I recently saw a superb collection where the collector needed our advice and a detailed valuation for insurance purposes. What struck me was that this savvy collector had no real philatelic contact beyond his 45 albums. He wasn’t a member of a local stamp club, rarely visited fairs & didn’t really have a dealer that he could rely upon. He had bought from the usual mail bid sources, made mistakes from buying from online sites & occasionally went to auction. But, because of the discipline of collecting just one topic he has amassed a magnificent collection.
Proceedings got to the point of value, the wonga, how much is my collection worth. I fished to see what this collector thought he saw in these 45 volumes and what he considered he had spent over 25 years of collecting.
We got to the figures… he thought (for the insurance policy) that the collection was worth £5k to replace, I nearly dropped my tweezers when I informed him to insure the lot for £22k ( the figure to replace the collection) and told him to sell the collection to a dealer for no less than £10k.
Over the years this collector failed to draw on the many resources out there. I think joining a local stamp society or club opens doors to seeing just how to present a collection, talk to like minded contemporises about where they buy their stamps & which dealers they trust & use, go to a public auction and see the state of the market & only work with professional philatelists. Have some fun on the internet as I know bargains are to be had there. But just be careful as I have seen some nightmares online.
Philangles will always be on hand to you if you need any philatelic help.
Wishing you all the best.
Simon Carson and all at Philangles.
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