Shop One Of The Largest Selections Of Stamps Online... Or Anywhere!
This site is your easy direct link to the world of stamps on eBay, one of the largest selections of stamps for collectors, anywhere. You can use it to find stamps for your collection from all areas of the world with the Stamp Shops Listings menu at the left. Many of these these menu links will break down further into specialized areas of stamp collecting that will satisfy almost every philatelist's or hobbyist's collecting interests.
If you are looking for a specific stamp for your collection, use the search feature to find exactly what you want. For instance, if you want a copy of a Canadian stamp with a Scott catalog number of 85, enter Canada Scott 85 or Canada 85 in the search block and do your search on 'stamps.' If you are in the Canada section, try Scott 85, or use just 85 for a wider selection of this particular postage stamp.
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"What Are My Stamps Worth?"
So you were given a collection or inherited some old stamps that your
grandfather had and wonder what they might be worth. Well, to be honest, 99% of
the time they will be worth little or nothing. If someone did not spend good
money in building a collection, it's doubtful it will be worth good money,
now.
But don't be discouraged, maybe you really have been given a valuable collection, and the best way to determine if this is so is to visit your library and check what you have against the Scott Standard Postage Catalogue, a multi-volume set of books that you can use to get an idea of their worth. Other ways are to visit your local stamp club or a stamp show in your area and have collectors or dealers look at it, but checking with the Scott Catalogue is a good way to start.
Remember that catalog value is not what an interested party will pay you, but what a stamp might be worth at retail, though because of competition, most stamps retail for far less than catalog value, and dealers will pay only a fraction of that.
Since collectors want stamps in good condition, condition is an important consideration. Unless they are true rarities, damaged stamps and stamps not in good condition are generally worthless.
But don't be discouraged, maybe you really have been given a valuable collection, and the best way to determine if this is so is to visit your library and check what you have against the Scott Standard Postage Catalogue, a multi-volume set of books that you can use to get an idea of their worth. Other ways are to visit your local stamp club or a stamp show in your area and have collectors or dealers look at it, but checking with the Scott Catalogue is a good way to start.
Remember that catalog value is not what an interested party will pay you, but what a stamp might be worth at retail, though because of competition, most stamps retail for far less than catalog value, and dealers will pay only a fraction of that.
Since collectors want stamps in good condition, condition is an important consideration. Unless they are true rarities, damaged stamps and stamps not in good condition are generally worthless.
The Great American Stamp Hinge!
Whatever happened to the great American stamp hinge, best represented by Dennison and Fold-O-Hinges? By comparison, German hinges such as Prinz and Supersafe aren't all that good. So much for German quality.
The knock-offs out of Canada labeled Dennisen Hinges and Foldo-Hinges aren't any better than the stuff from Germany and are probably made there, as well. Their distributor or distributors are obviously trying to capitalize on the reputations of the originals. I've heard that Subway Stamps bought the Dennison hinge making equipment and was using it to make a hinge called Dennis' -- or something like that -- that they say are for used stamps only. Too bad they only have the machinery and not the formula for the gum Dennison used.
Today, it's still amazing to find packages of both the old Fold-O-Hinges and Dennison Hinges on eBay. It's even more amazing to see the prices they tend go for since so many collectors want to use them but they are no longer being made and have not been made for quite a while.
I've managed to pick up a few packs and only use them for better never hinged or lightly hinged mint stamps, using lesser brands for everything else. So too bad someone out there can't see the need for a return of the Great American Stamp Hinge and fill it.
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Stamps And Stamp Collecting Are COOL, Says Eight-Year-Old
My wife's sister and husband recently stopped by to visit, and brought along a young niece I hadn't seen in nearly three years. Now eight and familiar with computers and the Internet, she spotted my computer and asked if she could go online to visit Webkins, which I take is a popular online destination for kids. Of course, since I collect stamps, there were glassines with stamps all around the computer, so she began looking at them and asked me if I collected stamps. I said I did, to which she replied "cool!"
I left her at the computer and when I come back into the room a while later, I found her pulling stamps from glassines with her fingers, so handed her she pair of stamp tongs and showed her how to use them, to which she again said "cool."
A second cool!
Score two for stamp collecting!
Since I noticed she had been using the tongs to look at some of the stamps while at the computer, I asked her if she would like to collect stamps. She said that she would, so I promised to put starter album and some stamps together for her.
Well, three weeks later, she was back unexpectedly, this time with my daughter and her family.
I put together a little kit with a beginners' album, stamps, tongs, and hinges, and showed her how to use the hinges to mount her stamps. I also helped her identify their country of origin as she began to work on her budding collection at the table. I even showed her how to soak a few stamps, which she also took home between paper toweling and some newspaper to dras they dried.
Twice, she directly stated that "stamps are cool."
Now my five-year-old granddaughter seemed fascinated by what my niece was doing. She kept whispering to her, so my niece gave her a couple of her stamps. She saw what the older girl was doing and, quite naturally, wanted to do it too. So I found another little album (these have appeared in mixed lots purchased at auction, over the years) and set her up with some stamps, hinges, and tongs as well.
She could just about manage to hinge-mount a stamp with her five-year-old's dexterity, and seemed satisfied with the accomplishment.
I also caught her dad watching out of the corner of his eye as I helped the girls identify some stamps. He showed no sign of ever having collected stamps, but since he's a smart guy, maybe he will see stamp collecting as a good family and educational experience, when and if my granddaughter asks him something like "Daddy, where does this stamp go?"
Stuck On You!
Here' s stamp tragedy that should never happen to such a nice group of stamps or any stamps but that sometimes does.
Take a look at these mint, OG Canadians from 1927, the complete issue for that year including the Scott E3 special delivery stamp in apparently pristine condition except that humidity has hopelessly stuck them together.Using a Stamplift box, a humidity based solution, only created a sticky mess as the stamps picked up the dissolving gum from the stamp stuck to the top of them.
Unfortunately, that meant soaking.
But as is always the case, it's worth doing. After all, what use would the stamps be if stuck together in a glassine envelope for several decades more?
After a stay in a Desert Magic II Drying Book which left them flat and wrinkle free, here they are (except for the E3 which went to another page) in one of my Scott Internationals.
