So... When I introduced myself I mentioned that I was left stamps by my father. It is not a collection per say, in that they are all stamps he collected from friends and correspondence. Some are in a Traveler's Stamp book and then there are a ton loose.
I have sorted them by countries accept for an envelope of unknown. I started to look for them at StampWorld, I am finding it overwhelming and frankly I don't think it is my 'thing'.
So, although they are not probably worth anything, I am willing to share them with some true stamp collectors if anyone is interested. Just send me a message, I would like to just mail them to anyone who wishes them, better that someone who knows what they are doing deals with them and I just CAN NOT throw them out... CAN't DO IT
So, I have something from almost everywhere, although I have sent out some. There are lots from Hungary and the bulk of them are from the 70's I think.
Thanks for your support here, everyone was so welcoming.
re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Hi Sheila, nice gesture, you can also keep it and may be one day someone of your family will want them, I do have the collection of the uncle of my grand-father.
re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Dear Sheila,
What you have does have value.You seek to honor the gift from your father- what you are seeking are the ways to do it. For you to personally become a stamp collector apparently is not the way. That's fine, and there are many other ways to honor your dad with his stamps.
Passing them on to another collector is a wonderful way, and this you are currently exploring. There are organizations (scouts,veterans,holocaust projects,schools,etc.)that would greatly appreciate your gift. There are artists who use stamps in their creations, and craftsman who incorporate them in their pottery and ceramics.
All wonderful and worthy, and most importantly, honoring your father and his gift. There are those members here who could point the way to specific sites. You are on a wonderful mission-enjoy the ride.
re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Sheila,
It does appear that you have not been bitten by the "stamp collector" bug, which is something does not happen to everyone. There is a lot involved in collecting stamps and certainly is not for a lot of folks.
You say you have a "ton" of stamps and it sounds like it would cost you quite a bit to mail them to other people, collectors or even charitable organizations, so may I suggest you offer them to those people that will send you a self-addressed, properly stamped envelope. Since postage cost are rather high in Canada, that would save you the cost involved in disposing of your unwanted collection, but the stamp would still go to people that do collect them. I have done that previous and actually had no trouble getting rid of thousands of stamp, some of which were higher valued stamps.
Mike
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re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Hi Sheila;
Keep your fathers collection intact, and use stamps that are topical, like flowers or birds to start
your own collection. When you have exhausted the possible topics that interest you then either
keep the balance as a keepsake of your father or pass the remainders on.
re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Hello Sheila,
There obviously is no dearth of options for passing on your stamps in meaningful ways. Just for the sake of awareness, I add one more possibility you might consider, in the genre of a charitable gift. Oxfam Canada operates a program called "Stamp Out Poverty" in which they receive donated stamps and sell them in lots (termed kiloware) and invest the funds generated in community development projects (wells, sanitation, farming implements, etc.) in developing countries. I always have felt good when buying lots from this program, and as a favour to my family (tidying my corner of the room) I may eventually be shipping a box of those that never fit into my collection or a trade with another collector back to them. You could contact them at: stamps@oxfam.ca
I hope you find a very satisfying option regarding your father's stamps.
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. - Aristotle Onassis 20 Jan 2016 06:57:31pm
re: Overwhelmed and thinking of passing my stamps on
Excellent thought, Tom. Good to see you here!
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