Many, Many albums of FDCs from from father's collection - What to do?

[newstampdude]

I have been very vigorous in sorting out my father's stamp collection. He had a passion for FDS and he has many, many, many of these (yep, my trip to Aruba is not happening).

I show 14 full albums but there are a few more. They are in great condition.

Volumewise I hope there has to be some value to these although there is not a lot of interest.

[Global Admin]

OMG -- it must be April 1 again.

FDC from WHERE???? What Era??? What condition?

It is bog basic common sense - to share some of that. Not in Iowa it seems.

[newstampdude]

ok, I'm a newbie and I hope to get a little grace here. Iowa is not a bad place to live.

[Ubobo.R.O.]

Dear Newstampdude,

Unfortunately there are many, many people in the USA with many, many albums of USA First Day Covers.

They are so cheap to purchase that even here in Australia you can buy USA First Day Covers for ten cents each.

[gavin-h]

If you add a little detail on the dates of the postmarks on the FDCs, and maybe a few random images of the FDCs as well as just the albums, I'm sure you'll get much more detailed responses.

[The Pom]

Dear Newstampdude,

Unfortunately there are many, many people in the USA with many, many albums of USA First Day Covers.

They are so cheap to purchase that even here in Australia you can buy USA First Day Covers for ten cents each.

You are assuming they're American. They could be from anywhere.

[Number-O-Ne]

You are assuming they're American. They could be from anywhere.

Unfortunately we don't know, because the original poster of the message has not shared any pictures with us.

[Brit-Col]

ok, I'm a newbie and I hope to get a little grace here. Iowa is not a bad place to live.

Happy to give you a little grace, but c’mon, if you want helpful answers you’ve got to ask specific questions. We can’t read your mind!

You showed the covers of a number of FDC albums. Does that mean you want to know about the albums themselves? (They’re worth a couple of bucks apiece.)

Or do you want to know about the FDCs inside the albums? Since you didn’t show them or describe them we have no idea what they are so how can we comment?

I’m going to guess they are mostly U.S. FDCs. If so, in general they have to be pre-1940 to have a chance at value. If they are post-1940 and if the covers are addressed they are close to worthless.

BC

[polisciguy2011]

As others have said, if these are American and post-1940, they are unfortunately likely to be a dime-a-dozen. That being said, it's worth sorting through them and posting up some more pictures. Certain cachet-makers have a vigorous following in the US and if there are any by known names in the field, they might bring a premium. The same goes for if there's anything that makes the FDC unique; for instance, I know of collectors who try to assemble FDCs signed by people related to the subject of the stamp, which brings in interest from the autograph market as well.

I suspect, based on the Mystic albums, that most of the value in these will be sentimental in bringing back memories of your father and the enjoyment he got out of them. But please give us a sampling of what's in there; there is always a chance he had a gem!

[newstampdude]

I went through 19 albums and there were close to 2500 FDCs.

Year Number CDCs

1982-98 109
1993-94 122
1994-95 131
1996-97 181
1998 133
1999 105
2000 105
2001-2002 156
2003-2004 110
2005 96
2006 97
2007 108
2008 100
2009 160
2010-11 134
2011-12 143
2011-13 161
2014-15 98
1945-98 152

- 9 were from 1945-1949
- 14 were from 1950-59
- 74 were from 1960-69
- 52 were from 1970-70
the rest were 1980 and beyond. Lots of interesting themes and well organized from year to year. Some cool themes, Star Wars, Jazz Musicians, Baseball - you name it. Nicely maintained and my dad had a lot of pride in these.

I can send stuff but it is overwhelming. Just let me know any themes you want to see!

[phrag99]

What a fabulous memorial to your father.

They are going to have very little retail value.

I would keep them for future family to view and remember.

[The Pom]

Still hasn't told us which country they're from.

[GlenStephens]

He is American - there is only

ONE country known to most of them.

[newstampdude]

US with some Canadian FDCs. A lot of Nystic Stamp stuff but a wide variety of stuff - with over 2500 you would expect that.

After my wife was looking at some of the albums, she suggested to list entries. We are trying to see if any of these have value.

[InTheGreatKhansTent]

I'll request you show us Star Wars, Dinosaurs, Cars, and whatever else that strikes your fancy so that people have images to look at.

[newstampdude]

I feel like singing the Bill Murray version of the theme song…

[norvic]

I think you need to read the tutorial on posting images, specifically rotating the phone image multiple times in order to get it to display properly.

You won't get much help until the members can see what you have without getting a crick in their necks!

[InTheGreatKhansTent]

So I checked with my Scott 2009 catalogue:

A3153 4143(a-o) - 30th Anniversary Premier of Star Wars - Scott Price $0.20 each

No value given for FDCs. If they were on the sheet instead of individually, the entire sheet would be worth $13.

I presume the rest of the FDCs are also valued at the individual stamp prices than as a FDC unless you have something else you'd like me to check.

[newstampdude]

My apologies on the formatting, I was doing this on the phone.

Once I get back from this business trip,I will send more of these in the proper format. I also believe there was a sheet of these Star Wars stamps in the collection.

