How much is my Mint Stamp Worth?


Mint Stamp is referred to, in philately, as a postage stamp which is unused, unmounted with a full gum (if issued with a gum). James Mackay, a professional philatelist and novelist, defined a mint stamp as being in its original state. In practice, many collectors refer to mint stamp as any stamp which has not been in use and therefore has never been cancelled, even it is has been mounted or does not have a full gum.
The term mint applies both to postage stamps and revenue stamps. Postage stamps are strictly for postage usage and revenue or tax stamps are stamped on tax collection documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, hunting licenses and different legal documents.
Hinges are small strips of gummed paper used to mount postage stamps in albums. Stamps which have not had hinges applied to them are classed as "unmounted." Stamps which have been mounted are referred to as mint stamp which have been hinged. A stamp can also be in a mint condition despite its condition as long as it was not in use.
There several common variations of the term Mint to describe the condition of the stamp:
Mint hinged (MH) - the stamp is unused but has been previously hinged. Remains of the hinge or gum disturbance are visible.
Mounted mint (MM) - the same as Mint hinged.
Mint no gum (MNG) - the stamp appears to be unused but has no gum. It might have been used but not cancelled, or have been issued without gum.
Unmounted mint (UM) - the stamp is unused and has never been mounted.
Mint never hinged (MNH) - the same as unmounted mint but with an assertion that the stamp is not a formerly mounted stamp that has been tampered with to remove traces of mounting.
The value of a mint stamp is usually higher than a used stamp because of its rarity and as often it is in a better condition. As a result, some sellers try to forge cancellations. However, this is not a general rule as the value at the end of day depends on several factors such the stamp condition and its supply and demand. There are cases where used stamps are more valuable where a large number of specific mint stamps are available. Countries often print a high volume of mint stamps more than their actual postage needs for collectors, as it is a good source of income for the postal office.
In general, it is important to maintain your mint stamps in an excellent condition, to keep its value. Organizing your stamps in a stock book, a stamp album or in an individual glass mount is a must. There are many stamps price guides which can assist with evaluating your mint stamps collection. The more known ones are Michel, Scott, Stanley Gibbons, Yvert et Tellier. Some of these guides provide online services as well.
Use the value given as a guideline and it is advised to review several price guides to receive a more accurate value for your stamp. 
Collectors usually buy mint stamps through dealers, auction websites and at the postage office. If you wish to sell your mint stamps it is important to know that dealers will demand their commission. Thus, it may be more lucrative to try and sell your mint stamps directly to buyers online in an auction website for collectors.


About the Author:
One of the great sources to your mint stamps collecting activity is http://www.coollectors.com where you can buy, sell, exchange and catalog your mint stamps collection or simply review collections of other collectors. You can also become a member of the site growing community; connect with other similar collectors, exchange mint stamps and ideas.


A Swiss Mint Stamp 

Today's Collectors Focus: Valuation of Antiques:

An antique is a collectible item which is usually attractive to collectors because of its age, rarity, craftsmanship and any other unique features or a subjective appealing to a specific collector.

It is common to relate to a collectible as an antique with it being at least hundred years old. Thus, the US customs office considers as an antique any object which is older than hundred years old. This is also the common reference to an antique by the CINOA which is the largest antique dealers association representing five thousands dealers from more than twenty countries.

Referring to the valuation of antiques, it is often difficult to value antiques as they could be one of kind piece which cannot be comparable with any other item. More over, the only true value of an antique is the price which a specific buyer is willing to pay for the specific item at a certain time. However, some guidelines and tools can be summarized of how one could valuate a specific antique.

One tool which can assist with the value of an antique is if it is a genuine or a reproduction item and if it is accompanied by a certification of authentication. Nevertheless, the authentication of the certificates themselves should be determined as they can easily be forged. One example is of the son of Han van Meegeren, whom forged the work of his father and provided a certificate for its provenance as well.  

Another tool to valuate a specific item is to look for similar items and their recorded average selling price in online auctions sites and auction houses. Some books and price guides which can be found in book stores and local libraries can also give a good indication of the appropriate pricing based on similar items.

Another option is to assist with professional antiques appraisers whom can write a written appraisal to give an idea of what the item is worth. These services are also available today at online dedicated sites.

It should be noted that an antique dealer would expect to pay a wholesale price of an item which is approximately one half of what one could get by selling the item directly to a collector which can be a longer process but a lucrative one.

Reproduction of Auguste Rodin Bronze Statue:   

Today’s Collectors Focus: The Dominion of Canada Period - The Queen Victoria Stamps Series: 

Looking back at the postal history of Canada, there are several major periods: the French control period dated 1604 to 1763, the British control period dated 1763 to 1841, the colonial government control period dated 1841to 1867, and the Dominion of Canada period, since 1867. 

The dominion era contains some of rarest stamps in Canada and is known for many of its famous issues: The Pence issue, the First cents issue, the Large Queen issue, the Small Queen issue, the Diamond Jubilee issue, the Queen Victoria Maple Leaf issue, the Queen Victoria Numeral issue, the Imperial Penny postage, the Provisional issues, and King Edward VII. Our focus today is on the Victorian dominion stamps. 

With the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, the different colonies each of which had their own stamps were assembled together and new stamps for the whole Canada were released known as the “Large Queens” stamps, featuring a profile of Queen Victoria, based on an engraving by Charles Henry Jeens. These set of the Victorian stamps ranged in value from half cent to fifteen cents. 

Printed in 1868 and not discovered until 1925, the two cents Large Queen on laid paper is actually today the rarest postage stamp of Canada, so far only two are known to exist. 

In order to be able to produce larger number of stamps, the Large Queens had a relatively short life, and were replaced in1870 by the "Small Queens", smaller stamps of the same basic designs. The Small Queens came in a number of printings between 1870 and 1897. 

In 1897 the first commemorative stamps of Canada were released celebrating the 60th year of Queen Victoria and the 30th year of confederation. The design was a side-by-side of the Chalon vignette of the young and included 16 denominations ranging from half cents to five dollars. 

In this year additional releases included the Maple Leaf Issue, regular stamps with the central design based on a Jubilee portrait for Victoria, with maple leaves in each corner. Successive design replaced the lower leaves with numerals of value.

Queen Victoria 1 Cent - 1870 for Sale @ http://www.coollectors.com/item/107608

  

Enjoy Coollectors New Bulk Lister!

Do you have many items and want to list them simultaneously at Coollectors with a press of a button ?

Enjoy Coollectors New Bulk Lister tool, it's Easy and it's Free!

We are making great efforts to make your experience on Coollectors a friendly one.

This is why, we have developed the Coollectors Bulk Lister tool to help you list multi items at the same time. 

All you need to do, is to download the CSV file in the Bulk Lister page, fill it with your items' details and upload it using the upload button in the Bulk Lister page. Please note that you can upload pictures for your CSV file at Coollectors Picture Uploader.


We suggest that before you fill in the form and upload the file, review the "Add New Item" form on the site and review the Bulk Lister Help section to understand better the different fields in the form.  


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