Release: AUGUST 5, 2022
It will come as good news that a substantial number of people are sitting on collectibles worth far more than they ever thought possible – the kinds you don’t see on Antiques Roadshow. To profit you may only need to examine more closely what you already have.
Case in point: a few years ago, a woman named Dorothy asked me to look through some small envelopes containing coins and change her husband had owned. She was sure there weren’t any rarities in the mix but hoped one or two might be worth more than their face value....
Tucked in the yellowed envelopes were old buffalo nickels, a few vintage dimes and a dozen or so Indian Head pennies – the kind kids still found in their change in the 1960s. As I looked through them, I noticed one of the pennies was from 1891. It’s not a rare date. Over 47 million were produced that year. This one, though was particularly nice – clearly uncirculated with a nice, red original luster. Somehow it had survived unscathed thanks to that tattered little envelope.
In average, circulated grades, Dorothy’s coin would be worth only a dollar or two. I sent if off for grading. It came back MS-66 (“Mint State” 66 out of 70.). We ended up selling her penny for $1,700. Today, it’s listed as being worth north of $3,000. So, what if Dorothy hadn’t wondered, “what if?”
Equally staggering are some of the stamps in those long-forgotten stamp albums many kids or scouts put together. Based on my lowly collection and those of my young friends, most of the stamps we had in our albums were nothing special.
A well-centered stamp has always been more attractive and costly. That’s human nature. We admire symmetry. Still, as a kid, the more precise centering rarely seemed worth it, particularly for common stamps. Being so cavalier then may have been a big mistake given the situation today.
Similar to coins, baseball cards and other popular collectibles, stamps have evolved into items with precise grading standards. The philatelic grading scale goes from “1” (really lousy) to “100” (absolute perfection). People pay for the best. The higher the grade, the higher the value. Sometimes astronomically so. The little bit more those stamps might have cost decades ago can now translate into hundreds or even thousands of extra dollars. If they have jumbo margins, more still. Some are sure to be hiding in those countless forgotten stamp albums stashed in closets.
A great example is a five-cent stamp issued commemorating the 1928 National Aeronautics Conference in Washington, DC. That was a big deal. Human flight was still an amazing new phenomenon so the honor was justified. The conference and stamp celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Wright Brother’s first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
The blue, five-cent stamp featured a Lindbergh-esque mono-plane flying in front a giant globe between the Washington Monument and the US Capitol. Over 10 million were printed so the stamps were not rare. Even today, the catalog value for one is just $4.50. If the gum on the reverse is “never hinged” and in great shape, add another dollar. Of course, no one pays the catalog price for such a common stamp. Most dealers would sell it for $2.50 at most.
Collectors know that printing and perforating technology back then was nowhere as advanced as it is today. Until around 1960, well-centered stamps were the anomaly, not the norm. Most stamps were slightly or substantially off-center. For common stamps, most collectors just didn’t care.
Last week, an example of that lowly five-cent aeronautical stamp was listed for sale by a major, recognized national dealer. It had been graded “100” by an independent certification firm. Only four other from that issue have been graded that high. It also had huge margins so it was classified as “jumbo.” The price tag on that stamp was $615 – almost 14,000 percent above today’s catalog value.
The kicker is, this isn’t an isolated example. More and more relatively common and seemingly low-value stamps are being uncovered in childhood collections, submitted for grading and adjudicated much higher than owners might imagine. It’s certainly worth taking a closer look in that forgotten album or old yellowed envelope.
For more collecting advice, visit www.PRexford.com