treasured / 02:

August 7, 2013





When we were sending out wedding invites 3 years ago, I remember buying some unused postage on ebay. I paid over the value of the stamp because the designs were old. I've been going to garage sales and antique markets for a while now but have never really come across old stamps. Maybe I just didn't know to look for them!

I went to a sale recently and this guy had a HUGE collection of unused postage stamps! They were selling it all at half off the value of whatever the stamp was. I picked a few (well, more than a few) sheets and was pretty excited to get some cool 'vintage' postage. It's still useable so getting postage stamps at half price is a pretty good deal. The only thing is that it's hard to actually use these, I want to save them! But I may end up like that guy who never did anything with them either ;)

Anyway, I thought I'd share this today because to me, these unused postage stamps are totally a treasure. Are there any other old stamp collectors out there? What do you think? Would you save these stamps or use them?

24 hello's:

  1. Oh, I would totally save and frame them. Or I would use them for friends who would appreciate them more. I love collecting unused stamps from the countries I've been to. It's one of those really cheap but charming souvenirs.

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  2. I prefer to collect used stamps from foreign places, so I remember that I got mail from that place, and then I don't worry about the stamps not being used ;D
    But I have to admit I gave up on stamp collecting a while ago, I figured museums were better at it then I am, now I don't keep the stamps in a stamp book but I find the nice ones and just sort of use them like memento in my diary.
    However, these are really beautiful! But maybe you can do a swap and mail to someone with the promise to get another beautiful stamp in return?

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  3. I have a collection of unused stamps! I just love them! :)

    xx Denysia Yu
    http://thatlaitgirl.com

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  4. i love using them when i send notes and treasures thru the mail. it's a nice way to "dress" up the envelope.

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  5. Danni, I'm actually in the exact same boat as you right now! My dad collected stamps for a long time and I personally love stamps but don't necessarily want to just keep them around to collect dust or take up space. He's started to give me some of his stamps which are beautiful but I don't feel like I have the space for them all and they'd probably just be in storage most of the time. I could frame one or two but there are too many to frame total. I'm torn between using them and saving them, or selling them (but don't feel like I would know how much they're worth!) I'd love to hear what more people think.

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  6. I bought vintage postage for my wedding invitations and response cards, too! ...even the same Wildlife Conservation ones you have pictured :) I ended up using nearly everything I bought, but I am going to save the remaining postage for people that will appreciate it. Karl Anderson on ebay has a huge collection, and he has a bunch that are sold at "face value".

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  7. oh my goodness, these stamps are swoonworthy! i can totally see how you wouldn't want to use them. i'm always on the lookout for things like this but never seem to find anything, i'd love to make my collection bigger :)

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  8. I'm a collector of used stamps even if I still have to find a good way to organize them all. My collection is quite a mess now as it's growing and I often have to move stamps from a catalogue to another.

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  9. they are lovely. i would save some but use the rest for extra special mail.

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  10. I would save one of each design and use the rest....for personal correspondence, of course. I love using old stamps but I do like to keep at least one for my "collection". Also, if I happen to have a cancelled stamp of a particular design then I would use *all* of the unused (in the same design). If I understand stamp collecting (which I may not!), I think the stamp has to be pretty unusual (printed with a flaw, etc) for there to be a future value....other than face value. So, spread the cheer and use these beautiful old stamps for special correspondence.

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  11. I've been recently starting to gather things to do a Project Life album and stamps have been so amazing to me! They have a very cool vintage flower one at the post right now and also the Johnny Cash one, so I've gotten a few of those and looked at various antique stores for others. I am going to save at least one of each and use the rest. I mean, now they're stickers, so it's hard to save them like the older ones but beautiful nonetheless.

    love,
    Devon at www.themintberrykitchen.com

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  12. What a great find. I would have a really hard time using them up too.

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  13. These are so precious. I'd like to frame them up or use some of them in painting or journal. Great find :)

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  14. USE THEM! Especially the little woodland creature ones!!

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  15. Oh my gosh I am a total vintage stamp collector. I started gathering postage when I needed to pretty-fy my envelopes. Then my little set started growing into a collection. I don't know when or where to stop, it's so addicting. Postage stamps are a great thing to collect, plus they go up in value as you already know when you paid more than their worth while shopping for your wedding postage. I have lots of mint stamps but I also love used stamps with postal cancellations on them. I end up using a lot of my stamps for my letters to pen friends :) Gotta spread the love :) x

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  18. Definitely use them! However, that's easier said than done. I have a huge stash of vintage papers I planned on using, but just can't seem to let go of. Gorgeous stamps.

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  19. Wow, those are gorgeous. I'd have a hard time using them too. I heard a program on public radio once that lead me to believe there's a real art to collecting stamps as an investment. More often than not they're not worth as much as people would think. These would look lovely framed though~

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  21. love this, wow! well you got great photos of them so they will last forever in photos if you decide to use them :) Such pretty stamps, anyone who receives them in the mail would be are lucky.

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  22. These are amazing! I would totally use them. For extra special mail. It's so fun to put together several stamps on one envelope to equal the postage needed. But I am guessing you already know this since you did this type of thing for your wedding! I have several different kinds of stamps in my collection, but they are all up for use--I just like to choose specific ones for each recipient. :) So over the years I have never really exhausted one whole stamp booklet at a time but have picked and chosen from several different ones. I like Donna's suggestion to save one stamp from each booklet and use the rest. :) What a find--they are so gorgeous! If you take pictures of your pretty mail before you send it, you might not feel so bad parting with the stamps. :)

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Friends, Thank you so much for reading + supporting my blog, and for taking the time to leave me a comment. Your comment support truly means so much to me. Have a lovely day! xo, danni