Growing up I always knew that my Grandfather had a large stamp collection. When I was little my Grandmother would take me to their house and I would help soak used stamps in water to loosen them from the envelopes. Even then I saw stamps as something different than anything else. Not only could they tell a story over time, they had meaning and were beautiful.
My Grandfather passed in 1992, but it wasn't until last year that I finally picked up the stamp collection from my Grandmom's house to start going through them. I had no idea what I was getting into at the time, and had no idea just how passionate my Grandfather was with his hobby. There are literally tens of thousands of stamps from all over the world. Many are categorized in albums, others are loose in boxes, some are in binders with scott numbers below them. I found some that were still not removed from letters. There were also newer stamps that my grandmom had continued to collect even after my grandfather died. They were mostly ones that she thought were pretty or different from a regular stamp.
My Grandmother passed in January of this year. She was 97. My wife and I were married in June of 2010 - this is the last family gathering she attended. Before she died she told me that there were still a couple boxes of stamps at her house that she found and that I should pick up.
Until yesterday I hadn't picked up those other stamps. I quickly skimmed through the boxes and came upon an envelope with loose stamps, many of which were cut from envelopes. They were newer than anything else in the boxes. I found this stamp, which was from our wedding invitation. While I'm sure there are stamps that are valuable in the collection, this is the most valuable to me.
My Grandfather passed in 1992, but it wasn't until last year that I finally picked up the stamp collection from my Grandmom's house to start going through them. I had no idea what I was getting into at the time, and had no idea just how passionate my Grandfather was with his hobby. There are literally tens of thousands of stamps from all over the world. Many are categorized in albums, others are loose in boxes, some are in binders with scott numbers below them. I found some that were still not removed from letters. There were also newer stamps that my grandmom had continued to collect even after my grandfather died. They were mostly ones that she thought were pretty or different from a regular stamp.
My Grandmother passed in January of this year. She was 97. My wife and I were married in June of 2010 - this is the last family gathering she attended. Before she died she told me that there were still a couple boxes of stamps at her house that she found and that I should pick up.
Until yesterday I hadn't picked up those other stamps. I quickly skimmed through the boxes and came upon an envelope with loose stamps, many of which were cut from envelopes. They were newer than anything else in the boxes. I found this stamp, which was from our wedding invitation. While I'm sure there are stamps that are valuable in the collection, this is the most valuable to me.