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Many, many people collect for many, many years and never aquire a single specimen certified as 'rare' but this guy?...

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/clt/3035379082.html

The ad was placed over 2 weeks ago, so I have no doubt that someone knowledgable has looked over his 'rarities' and broke the bad news...imagine the look on his face.

-FK

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" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

"My father, who passed away last week."

And he's already selling the collection?

No love lost? Or maybe the father was in a nursing home or such and the family was holding off as a matter of principle on disposing of his estate until after the...inevitable.

He doesn't include any pictures, so I'd wager 99% chance the collection is a bunch of kiddie kollection 'junk', 1% chance it might actually be something, and its one of those cases of a collector not informing their family of their wishes regarding disposal.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

He didn't waste any time.

Some people hoard so much crap that their estate takes years to process.

Agree that the collection is most likely 99% trash - and with no pictures there's not much chance of securing a sale.

Greetings,

Is there a generally accepted philatelic definition of the term "rare". We all know that some ebay sellers optimistically describe stamps catalogued at $1 or less as rare.

I suppose catalogue value is not a true measure of rarity, because that combines factors including scarcity, demand for the stamp in question, etc.

It is probably the best indicator available to the average stamp collector.

So, if a stamp was rated by Scott at $500.00 or more, would that suggest it was rare?

Would there be a lower figure even - maybe $100.00?

There again ............... does it matter?

Happy collecting

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Modern Fiji overprints : Proper old fashioned philately
A fascinating collecting field

To paraphrase the late Simon Dunkerley

"if you go cheque book in hand, and cannot obtain what you are looking for, then it is rare."

Things things like the Inverted Jenny often come onto the market, and can be readily purchased when they do. And there is less than 100 known copies.

Taking a couple of Australian examples, the 5/- Sydney Harbour Bridge MUH sells for around AUD 1,100 - AUD 1,400 but you could buy one any day of the week, so it is not rare. For our most famous coin coin, the 1930 1d brings huge amounts, but every coin dealer has a few, if not dozens in stock.

Or, simply, "If I own one it can't possibly be rare".

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Talk to TonyMacG on the Uglies thread, and he'll give you a list of Indian States stamps that were only issued in a few dozen, yet may sell for only a few hundred dollars.

An item might be rare because not many were issued and/or still exist, but that doesn't make it valuable. Conversely, something expensive may not be rare, if its popular. There's no shortage of 5 bob Bridges as Norm pointed out, or $5 Columbians, or 5 Pound orange QV, yet those all sell for thousands.

The "All Country is Red" stamp from China makes $30-50,000 USD at auction, and a typical sale in HK will have anywhere from 2 to a record 7 examples in 1 auction.

Picasso paintings sell for millions. Are Picasso's "rare"?

When demand is factored into the equation, the term "rare" gets completely skewed.

I'd say a stamp worth $100-1,000 is a 'good' stamp; $1000+ is 'scarce'...maybe; $10,000+ and you're getting into rare...maybe. What about auctions described being a sale of "fine stamps and covers"; fine is an adjective often used in auction lingo to mean "expensive".

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

It's not just auctions where the term "fine" means expensive .... speeding fines can dent the wallet too.

I wonder if anyone bothers with philatelic "rule books" any more?

I remember reading an old one and a mint stamp was the borderline of being acceptable. A first day cover would have been taboo for the serious philatelist and a souvenir sheet would be totally unacceptable.

The important criteria was that the item had to have intention for postal use as it's sole purpose.

I don't know where prestige stamp books or silk covers would fit in but I suspect that collecting them would have resulted in derision and summary expulsion from the philatelic clubs of the day.

Isn't it good that people can collect whatever they like these days!

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Modern Fiji overprints : Proper old fashioned philately
A fascinating collecting field

Lesboot,
Have you ever been to a stamp show?
I'm not referring to an exhibit,but a hotel ballroom full of dealers...boxes and boxes filled with collections in albums ranging in price from about 50-500 USD...each representing the life's work of someone whose greedy survivors thought they had inherited the mother lode of 'rare' stamps.
The universal principles of economy (supply-demand) have made it inevitable the rarity is almost synonomous with monetary value in philately.
All that notwithstanding, I'm on your side here...it is indeed good that people collect whatever they want.
I also read old philatelic books, one of them says that the stamps of South America should be shunned because these countries issued too many stamps.
That is absolute nonsense!...the only 'rules' in collecting should be that your collection should reflect your tastes, your stamps should be stored properly and displayed attractively. However, your notions of rarity and value should be kept within the bounds of reality.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law,
Love is the Law, love under Will."
-Aliester Crowley...or, Francois Rabelais


-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

Maybe someone should go to this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=37896

...and apprise the OP of the oft repeated platitude that 'Scarcity in numbers does not necessarily equal rarity and/or value'
Someone else do it...I'm not about to make a fool of myself.

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

Well when it comes to USA stamps (the topic of that thread linked), there's always demand, sometimes in silly quantities. Look at the people paying 1,000% of catalogue value just because a 1940s commem has been slabbed and given a high numerical grade, nevermind that there's probably innumerable others out there in that condition, just no-one thinks to bother spending $27 to certify a 50-cent-at-best stamp.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

At least the name of the seller, Hellman, rings very well in Scandinavia's philatelic circles

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Mail a kid a hobby -- use stamps!

Of course many of those collections might well have been much better at one time, but after passing through one or two dealer's hands the better material has been removed, and we are mostly left with the floor sweepings. And there are tens of thousands of collections of that level, either that have always been beginner to advanced beginner or have been stripped down to that point.

Greetings,

Yes, I've been to my fair share of stamp fairs and stamp shows: local, regional, national and international.

As well as that I've spent time poring through boxes, looking at displays (competition and otherwise).

I conclude that many of today's dealers and postal administrations would pay good money to have books and pamphlets like the one I read destroyed. They don't want stamp collectors worrying that they are parting with their good money and buying material whose prime purpose is to be sold to collectors with any postal use a secondary consideration!

Sometimes I think it is a shame that for higher echelon displays high ticket material is a prerequisite - but that mirrors life today : "money talks".

If I find a stamp that I've been looking for, even if it only costs a few pence (I can hope!), it probably gives me just as big a sense of achievement as if I'd got a great rarity.

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Modern Fiji overprints : Proper old fashioned philately
A fascinating collecting field

I'm sure you speak for 99% of collectors....