Down the Lane

Hi all , showing my age , I have collected stamps since I stopped Piano leassons at school. ( It was next door and getting better than be wet ) . I did get as far as 3 blind mice on it . (Party piece.)
does anyone still collect them as Texting seems teh rage now and the personnel contact with stamps is not so common or neccessary .
Bob

I used to too. My father worked in a hospital kitchen and there were a lot of maids from Europe (at the time they could only get work permits for domestic work), they all gave him their stamps. My mother used to help me - we got a Stanley Gibbons catalogue from the library, and we'd arrange them in date order. I think it became more her collection than mine in the end - the local Post Office knew she always bought new issues, so they saved her the World Cup England Winners overprints which there were not many of.
She gave them all to a charity in the end.
I was quite keen, swapping, sending for free gifts with approvals (and usually buying a few). And had several collections given me. My children collected rather half heartedly.

I always look with interest and cut them off envelopes, there are still charities who take them, so someone must collect them.

My brother and I each had a stamp album. No idea what happened to mine, and my brother took one which my Uncle owned when we cleared his house out.

I do save stamps still, but nowadays send them to The Leprosy Mission, before that, when my Father was alive, I sent them to the Myasthenia Gravis Society - he had the unpleasant condition.

We still receive a few letters from abroad, but the stamps I have are mainly from the UK.

King George V was I believe a stamp collector.

I still have my stamp collection from when I was a kid. My dad was a postman at the time and we lived in Birmingham just at time when there was a big influx of people from the West Indies, India and Pakistan and dad used to ask for the stamps.

I have a number of 'first day covers', (I wonder if they still do these), and have World Cup 1966 stamps over printed with 'England Winners' and the Battle of Britain commemorative series.

Unfortunately, they just sit in the attic and as we are downsizing, I am thinking of getting rid of them. I don't think they are worth anything but the kids don't want them so they will go.

This dealer has prices for first day covers. Of course that's selling not buying. So you wouldn't get as much for them. Ebay? or I know Oxfam would make good use.

I was rather sad when mine went, but I never looked at them so it made sense. There were some high value commonwealth stamps.
It was an interesting way to learn about countries.

Hi Thank you for all replying .
Stamps are 1, rare and worth a fortune.
2 , common and worth little.
Personnally I have millions 50 years of buying , obtaining rec`g . Most stamps I can say where I got them from . Have stamps from 1d black /reds -decimal and not so many latest ones.
Countries all over -Hitler - Ghandi -flowers -space -russian -American -civil war through to recent.
Ships cars planes .Even letters from mail that crashed on planes ,ships and trains . War letters from WW1 , which are interesting .
Sight of things long gone .
Auctions sometimes take them and sell as collections etc .Someone will see one stamp and buy the books , next week back in Auction to sell the doubles and not collected.
Thanks again , interesting to see but as I believe a dieing hobby for enthusiastes
Bob

We have tons of stamps in my dad's wardrobe(he passed away 1988) I continued collecting his first day covers and special sets until a few years ago. We must have quite a lot of money's worth but still don't want to disturb them.

Hi , you maybe surprised at the value . Sometimes they can be worth quite a bit to a collector . Most times a album can go for (if you are lucky ) in a auction for 30 quid. Worth more as a keep sake. you should take a look at them now and again that is what they are for all said and done .
Bob

You're right of course Bob maybe oneday….

Interesting. I used to collect stamps. I still have my collection and I think also a box full of stamps that never got into the album. Have been wondering what to do with them as having moved house recently don't really want to keep anything we don't need.

Anyone know where it would be best to look at how much certain stamps are worth?

Any stamps that I get now on the rare letters I save and give to charities.

I send my used stamps to the Leprosy Mission, have done for years.

Hi Just bought a lot of stamps and albums for when off sick .
Well had a day at most in the 2 weeks off sorting .
Value of a stamp is not in the catologues it is in the person who will pay .
Trick is to find the person ....
I used to buy job lots. had a 10 out of 1000 stamps I actually needed.
I now go for quality rather than the quanity . Higher price but cheaper in the long run .
Some war letters with stamps on are very interesting (love letters are actually pretty good as well but not often read ).
Bob

My stamp collection is "inherited" - I can remember my brother having a stamp collection book, most of which he had licked the gum and stuck them on the pages. Then he had a serious accident and was in hospital for about 6 months - someone gave him her entire stamp collection that she had started off when she was a little girl in the early 1900s (most stuck in books, a lot were torn or too much ink stamp on them, some were still on envelopes from countries all over the world, others stuffed into tin boxes)

Years later my dad took it over and spent ages lifting the stamps off bits of envelopes and from the old stamp books, carefully sorting them out and putting them into special stock books. I seem to remember old Stanley Gibbons catalogues around as he tried to see if he could find any "valuable" stamps. There were certainly a few misprints which he got excited about, a complete set of one lot that seemed to be important, and a couple of Queen Victoria but alas no Penny Black LOL These were put into a rather grand stamp book. None were worth that much although he did buy a couple of speciality ones about 30 years ago .... hmmmm, I wonder if they have gone up in value since then? I think I should have a look see.

Hi , I have just taken from 2 albums 64 pages stamps of G B .Put into 8 x 64 page albums
Penny black all the way to 80s . lots more to do . The whole world would take me so many life times to sort out.
20 quid a book alot of cash as well.
Like knitting do whilst listening to the telly.
Pleasure I get is remembering the stamp and how I got ,where , when .
Bob . Like a PHOTO REALLY.
wonder what I will do when I forget everything and look at a stamp and say whats that.

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Pleasure I get is remembering the stamp and how I got ,where , when .

Yes my first stamp collection was like that. Then, bescause my father used to ask all the foreign maids at work to save stamps for me I was given various albums by people who collected as children. I think it became less personal then and maybe that was when I lost interest.

At Christmas my Grandson (age 7) was shuffling and arranging his football cards, he seemed to know which he'd already got and which were new. So I suppose it was the same sort of thing.