Stamp Collecting (Philately)

This is a common stamp which is easily obtainable. No stamp in good condition is worthless to a collector.

Mint US stamps are always worth their face value if one can find use for them for postage.

The minimum retail price for single stamps varies with the dealer but is around 15 to 25 cents.

Common mint stamps retail for about twice face if this is more than the minimum.

As for selling common stamps-- dealers do not buy them one at a time. They get them by buying collections or accumulations of thousands of

stamps. They usually have all the common stamps they can sell because they get them along with the scarcer stamps.

Most of these are very very common. If it pictures the statue of liberty or Thomas Jefferson, it is not at all valuable

If it has something else on it, it may have some value as a collectible.

Washington has had dozens and dozens of stamps issued in his honor. Without a better identification, it would be hard to know what the value may be.

You need to fully identify the stamp, including knowing the catalog number, perforations, watermarks, condition and other factors. If you look it up in the catalog there is a price listed. That price is what a buyer should expect to pay a dealer for the stamp. If you are selling, you should consider yourself lucky if you get half that amount. Look for special markings. Stamps on envelopes can be worth more, particularly with picture cancellations, First Day Cancellations and special locations. Find a philatelist and ask for more information!

12 stamps (a dozen means 12)

Identify the stamp using a catalog. This may involve learning about perforations, watermarks and colors as well as condition. The catalog will provide a value. The value is what a collector could expect to pay for a stamp in fine/very fine condition. If selling, most cases you would be lucky to get 75% of the catalog, unless it is very valuable, then an auction would be worth looking into. The most common American catalog for identification is Scott's. Others are Stanley Gibbons, Minkus and even the US Postal Service Catalog of stamps.

FDR appeared on a 3-center as part of a memorial set for him soon after he died. He died in 1945; the stamp appeared in 1945 or 1946. The same set had stamps of 1 cent, 2 cent, and 5 cent denominations, all with the same portrait, but different scenes related to his life .

I am pretty sure that Theodore Roosevelt never was on a 3 cent stamp.

Scott number 1503 has a catalog value of 40 cents in mint condition.

Diana and Charles were a popular topic for postage stamps from many countries. You will need to consult the catalogs and do some research. There are lots of stamps issued and they vary in value from almost nothing to some nice values.

Most libraries will have a copy of Scott's Postage Stamp Catalog of the World. First of all, you have to identify the specific stamp or card. That in itself can be a daunting task, but most of the catalogs are well illustrated with lots of information. Once you know what item you have, the catalog will provide a set of prices that can be used to estimate value.

Diana and Charles were a popular topic for postage stamps from many countries. You will need to consult the catalogs and do some research. There are lots of stamps issued and they vary in value from almost nothing to some nice values.

Most libraries will have a copy of Scott's Postage Stamp Catalog of the World. First of all, you have to identify the specific stamp or card. That in itself can be a daunting task, but most of the catalogs are well illustrated with lots of information. Once you know what item you have, the catalog will provide a set of prices that can be used to estimate value.

If you mean the purple 3-cent Jefferson stamp which came out in 1938, the answer is

about 20 cents retail , mint or used , if it is in excellent condition. This stamp was very widely used for many years and billions were printed, It is still quite common.

Having said it is not worth much, I have to admit that I read that somebody paid $100+ for the

highest graded version of this stamp- possibly the best copy in existence, although I expect that there are many copies just as good.

This is part of the Washington bicentennial issue of 1932. A dealer would charge

10 to 25 cents for it , mint or used.

{| |- | Scott Number 1205. The stamp was issued for the Christman season in 1962. It pictured a wreath and some candles. There have been Seasonal issues ever since, usually one the has a religious them and one that has a holiday theme. |}

Scott Number 1113-16

Series of 4 stamps issued to commemorate the Lincoln sesquicentennial. Minimal value for this stamp indicates that the cost is in packaging and tracking and not the stamp itself. A dealer isn't going to be interested in purchasing a single copy. You would be better to use it for postage rather than trying to sell it. Or trade with another collector!

The first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was invented by Sir Rowland Hill, a British postal reformer.

The One Penny Black, the first postage stamp.

If the question is about a single stamp, then Sweden's 1855 Three Skilling Banco printed in Yellow (Error of Color) is the rarest and most expensive stamp ever sold to date. Normally printed in green, only one instance of a yellow variety of this stamp was ever found. It turned up in 1885 some 30 years after it was issued. It was printed with the ink meant for the 8 skilling banco of the same set. It seems likely that a 3 skilling die was used to replace a broken 8 skilling die and when the error was caught by the pressman, one or more of the sheets failed to be destroyed. But even if more than 1 copy were ever released, no second copy has ever been found. From this period some 95 percent of all stamps issued were never saved, therefore it is conceivable that there may have been more copies released which were used and then trashed by the recipiant. In 1996 the one and only known copy of the stamp sold at auction for $2.27 million USD.

However, the most expensive single stamp collector's item ever sold is actually a cover with two different rare stamps tied together onto the one cover. In 1847 the British colony of Mauritius printed only 500 examples each of its first two stamps with respective face values of 1d and 2d. In total fewer than 30 of these very rare stamps survive today. In 1993 one cover with both the 1d and the 2d stamps attached side by side and tied together with a single cancelation mark sold for $3.8 million USD, the highest price ever paid for a stamp collecting item

Unaddressed and cacheted? 25 cents.

Otherwise it is worthless

the world's first stamp, the Penny Black, was put on sale on 1 May, to be valid as of 6 May 1840

This stamp is a interesting US commemorative stamp, issued as a memorial to FDR, who died shortly before it came out, Since it only cost 1 cent, millions were sold and it is still common. If it is mint, I would not use as postage even though it is worth no more than one cent except to a young collector who needs it for his collection. A dealer would probably charge him 15 to 25 cents for one, so you might be able to get that if you find such a collector. Otherwise, keep it in your stamp collection for your children or yourself when you have more time. If you have more than one, you may be able to trade it for stamps of similar value. .

Most stamps will show the value of the stamp somewhere on the design.

There are two stamps fitting that description, both blue. The more recent was issued on 2 December 1954 and American collectors call it Scott number 1038. It shows President Monroe nearly full face. The earlier was issued 21 July 1938 and American collectors call it Scott number 810. Its portrait is in profile. See related links below for picture

Black Americans appear regularly on US stamps as part of a long-going Black Heritage

series - the most recent featured writer Charles Chesnut, last winter -- Ann Julia Cooper will appear on the next issue in June of this year. On Feb 21, 2009, a sheet of 6 designs honoring Civil Rights Pioneers, many of whom are black Americans,will appear.

However, I believe the exact answer to your question would be Josephine Baker , Duke Ellington, and Louis Jordan who appeared last July on a sheet of 5 stamps showing vintage black cinema posters.

Of course you can look at stamps! That is why they have pictures on them!