I've been coin collecting for quite a while which has sprung an inspiration to do another collection of post cards. I have a few already from some old thrifties but do you guys believe that this side hobby is a good or just waste of money idea to expand upon?
Sir PFPchangesalot. (I am very indecisive in what I want as one)
I've been coin collecting for quite a while which has sprung an inspiration to do another collection of post cards. I have a few already from some old thrifties but do you guys believe that this side hobby is a good or just waste of money idea to expand upon?
Postal cards (or postal stationery - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_card ) is something philatelists (stamp collectors) collect and postcards ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcard ) is something else. Postal cards usually has an imprinted postage stamp on the obverse side and postcards usually have something depicted on the reverse side.
I've been coin collecting for quite a while which has sprung an inspiration to do another collection of post cards. I have a few already from some old thrifties but do you guys believe that this side hobby is a good or just waste of money idea to expand upon?
Postal cards (or postal stationery - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_card ) is something philatelists (stamp collectors) collect and postcards ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcard ) is something else. Postal cards usually has an imprinted postage stamp on the obverse side and postcards usually have something depicted on the reverse side.
Do you think this hobby is worth it or not?
Sir PFPchangesalot. (I am very indecisive in what I want as one)
Depends or how you define “worth it.” To me coin collecting is worth it because I get great enjoyment out of spending time doing it even though my collection will never be worth the money I spend on it. On the other hand, my son collects high value liquor because he hope to sell them in the future for a large profit, not because he particularly enjoys the time he spend doing it.
My wife belongs to an online group called Postcrossing – www.postcrossing.com. She sends and receives postcards all throughout the world. It's cheaper than sending coins (about $1.65 to send outside the US and about $0.70 to send inside the US.
If you like getting the new postcards, definitely go for it.
We've also been to a postcard and paper show where people sell vintage postcards and new postcards you can sell. Look for something similar in your area.
I collect postcards but there's no money in it if that's your question. I think it's like most hobbies where some pieces from WWII and earlier can have some value to some collectors, but most anything after WWII was produced in mass quantity and no obvious value.
I have recently seen vintage postcards at a couple coin shows. So there is some overlap with our hobby and philataley. One was at a small monthly show in Dedham, Mass that was 50% coins and 50% stamps. The other was at a lage show in Manchester New Hampshire. So the collectors are out there.
I've picked up some vintage postcards at used bookshops and antique shops etc, just whatever catches my eye, plus I still send postcards from my travels. Harder as the years go by, fewer and fewer shops sell postcards and it can be hard to find a PO in some countries. Once stood in line for an hour in Italy to send my cards. It was like the DMV, had to get a number and all that... In Egypt the lines were unbearable so I paid people to send my cards for me a couple times so I wouldnt have to wait (they offered to help me and both times my cards got delivered!).
I also still use old stamps on my postcards and letters. I have a big stack of vintage stamps (70s and 80s etc) and love slapping them all over my cards!
Anyway, collect postcards if you like them. You won't get rich but its a fun hobby.
PS: I checked out postcrossing.com some years ago, but never used them. Its a very cool website!
Collecting postcards is interesting, especially vintage postcards (prior to WWII). My postcard collection is dormant though, haven't actively purchased items for years. There are thousands of them in my collection, which is mainly about an European capital where I love to spend vacations.
Postcrossing is not for me. First of all, it has become very expensive to send mail. Secondly, I don't like when the sender affixes more than one postage stamp to the postcard (I am a philatelist as well). Postage stamps are normally issued with nominals that corresponds to a specific postage rate. And then of course, the stamps and their perforations has to be immaculate, which is not the case with some senders. I tend to do what I preach when it comes to sending mail.
On a more positive note, modern postcards with a single postage stamp in good condition is actually hard to come by, and there are collectors willing to pay a premium for those.
If you collect stamps (used and canceled), old postcards you can get at shows are a good way to get them. I recently purchased a bunch of old postcards with stamps from Hungary, Poland and other European nations from the seller's quarter bin. Not for the cards but for the stamps, so my wife can send them to other collectors.
If you collect stamps (used and canceled), old postcards you can get at shows are a good way to get them. I recently purchased a bunch of old postcards with stamps from Hungary, Poland and other European nations from the seller's quarter bin. Not for the cards but for the stamps, so my wife can send them to other collectors.
As mentioned in my previous post: “Postage stamps are normally issued with nominals that corresponds to a specific postage rate.”
Postage stamps issued for the specific postcard rate may have a higher value when they are still affixed to the postcard. As a philatelist (as opposed to a stamp collector) I collect postage stamps on piece - may it be postcard or cover. It would be a shame to cut the cards not knowing their real value.
