I have at least one stamp from almost every country in the world. The collection starts with Argentina and ends with Zambia. To help identify which country each stamp was from I had to learn different alphabets, currencies, political history and a little geography. Some examples: Eire is Ireland, Belarus uses Rubles, Uzbekistan is in Asia, the United States started using 13 cent stamps on December 31, 1975.
The stamps contain a lot of interesting landscapes, famous people, art, and animals. The countries try to depict their industry and buildings. My biggest collections are from Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, Hungary, Romania, France, Italy, China, Germany, and the United States. There are several hundred stamps from each of these countries. My favorite country is China because of the oriental beauty of their art and landscapes. I like the Italian castle set, the French coat-of-arms set, and the delicate animal sets from Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Today I established the value of each of the United States stamps. There were no valuable stamps; most of them were worth less than a dime but it was fun anyway. The rarest stamp was a 29 cent Christmas stamp of a snowman profile. There were 3 versions of this stamp and mine was special because it had four snowflakes under his carrot nose. The stamp is Scott's catalog #2803 and is worth $1.40 used. The most valuable stamp was a 1988 stamp of an Eagle and the Moon. It was a $8.75 Express Mail Stamp when purchased from the post office and is now worth $14.95 (used) to collectors. I was a little surprised that my stamps from the 30's weren't worth more than a nickel. I only have three plates (sheets) in the collection. Janeil gave me a birthday present in 1987 of a set of 22 cent Wildlife stamps. The sheet of 50 stamps is now worth $89.95 (mint condition).
I have some duplicates which I would be willing to trade if anyone has some more recent stamps (post 2002) you would like to swap.
6 comments:
Very cool.
Kool boxes from cashiers, stamps from secretaries- you know how to realize value from your surroundings.
I remember soaking stamps in water in a bowl to separate them from their envelope when I was a kid.
I saved a lunar new-year with oranges on it last month because I thought it looked cool and I wanted to start getting ready for when Zachary does the stamp collecting merit badge.
I'm surprised they haven't gotten more valuable, other than the sheets via Janeil. Takes money to make money I guess. Neat hobby. Hope we get a merit badge devotee in our little clan one day.
I remember you having us soak our stamps in water as well that way you could teach about stamp collecting. I have a bunch of stamps with wedding bands on them if you want one ;)
So cool! Did Flavia De Luce's father inspire you to get back into it?
Zachary had fun working on that--Thanks!
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