ScottV Stamps

One thing that happens a lot is selling stamps to buyers back in the home country.  I can't say how many thousands of items I have shipped back home.  Here is a pair of First Day Covers from Korea that I got last week.  They don't mean much to me.  I picked them because I have a vague interest in the Universal Postal Union issues and anniversaries. But these sold for $3 in less than an hour after posting them.  One can't help but wonder if I should have started the price a bit higher.  Or would they then sit there for years, unwanted.  I'd rather start something low and have it sell.  And I don't want to drag out the catalogs for every little thing.  It's usually disappointing.  No point looking them up now.  Just go with the gut, move on to the next piece. So, they're headed back to Korea now.

Sometimes, it's not the stamps that make a cover interesting.  These three are free-franked mail from navy servicemen, each with a "Passed by Naval Censor" mark (two on front, the other was on the back) and the expected tape where it was opened and resealed. All are postmarked "U.S. NAVY" with 1944 dates. Also, they each have a letter inside.  I never know what to think about letters.  I'm sure they add to the value and historical relevance of the covers, but they also feel so private to us.  These three are part of an ongoing correspondence, but we left the letters unread.  Off to HipStamp they go ...  

Here is a busy old cover from New Zealand.  I got this at the show two weeks ago for 40 cents.  I like going through covers looking for the ones that have their own travel tales to tell.  Of course, I was already selling my own bins full of covers for 50c each, just so I wouldn't have to scan and list them all.  But this one was new to me, and I had been through all of my own covers before.  So here it is: Postmarked 1938, the kiwi cachet and crossed-out address caught my eye right away.  But other details came up: it has a "BNZ" prefin on one stamp, and a postage due "T" handstamp.  It was redirected when the recipient was not found, and got a backside roller mark from DINARD France as it was being sent back to sender.  I listed this one on HipStamp today and it sold for $4.95 in about two hours.  So there must be something about it that I'm not seeing.  Or my eyeball pricing is spot on.

A cover from Latvia, 13-04-2009 to Escondido CA. Printed matter, registered.   The story behind this one: I was at a stamp show, flipping through thousands of covers, and found this one addressed to me from 15 years before.  It's funny how our little collectibles make the rounds. I used to specifically try and find eBay listings from sellers in the Baltic States because every one of them took such care making their mailings look good.  The hobby was always supposed to be an international one, bringing folks together from across the globe.  I also found covers mailed to my Dad.  I suppose the mystery is easily solved, since I have donated many boxes to the San Diego Philatelic Library over the years, and most of the local sellers go to the library sales to stock up on things...

Here is another little item I found at the show on Sunday.  It's not even a postal item, not a piece of mail at all.  It's an old New Year card.  The art from that era has a good sense of nostalgia.  But check out the little 1920 Christmas Seal at the bottom.  "Merry Christmas - Healthy New Year" That's not really what the seals are for -- they were meant to seal the envelopes.  But this is fine.  It adds to the art.  It's not just the front of the card.  The card opens and has the usual private family message inside.  A little bit of Americana. Oddly, we used to make our own custom holiday cards for family, and used to look for labels and bits of art and little seals just like this person did over a century ago.  But we're convinced that nobody cares about handmade cards anymore, so we stopped. I don't expect any of these items to have big value.  It's just fun going through thousands of ordinary items and finding the ones tha...

Here's a Yugoslavia cover dated 29-JAN-1960 with a LJUBLJANA pictorial postmark on postal stationery.  An unremarkable piece, really.  I almost put it back without thinking about it.   Then I saw who it was mailed to: Elizabeth Taylor, Culver City, California.  It's not the greatest piece of film star history, but its interest suddenly went from zero to "grab it and see if someone will pay a few bucks for it."  The point is not to have a huge clutter of "stuff" for myself.  If someone buys it, I will feel good that I helped someone find a piece for their own collection. On the funny side, I have had a few covers mailed to popes over the years, and I wonder which one has the bigger star power when it comes to valuing covers: Vatican leaders or celebrities ...