Washington stamps any insight

Hi all

I inherited a stamp collection. There are hundreds of unsorted stamps and about 600 that are in a book.

Inside the front cover were these Washington stamps. One set has a perforation misaligned. There’s a booklet of stamps as well.

Any thoughts on the value of these?

Comments

  • 13 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Is this a complication of the Moderna vaccine ?
  • My sister and brother-in-law were on (and won) the Newlywed Game, in Sep 1972. They're still together, too.
  • Haha I had the Pfizer so I don’t think so.
    I was at a shower playing the game so that explains the page.
    That’s pretty cool I don’t know anyone who has won or even been a contestant.

    I really don’t know how I managed to upload that instead of the photos of the stamps. I will try again.

  • Here is the photo859D41B3-251F-4343-98DF-135500CF4D82
  • There are different issues within that style, based on paper, perforation, design, watermark etc. They generally are neither expensive to obtain or valuable in the Sootheby's Auction-way. Most are valued less than a nice milkshake. But they are respected parts of the hobby we love. On that sheet of paper, nothing makes my heart jump nor blood pressure increase.,

    Heres a link to an excellent resource if you wish to spend time learning and identifying for yourself. That is the fun and hobby part of this. http://www.jamesdire.net/W-F.html
  • I have been educating myself a bit. I thought the ones on the left hand side of the photo looked like a 539 as they seemed to have all the hallmarks. Those ones also have a misaligned perf. But I wasn’t sure. Thanks for your insight.
  • Rookie mistake, gravitating to the most expensive stamp. Before you can lay claim to the most valuable stamp, you must eliminate all the other varieties first. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

    The misaligned perfs are not severe enough to warrant any added premium. In fact they lower the condition to average, and the value likewise. Other stamps in your image are damaged. That also drastically lowers any value the stamps may have had.
  • Honestly I am not sure what value this post provides me other an an attempt to make me feel stupid. Thanks
  • Deb, I kind of know these folks and they can be a bit goofy (like me). I know nobody is trying to make you feel stupid. You did ask for an opinion of this forum is the stamps had any value. They do. Likely not much monetary value though. Without getting into detailed philatelic comments, many of the stamps in your scan actually are damaged (folds, creases, tears, marginal centering, etc). The true value may be in the fact that someone (assuming nothing) that someone felt highly enough about you to bequeath their collection to your care. There may be many stories to be told from your loved one's collecting (again assuming nothing). There may not. Don't know the details and its none of our business.

    You never know though what you have until you have it checked out properly. I would suggest that you seek out a professional stamp dealer, visit them, and ask them to look over your collection. The vast majority of dealers will be both meticulous and honest with you. It really is quite difficult to evaluate certain stamps with just a photo.

    All our best to you!

    Greg
  • Ok thanks.
  • Alot of people new to the hobby have many misconceptions of the value of stamps. Most of the value is in the hobby itself (collecting the little, historic pieces of paper). Most stamps are common, and have little value. We have all gone through the learning process.

    One thing you can do is to start your own collection. You already have a start with the collection you inherited. You can keep what you like, and sell, trade, give away, etc. the others to collectors.
  • Deb,
    Your block of 10 at the right of the page is most certainly either a 425 (single line watermark) or a 463 (no watermark). The stamps are pref 10, ensuring they are flat plate printed (your hope of a 539 appears on rotary press only). The other loose (single, block of 3, block of 6) are probably from the same sheet of stamps and just applied to the page the same way.
    The 1c also look to be Perf 10 to me. That gives you 3 options, 424 (single line watermark), 462 (no watermark) both flat plate printed, or a 543 (no watermark) if rotary press.

    If you can turn the stamp over (just lift it up without removing it from the page), look at the back, if there are any little specks of green ink on the 1c stamps then they are flat plate printed. All of these are in the "very common" category, and if were in perfect condition (they're not, they're at least hinged to the page, it looks like some are probably fully stuck to it as well), they'd have an individual value of around $5 - $7.

    The booklet pane looks most likely like a 554c. Thought it's still attached to the booklet, I'd love to see an image of the color of that, as it has potential to be worth more than the rest of the lot. but that also depends on if the back cover is there, and if it's a complete booklet, though we can see the cover is creased as it's open, it still has a chance of being worth more than a milkshake.
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