Welcome to the Stamp Collectors Community! Ask stamp collecting questions like identification, values, and more. If you have questions regarding buying and selling in the Stamp Collectors Stamp Shop part of our website, visit our main Support page.
By participating in this community, you agree to all of the community guidelines and policies.
Hello –
I purchased a shoe box of old stamps here in Athens AL and wanted to see if any of these stand out as rare or valuable.
Take a look at the photos.
Thank you!
TC_Athens
I have many (if not all) of these and multiple ones. All I can say is don’t quit your day job 🙂 Just enjoy the stamps. BTW bought similar ones also – not in a shoe box but cigar box…(paid $10) at an estate sale in Georgia…
While some of these are over 100 years old, they are all common and have no monetary value unless graded. That said I agree with @rsb_stamps to enjoy them and possibly allow them to grow your curiosity into the hobby and learn more! Oh and the ones with the horizontal black bars and city names are called pre-cancels and they were used by businesses which allowed them to put mail into the delivery route without needing to go through the cancellation process.
APS Stamp Dealer #224675
I notice you have numerous Precancels.
These are the stamps with the City & States emblazoned between two black bars.
I personally seek such items out in an attempt to complete a State’s run. Some States are well into the hundreds of varieties when considering font size and type, inverts, single or double bars, etc.
Check out this link if you are interested…
There are quite a few individuals who solely delve into this facet of Philately.
Have fun collecting.
Jan M. Blaha
APS# 238933