Edit: An example of a US postcard that I would never cut, even though I have no idea as to the value of the postcard, but because I suspect the postmark most likely is hard to find:
I collect stamps because they're a form of payment along with coins, banknotes, cheques, bills of exchange, etc.
Once in a while I bid on postcards and postal cards, especially if they have a (modest) historical value. For example, this 1909 postcard sent from Paris, France:
If you google both Curtis for his pioneering flying ventures and Cook for his reaching the North Pole (which was a much more controversial claim compared to the reaching of the South Pole), you can easily spend a couple of hours on this…
Here is a postal card sent from Austria on May 16th 1938:
As the sender explains, both German and Austrian stamps could be used together for a short time. Why? This was sent two months after the annexation of Austria to the Nazi state, so the sender, on a trip to Austria, took the opportunity to send a postal card to a French friend, “retraité des Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones”. I haven't yet checked when the deadline was until all sendings had to be in Deutschmark stamps. I haven't checked either whether I can trace the Monsieur H. Fromentin to whom the card was sent.
Even without collecting postcards or stamps, these two items are, IMHO, quite interesting. They cost me only a few dollars each on eBay.
Here is a postal card sent from Austria on May 16th 1938:
As the sender explains, both German and Austrian stamps could be used together for a short time. Why? This was sent two months after the annexation of Austria to the Nazi state, so the sender, on a trip to Austria, took the opportunity to send a postal card to a French friend, “retraité des Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones”. I haven't yet checked when the deadline was until all sendings had to be in Deutschmark stamps.
The annexation of Austria by the German Reich took place on 13 March 1938 and from 1 April 1938 the accounting of the post office was prescribed in Reichsmarks. The conversion is made at the rate of 1.5 schillings = 1 Reichsmark and it had to be rounded commercially.
From 4 April 1938 the use of stamps of the German Reich in the Ostmark, as Austria was then called, was permitted. In the period from 4 April 1938 to 31 July 1938, the postal tariffs of the former Austria and the German Reich were temporarily combined. In some cases, this led to politically desired lower postage rates. For example, the price of a simple long-distance letter had fallen from 24 groschen (=16 Rpf.) to 12 Rpf.
From 1 August 1938 the postal charges of the German Reich were valid and the Austrian groschen stamps were valid until 31 October 1938.
If you collect stamps (used and canceled), old postcards you can get at shows are a good way to get them. I recently purchased a bunch of old postcards with stamps from Hungary, Poland and other European nations from the seller's quarter bin. Not for the cards but for the stamps, so my wife can send them to other collectors.
As mentioned in my previous post: “Postage stamps are normally issued with nominals that corresponds to a specific postage rate.”
Postage stamps issued for the specific postcard rate may have a higher value when they are still affixed to the postcard. As a philatelist (as opposed to a stamp collector) I collect postage stamps on piece - may it be postcard or cover. It would be a shame to cut the cards not knowing their real value.
Edit: An example of a US postcard that I would never cut, even though I have no idea as to the value of the postcard, but because I suspect the postmark most likely is hard to find:
Thank you P100. I will keep this in my while postcard hunting. When I find a postcard with a stamp, I will resolve to keep them together.
If you collect stamps (used and canceled), old postcards you can get at shows are a good way to get them. I recently purchased a bunch of old postcards with stamps from Hungary, Poland and other European nations from the seller's quarter bin. Not for the cards but for the stamps, so my wife can send them to other collectors.
As mentioned in my previous post: “Postage stamps are normally issued with nominals that corresponds to a specific postage rate.”
Postage stamps issued for the specific postcard rate may have a higher value when they are still affixed to the postcard. As a philatelist (as opposed to a stamp collector) I collect postage stamps on piece - may it be postcard or cover. It would be a shame to cut the cards not knowing their real value.
Edit: An example of a US postcard that I would never cut, even though I have no idea as to the value of the postcard, but because I suspect the postmark most likely is hard to find:
Thank you P100. I will keep this in my while postcard hunting. When I find a postcard with a stamp, I will resolve to keep them together.
Very good. 🙂
The best advise I can give to those who want to find used postage stamp to send to other collectors is to buy something called kiloware. The word says kilo, but it means that you buy used postage stamps still on paper by weight. Kiloware is mainly made of business mail that was received by some large company or organization. It was mostly collectors or stamp dealers who made kiloware and they made it from substantial numbers of covers from the same recipient.
In the late 90s I also had such a deal with a company that received a lot of mail from subscribers - perhaps a large mail sack once a week. Only the covers, no content, and most of the covers were quite uniform with the same standard postage stamps. That's the ones that were cut.
Today, it's difficult to find such quantity of mail with one recipient since most businesses have digitalized their workflow. Which also makes it harder to find covers that were actually expedited by the postal service. Some modern covers (the last 10-15 years) can be sold at a price around nominal or even higher in some cases.
