Stamp Condition: Another Attribute Important to the Value of Stamps
Just like a stamp’s grade, the condition of a stamp can vastly affect its value. Although different than the stamp's grade, once again a stamp's condition does not refer to its subject matter, rarity or age: it refers to the physical characteristics of the paper the stamp was printed on.
Stamps in great condition are crisply printed with vibrant colors that appear to be just off the presses. Condition faults detract from the value of a stamp and include any type of alteration, damage or change since the stamp was printed, other than cancellations or other postal marks. Common faults include creases, tears, folds, holes, stains, missing corners or perforations, thins, and dirt or fingerprints on the gum, if the stamp is mint.
When looking at stamp condition, keep in mind that between two otherwise-identical stamps, the stamp in better condition will always be worth more. But also keep in mind that even stamps that are not in perfect condition can be worth a lot of money if they're scarce or if perfect-condition examples are extremely expensive. That's why some stamp dealers, like The Stamp People, offer severely marked-down vintage stamps for sale in addition to their perfect-condition stamps - to let stamp collectors buy stamps that they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.
Showing posts with label investing in stamps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investing in stamps. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Stamp Grades and Their Importance to Stamp Values
If you're serious about stamp collecting and want to have the best stamp collection that you can, be aware that the most important factor in any stamp's value is its grade.
Stamp grading is determined by a variety of factors, but those factors do not include a stamp's subject matter, rarity or age. To the contrary, a stamp's grade is determined by how its design is centered between its perforations or, if it's an imperforate stamp, its margins. Both horizontal centering and vertical centering are taken into account. Grade also refers to the condition of the stamp's gum (if it's a mint stamp) or how the cancellation of a used stamp affects its design.
Grading stamps takes some experience - looking at a lot of stamps in a variety of different grades. After you've looked at just a few stamps you may be able to distinguish between stamps with a high grade and those with a low grade. Given enough time and experience, you'll begin to be able to tell differences in grading in most stamps.
Stamp grades are somewhat standardized, ranging from superb at the high end, to poor at the low. If you are going to become a serious stamp collector and invest some serious money, it's crucial when buying a stamp to know what grade of a stamp you are getting. The better the grade of stamps in your collection, the better and more valuable your collection will be.
If you're serious about stamp collecting and want to have the best stamp collection that you can, be aware that the most important factor in any stamp's value is its grade.
Stamp grading is determined by a variety of factors, but those factors do not include a stamp's subject matter, rarity or age. To the contrary, a stamp's grade is determined by how its design is centered between its perforations or, if it's an imperforate stamp, its margins. Both horizontal centering and vertical centering are taken into account. Grade also refers to the condition of the stamp's gum (if it's a mint stamp) or how the cancellation of a used stamp affects its design.
Grading stamps takes some experience - looking at a lot of stamps in a variety of different grades. After you've looked at just a few stamps you may be able to distinguish between stamps with a high grade and those with a low grade. Given enough time and experience, you'll begin to be able to tell differences in grading in most stamps.
Stamp grades are somewhat standardized, ranging from superb at the high end, to poor at the low. If you are going to become a serious stamp collector and invest some serious money, it's crucial when buying a stamp to know what grade of a stamp you are getting. The better the grade of stamps in your collection, the better and more valuable your collection will be.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
A Stamp Collecting Primer
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and objects relating to postage stamps. In addition to stamps themselves, one popular type of item to collect is covers: envelopes or packages with stamps on them. Stamp collecting is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with estimates of the number of stamps collectors ranging up to 20 million people just in the United States.
Collecting is not the same as philately, which is the study of stamps. You can be a philatelist without being a stamp collector, although most philatelists probably do collect stamps. Likewise, you can be a stamp collector without being a philatelist and closely studying what you collect. Many collectors simply enjoy accumulating stamps thout worrying about their tiny details, but creating a large or comprehensive collection generally does require some philatelic knowledge.
Stamp collectors provide an important revenue source for some countries. More than a few countries print beautiful stamps that are designed mainly to be bought by stamp collectors and put into their collections, rather than be used on the mail. The stamps produced by these countries generally far exceed the postal needs of the countries.
Some collectors, seeing how the prices of rare stamps generally increase over time, engage in philatelic investing. Rare stamps are among the most portable of tangible investments, and are easy to store.
The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. It was produced without perforations (imperforate), so it had to be cut from the sheet with scissors in order to be used. While unused examples of the Penny Black are quite scarce, used copies may be purchased for $20 to $200, depending upon their condition.
Most stamp collectors in the 1860s and 1870s were children and teenagers - many adults dismissed it as a childish hobby that wouldn't interest them. But during the late 1800s those childhood collectors were adults, and many began to study stamps and publish research on various stamp topics. Some stamps, such as the triangular issues of the Cape of Good Hope, became legendary. But it wasn't until the 1920s that publicity about valuable stamps created a large increase in the number of stamp collectors and a large increase in the value of many old stamps. This rapid increase in postage stamp values was largely because very few of the older stamps had been saved in good condition. Especially difficult to find were pairs, triples, and large blocks of older stamps.
Most U.S. postage stamps issued since the 1930s are fairly inexpensive and easy to obtain, but some high face value stamps, such as the $2.60 United States Graf Zeppelin issued in 1930, are worth substantial amounts of money. Other recent stamps that can be expensive are souvenir sheets from popular countries, hard to find plate number coils (PNCs), and errors.
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and objects relating to postage stamps. In addition to stamps themselves, one popular type of item to collect is covers: envelopes or packages with stamps on them. Stamp collecting is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with estimates of the number of stamps collectors ranging up to 20 million people just in the United States.
Collecting is not the same as philately, which is the study of stamps. You can be a philatelist without being a stamp collector, although most philatelists probably do collect stamps. Likewise, you can be a stamp collector without being a philatelist and closely studying what you collect. Many collectors simply enjoy accumulating stamps thout worrying about their tiny details, but creating a large or comprehensive collection generally does require some philatelic knowledge.
Stamp collectors provide an important revenue source for some countries. More than a few countries print beautiful stamps that are designed mainly to be bought by stamp collectors and put into their collections, rather than be used on the mail. The stamps produced by these countries generally far exceed the postal needs of the countries.
Some collectors, seeing how the prices of rare stamps generally increase over time, engage in philatelic investing. Rare stamps are among the most portable of tangible investments, and are easy to store.
The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. It was produced without perforations (imperforate), so it had to be cut from the sheet with scissors in order to be used. While unused examples of the Penny Black are quite scarce, used copies may be purchased for $20 to $200, depending upon their condition.
Most stamp collectors in the 1860s and 1870s were children and teenagers - many adults dismissed it as a childish hobby that wouldn't interest them. But during the late 1800s those childhood collectors were adults, and many began to study stamps and publish research on various stamp topics. Some stamps, such as the triangular issues of the Cape of Good Hope, became legendary. But it wasn't until the 1920s that publicity about valuable stamps created a large increase in the number of stamp collectors and a large increase in the value of many old stamps. This rapid increase in postage stamp values was largely because very few of the older stamps had been saved in good condition. Especially difficult to find were pairs, triples, and large blocks of older stamps.
Most U.S. postage stamps issued since the 1930s are fairly inexpensive and easy to obtain, but some high face value stamps, such as the $2.60 United States Graf Zeppelin issued in 1930, are worth substantial amounts of money. Other recent stamps that can be expensive are souvenir sheets from popular countries, hard to find plate number coils (PNCs), and errors.
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