[The Pom]

MODERATOR COMMENT

Hi,

As well as the issue with sideways images, please use the "Place inline" button when posting images to avoid the ugly white border with the word "Attachments" around every image.

Image tutorial: https://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=90770

[newstampdude]

Hello gang,

I returned from Chicago at the father's home, and there were 10 more albums that I forgot. Also included were an additional 600+, bringing the total well over 3000. I will be happy to take requests to send pics and promise to place them in the right format.

[InTheGreatKhansTent]

Since this is based on the US, surely you have Dinosaur FDCs?

[1piece@atime]

Personally I would just post them up for sale on Ebay. Take lots and lots of pictures and maybe divide the books up into more than one sale. Or better yet have your brother do it, so he has first hand knowledge of the sale price and the work involved.
I don't think you will get much for them, but then I don't collect this type of stuff, mostly because it takes up so much room.
Not sure about the tax advantages, with it being an estate, but donating it for a tax write-off would be another option.
When family members see the real monetary value, and have no interest in the collection, often times they just want it gone.

[newstampdude]

The shipping for 22 albums and 3600 FDCs will be outrageous. I would say 90% of these are from the 90's to 2020 and maybe I could get $200 to $300 (wishful thinking) for them.

I have no idea how to use ebay and not sure I want to go there.

[newstampdude]

Here are the some of the dinosaur FDCs and a sheet:

[gavin-h]

The shipping for 22 albums and 3600 FDCs will be outrageous. I would say 90% of these are from the 90's to 2020 and maybe I could get $200 to $300 (wishful thinking) for them.

Sadly this is the truth of the matter. The effort in time spent would not be worth the reward for dealing with such a bulky collection.

However, there's a different way of looking at this... If your dad's hobby had been fishing, all the fish would have been eaten long ago and all that's left would be a rod and a few hooks. If his hobby had been watching his favourite sports team, all the tales of great touchdowns, goals or home runs would long ago have been told and all that's left would be a shirt or scarf in the team colours.

But he chose stamp collecting as a hobby and he left a huge amount of material as his legacy, not just a couple of bits of equipment. Yes, that collection could be sold and would raise some - maybe only a little - money. But keeping that collection keeps your dad's legacy and his passion alive, there's something tangible to remember him by and there are no doubt many happy and amusing (and sometimes tearful...) tales of your dad for you to pass to the next generations of the family along with his collection.

Therein lies family history, something so precious, and something that money could never buy. So maybe, this legacy is the REAL value of what your dad has left you.

[newstampdude]

Gavin, that was beautiful and thank you for your wise perspective. My father loved the hobby and was proud of his collection and shared it with us and his granddaughters. It has been wonderful looking at this and appreciating the beauty and history of these stamps.

Unfortunately, with 40 albums of stamps, 22 albums of FDCs and 25 commemorative stamp books in the collection, and no room in the house or sufficient time bandwidth to get fully engaged in the hobby, we are looking to see who would like to take over.

[Bill H UK]

An interjection on the last two posts which may be sort of relevant, or may be off topic ...

My dad's hobby was golf. He was no great shakes at it, but he played 4 or 5 times a week and it kept him pretty healthy into his 90s.

Over 40 years or so, he accumulated a good number of little trophies for various competitions - just local affairs within the club. When he passed on, it fell to me to clear his flat. The things I found hardest were these 40 or so trophies. They meant something to him , but nothing to me , or indeed anyone else, as they were all engraved with his name..

What to do? I had no desire to keep 40 of them, and they were no value to anyone else, yet it seemed callous to just throw them in the rubbish.

In the end, after agonising for a week or two, I put aside one or two to keep and dumped the rest in the recycling. They filled a large sports bag. Sorry, dad, there was no alternative, but it hurt!

At least in your case, someone will want the stamps even if it's just a charity shop.

[polisciguy2011]

Along the lines of Bill H UK keeping some of the golf clubs, I really would suggest you select an album or set of FDCs that you find particularly attractive or interesting and saving them as a memento of your father, newstampdude. I certainly understand wanting to shift the collection, but as Gavin said before, your father took so much pride in this collection that even if you do not want to pick up his baton, it is worth keeping some around.

[stallzer]

I’d check in with these folks. I’m sure they can point you in the right direction.

https://www.afdcs.org/fdccourse.html

[Global Admin]

Can't you do that uniquely American thing of donating them to a local charity - they give you a appraisal of $1000 (or whatever) as to fair value and you claim a $1000 Tax Deduction, and they do all the work selling them?

WIN-WIN all round. Dad's stamps and FDC find a happy new home.

https://greatnonprofits.org/city/des-moines/IA

[Brit-Col]

Can't you do that uniquely American thing of donating them to a local charity - they give you a appraisal of $1000 (or whatever) as to fair value and you claim a $1000 Tax Deduction, and they do all the work selling them?

Not so long ago that was good advice but American tax law has changed and now the standard deduction for a married couple is $27,700, meaning you need more than that to make itemizing deductions worthwhile.

stallzer’s advice re: the First Day Cover Society is good. The sad reality is FDCs are not as widely collected these days as they once were.

BC