Hello, I am interested in dabbling in stamp collecting, any one here know of a good forum like this one that deals in stamps? the two hobbys seem to have some crossover, It seems like many stamp collectors dabble in coins and many coin collectors dabble in stamps I have some questions i would like to ask stamp people: 1. is their a good grading service for stamps like PCGS and NGC that will slab stamps? the only one i could find is http://www.psestamp.com/ but i would like to talk to someone that has used them before i submit anything. 2. tips on storage 3. what would be a good book to buy for a beginner. thanks much in advance!
That's a sister company to PCGS, for what that's worth. I cancelled my subscription to Linn's Stamp News, and sold my entire collection in the early '50s, cause I needed the bucks for an apartment deposit The Beautiful Bride does have a small collection of world stamps now, but she's not really serious about it.
so if i am comfortable with PCGS then "pse" should be OK? I like the idea of slabbing the stamps i do get, then i can just put them in with the coins. I don;t really want to get into all the album/tongs/weirdness of stamp collecting ( maybe later )
Stamp Collecting I have a stamp collecting discussion board to answer questions. Most people there are advanced stamp or postal history collectors but newbies are welcome. Site is here: http://www.kbnet.com/book/html/frajolaboard.html I am an expert for PSE myself and they are the only groups grading stamps at present but the Philatelic Foundation (for which I am also an expert) will start in the next two months. Slabbing stamps is highly frowned upon by advanced collectors.
It is also highly frowned upon by advanced darkside coin collectors too. The PCGS forum is a case example, the world section has a good number of collectors that insist on cracking out slabbed coins. I generally up until now have merely refused to buy slabbed coins but i'm thinking perhaps the better way to fight slabbing is to buy slabbed coins and crack them out as soon as they arrive.
Sylvester I just returned a response to ANA "poll" question email two days ago that said that I prefer to buy slabbed coins, but immediately crack them so that I can examine the entire coins. I mount coins in custom drilled Capital Plastic holders - I throw away one half of the shell and put the other half over the coin and then mount with archival tape to a page with description and blow-up images of both sides. An internet version of my collection is here: http://www.rfrajola.com/features/coins/coins.htm
I buy coins for their history and i like to hold that history in my hands, to imagine myself as just one more person in a long line of people to have held that chunk of history. To me slabbing goes totally against the whole reason i collect coins in the first place. If i can't hold it then i get no pleasure from owning it.
To each his own. I prefer my coins slabbed. Haven't ever cracked one out and don't intend to start doing so.
Hello covers. So with your method only the obverse side of the coin is viewable? You can only admire half the coin and not both (except in a photo)?
It's a good website you've got there Covers, i enjoyed reading that! Well GD i think it's been said before we collect for very different reasons. You for æsthetics, me for history. I can more often than not appreciate your coins for both though. Although when i get my hands on the gold ducat it's going to be cracked out. It'll be only the second slabbed coin i've ever owned. The first one was bought to see if i liked slabs or not, i made my mind up i didn't and i sold it. T'was a very nice coin though. A UNC 1870 British sovereign. (MS62 to you).
Sylvester, Thanks for your comments. It is all about learning and history for me also. Steve, I just scanned and uploaded a completed album page here: http://www.rfrajola.com/board/1860page.jpg One can actually see the coins better in enlarged images. This is set up for public display in standing frames rather than cases. An examples of the frames are here: http://www.rfrajola.com/TPR2005/TPR2004frames.jpg I am currently working on an exhibit for a client doing a display of Colorado Territorial Gold, Currency and postal history which will be touring some historic sites in the Denver area next year. A page of the currency is here: http://www.rfrajola.com/currency/CC1.jpg
Well I can say I BUY THE COIN and if it is in a slab and I want it out, well I free it from it plastic prison. On ocassion I will buy one that MUST, for one reason or another stay in the slab and I just live with it! Now for anyone considering stamp collecting I would have to answer this way.....I am currently using a massive stamp collection that I collected over a period of 15 years as they are absolutely, for the most part, worthless except as postage. Singles, blocks and full sheets will not bring the price I paid for them regardless of their age so I started a couple of years ago using them as postage. I have about gone through them now with only a few sheets remaining and as much as I hated to do so it was the only way to get face value back out of them. Shoot, I have an first day cancellation and last day cancellation on a special envelope that flew 20,000 million miles on space shuttle Challenger that books for $100 and they only flew X-amount of them (65,0000 I believe) and couldn't even sell that. That was years ago and everyone knows what happen to the Challenger. Stamps may be fun but losing money on years of collecting didn't ring well with me and the postal service simply FLOODS the market continueously with new commemoratives that will go no where. I halted the stamps and turned all my efforts to coins and REALLY GLAD I did. Much more rewarding for many reasons.
Crystal, Your experience has unfortunattely been shared by thousands of people. Many have gotten burned with stamps and never come back. Doesn't have to be that way. Garbage in, garbage out applies with stamps as it does with coins. Postal history is much "safer" financially (an no, first day covers and souvenir stuff will never appreciate in value). Also, much more interesting than stamps.
I understand that "slabbing" is frowned upon by older collectors ( as a rule it seems that older collectors are more gun shy of the slabs ) but I have no problem with them. I actually prefer some of my coins in slabs ( key dates, coins that have a problem with counterfits ) I do not plan on having a huge stamp collection, just a few choice examples that apeal to me. to me it would be safer and more convenient to have them slabbed ( they can go into the same storage boxes/albums as my slabbed coins ) I am working on a commem. coin collection and wanted to get the stamps that go along with the coins, to me its a neat display and will make my collection stand out a little more slabbing the stamps wil not damage them? right? if they do not damage them while inserting them in slabs i can think of no better place to have the stamps, I do not want to invest in a fancy album or spend the time that many of the stamp collectors do mounting their stamps, etc. Thanks much for the link to your message boards covers, i will take a look ( probably lurk for a while ) as a side not my family has been postal employees for many generations ( well, four generations ) my great grandfather was a postmaster of the small town he helped found, my mom was the last post-master their when they closed the post office during the early ninetys when the postal service was consolodating many of the small rural post offices to save money. she is still a postmaster but in a town near where i grew up. I remember my gradfather crying when they closed down the post office thanks much!
Ranchhand, With stamps, it is not just older collectors who find slabbing abhorrent. It is everybody who views stamps as a hobby rather than an investment. It is a very new development in stamps (last year or two) with only one company (PSE) doing it. Nothing is known of the long term effects of slabbing on the paper and gum. Also, there is much higher potential for damage when stamp is removed. When stamps are exposed to strong light over extended time, they fade. So, just because a stamp was slabbed at a high grade, does not mean it will be same grade if re-submitted. The stamps getting slabbed right now are mostly common mint stamps. These are primarily being sold to coin collectors at coin shows. Almost all collectors are against turning stamps into commodities. The strength of the market has always been that it is collector driven - collectors don't sell just becausen the price of a possession doubles. I would suggest newbies in stamps buying early commemorative series stamps (pre 1932) with graded certs (highest grade afforadable) in mint condition, not slabbed. Use black plastic cards, readily available, and store cards in small size plastic cover pouches with certificate folded behind it in sleeve. Safe makes excellent products. Takes up far less room than slab.
