General question for the forum

I got bitten by the coin bug as a kid. I outgrew it playing sports and discovering the fairer sex. I also collected stamps, is that still a thing at all, or some forgotten ritual? I have tons of sheets of newly minted stamps tucked away that I have not even looked at in 2 decades. Does anyone still even do that? I'm still not interested in the least at that now. lol However, I remember when I was quite young it was "a thing".

 

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It was a thing for sure...did both as a kid. And like you, I still have the stamps...but not the current interest to invest any time in figuring out what I have.

 

Stamp collecting is basically out due to self stick stamps but there is a small number of people that still collect stamps. I have my collection and the majority of them, even back to the 1930’s, is worth face value.

 

Went to the ANA in 2021 Rosemont. Next floor up was a stamp show.
Checked it out. Approximately 50 dealers. My guess, 250 customers.
Saw a lot of nice Zepps and really nice pre Scott 50's. Like coin shows
I was one of the youngsters, I'm 65. There were a few kids,15 and
younger. All of the dealers were very friendly, unlike some of the ANA
dealers. I did buy a bunch of Hungarian stamps for my grand son. My
advice would be to find a forum like Coin Talk, but for stamps. There's
a lot more going on in stamp collecting then you think.

 

LOL. I'm 67. And I'm not going back in time. Like I said, I have zero interest in stamps now. I would liquidate the entire thing for a couple of nice rare date Morgans in mint state.

 

It seems stamp collecting has declined. In fact, some coin dealers use common older postage to mail packages with, though it takes tons of them. I collected stamps as well, first day covers specifically. But I never picked it back up after graduating collect like I did coin collecting.

 

I used to design my own envelopes for 1st day of issue submissions. Some of them are Saturday Night Live worthy embarrassments. Hilarious!! I still have them.

 

While not as popular as coin collecting there is a lot of stuff going on in the world of stamp collecting. Here is a link to the website of Professional Stamp Experts. They offer information on values and population. They no longer do encapsulation of stamps. https://www.gradingmatters.com/

Currently, I have a very small stamp collection of less than a dozen stamps. I am focusing on three issues: Trans Mississippi, Panama Pacific, and Pan American. Plus I also have some early airmail issues. I recently purchased my first Zep. My interest in stamps is because of the tie ins to areas of history in which I have an interest.

 

I was always a fan of the back of the book stamps, especially the revenue issues.

 

I want a Babe Ruth stamp. I like girl stamp too. P.s. I like the purple 3 cent Liberty stamp also

 

I'm old AF now. My grandfather was a Postmaster at one time. He gave me a sheet of Dag Hammarskjöld inverted issues a long time ago. I don't think they are really worth anything, but they were interesting.

 

This should tell why people are no longer interested in stamp collecting.

I started stamp collecting in 1948 at the same time I started coin collecting. I quit when the USPS started issuing wallpaper (too many stamps). I am including here a summary of the issues:
USPS Stamp Issues. The first two lines represent about 50 years each. The following lines are by decades.

1847 to 1899 293
1900 to 1949 693
1950 to 1959 152
1960 to 1969 247
1970 to 1979 408
1980 to 1989 643
1990 to 1999 931
2000 to 2009 1065

My collection consists of about 90% of the US issues. I am also attaching photos of my albums lying flat. The first album is 1847 to 1975. The second is 1976 to 1995. The third is 1996 to 2002, when I quit.

The US Mint is trying to catch up with USPS and I quit new coins also.

 

When something becomes "not scarce", it's no longer interesting or collectable. I agree.

 

If that’s a yellow stamp with buildings it’s only worth face value.

 

I haven't looked at that sheet in 15 years. I don't remember. I read that the Postmaster General ordered the error sheets reprinted in the millions to prevent them from being worth squat.

 

I have a few sheets of stamps from a delinquent storage locker.
All the ones I bought and collected I gave to a family friend that collected stamps and coins.

One of my sheets is the Elvis 29 cent if I recall.
They made so many of them that they will never be worth anything over face value unless I find that ONE Elvis collector.

 

That sounds like it.

 

I was in Memphis the 1st day of issue of the Elvis stamp. Must have bought $400.00 dollars worth of them. Got them canceled at Graceland, Memphis Main Post Office, Whitehaven Post Office - then drove to Tupelo MS and got them canceled there. I got some of the stamps canceled 4 different times. Heck the PO didn't care. You could take a stamp - lick it - stick it to your butt and they would cancel it. I have no idea where any of them are now.

 

I have an envelope full of stamps and like most of you, not much interest in going through them and organizing or seeing what I have, though I will eventually I suppose. I know there's some older 1 and 2 cents in there but I doubt I have anything of much value.

 

I have some 2023 Christmas Stamps. Since there "forever" stamps the value will keep increasing every time the government raises stamp prices