stamps will just be frustrating to you as they go piecemeal over a number of months or years.
Cheers,
Peter
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
13 Nov 2013
06:15:23pm
re: russian stamps
" ... If they are cancelled, they are worth, very little. ..."
Unless, of course they are properly cancelled on a non-souvenir cover from or between interesting places or people, during the appropriate dates of usage. I guess I should add,
Imagine finding a Cuban postcard from Nikita Khrushchev to a niece of nephew saying that he was just returning from a visit to Havana dated August or September, 1962 and it had been an interesting trip. An item that would have been carried by diplomatic pouch to a distribution point in the Soviet Union and the Russian stamps affixed and cancelled.
I'd save that one.
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11:33:50pm
re: russian stamps
couple quickies. I also have the Mystic collection. I purchased along with a large collection from a retired heart surgeon. It was the early russian stuff that had the value for sure. But, I really enjoyed the look and topical stuff from the mystic stuff and have continued to purchase year set now because of it while filling in some more of the bigger ticket items from the earlier issues.
As has been stated here already .. the "worth" is in the eye of the collector !
Also, you mention a diplomatic packet. Dahomey is my specialty and one of my favorite covers is a diplomatic cover from US embassy in Cotonou back to US and franked with US stamps after arrival in the states... If I every figure out how to get images uploaded properly I will drop it on for show and tell :-)
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