Stamp Collecting And Value

Stamp Collecting and Value

Most stamp collectors acquire stamps for the sheer joy of collecting. Their stamps are valuable because of their beauty or sentimentality. These collectors have no desire to make lots of money with their stamp collections. They also trade stamps with other collectors who are also collecting as a hobby. In fact even serious collectors rarely make much money with their collections. Of course, there is the rare collector who finds a much sought after stamp and sells it for a huge profit. When people read about the huge windfall, they might start collecting stamps thinking they will also make a lot of money when in fact few collectors ever see any great monetary reward. Most stamp collectors feel that their enjoyment is the proper reward.

Most collectors see stamp collecting and value as an amorphous proposition. To these serious collectors, all stamps have value even if the stamp is only worth a few pennies. The value is in their beauty, their history, or their sentimentality. That is true collecting; collecting for the sheer joy. These collectors enjoy showing off their collections to other collectors through clubs or stamp shows.

There are some characteristics of stamps that make them worth more monetarily than others. First of course is the rarity of the stamp. Today finding a rare stamp is not an impossibility but doesn’t happen very often. Just because you find an old stamp does not mean it is worth much. The original Penny Black is only worth about twenty dollars and it is very old, the first stamp in fact. Even though it is the first stamp created, it is not considered rare because there are so many Penny Blacks on the market. Many people kept this stamp because it was the first of its kind. When there is a glut in the market, prices always fall. Now if you can find an a Penny Black that has never been used or cancelled, you might have a rare stamp. Even at that it’s not worth millions or even thousands. See stamp collecting for money is hard.

Of course, the condition of the stamp is very important. The stamp must be in pristine condition to be worth much even if it is rare. The stamp should be bright in color and not faded. Yes, you can judge a stamp by its cover. If the stamp is torn, dirty, stained or creased, it is of little to no value. Some people use these stamps as place holders until they run across a better one. The lightness of the cancellation marks is also important. Lighter marks are much better than darker ones.

Stamp collecting and value does take practice. Another important point might not be apparent at first view. Now it is time to take a hard look at the image on the stamp. Is the image centered correctly? If the stamp is off center, its value is decreased.

Therefore, accessing a stamp’s monetary worth is quite difficult. Checking the stamp for its rarity, its beauty, it cancellation marks, and it centering takes years of practice. Even then truly making money in stamp collecting is a risky business proposition. Collecting stamps for their intrinsic value is much more profitable and fun.

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