Where do I go from here.

[africanrefugee 10]

I am 50+ years old with a collection (box with stamps and FDC's in) which I started when I was about 15 years old. I have not collected actively for years but got involved as my uncle collected at the time. Basically I have numerous Rhodesian, Zimbabwean, RSA, Baputaswana, & Ciski FDC's along with numerous Polish, British, South African, and Rhodesian stamps. With some of the Zim FDC's I have more than 4ea along with mint and Franked stamps of the same issue. I have never catalogued or sorted the stamps as it was to be done sometime when I had the urge and time. I am now moving to the UK and do not intend to take any of my 'stuff' with me. Firstly I need to know what everything is worth, and secondly would it be worthwile to take my stamps with me and sort them out and put them on E-Bay.

 

Any advice gratefully accepted. I can be contacted on Deleted

 

Many thanks.

[Kit W 10]

Hi Africanrefugee

Welcome to the Forum. As far as your collection is concerned, you will have to give a more detailed description of the items you have or, better still, scan some items and post the links o that we can advise you on what to do. How have you stored the items over the past years? What is the overall condition of the colection? I suggest that you look at similar items listed on BoB and make a decision

 

Regards

 

Kit W

[africanrefugee 10]

Kit,

 

I have been a very poor custodian of the collection over the years with no real interest or motivation shown. Basically as a teenager I had an interest and made an effort (on an immature/amature scale) but as the years went by, along with the busy life of raising a family, everything was shoved in a box and forgotton about. They were dragged from house to house over the years. Fortunately nearly all my FDC from the Philatellic Bureau in Zim were never opened so are now in good condition. I was registered with them and they advised me of new issues which I religiously purchased, usually purchasing about 3 or 4 of each issue, along with 2 to 4 sets of complete sets of mint and the same of cancelled stamps in the FDC set. My FDC's aquired from my mother collecting for me are possibly not in such mint condition (checking on them now) but still very good. Since this posting I have decided that at minimum I should open the unopened envelopes containing the FDC'c and record what I have along with numbers, the cancelled and mint stamps in the sets etc. I will have to arrange some better form of storage whilst this is done. Unfortunately this is a large task. Worse still is the boxes of general stamps that have been collected over the years. Corrently living on the KZN South Coast for the past 7,5 years has had a negative effect on these along with my early albums, which show signs of slight mould, The stamps however appear OK so at least they have been spared. Its an overwhelming task that to sort out will require many hours. The FDC's however should be less of a problem but I do not have a clue how they should stored or shown off. I do believe that they do have a value and should be preserved.

 

Once again I would appreciate any advice.

[seahorsefanatic 10]

Hi Africanrefugee

 

You have potentially a great hobby lying in front of you but like everybody else, you also have a 24 hour day. What with family, work etc you will need to decide whether you can make time for your collection or not.

 

By the sounds of what you have and the current economic climate, it would be better to hang on to what you have and manage the material by identifying where the value is in your collection.

 

The most important hurdle you have is that Southcoast humidity. I was down 3 weeks ago in a pothole called Southbroom. The humidity freaked me out and I longed to get back to the dry air of JHB.

 

Other than the humidity, you will also need to keep an eye out for bugs ( fishmonths, etc ) I sometimes use bars of plain soap in boxes or mothballs to fend off any potential visitors to the boxes. Soap may not be an option due to your high humidity. Maybe collectors from the coastal areas can come up with other ideas for you.

 

The covers that you store in FDC albums will also need consideration. Some FDC albums have inferior plastic which causes the covers to stick to the plastic thus turning your cover into worthless paper.

 

Good luck in what you decide to do. :cool: