Vintage Postage

[CraigR]

I would like to know if older or even vintage postage, that has not been cancelled, can be used today. Seems like it would be okay. I found a small amount of 1950's and 1960's stamps that were stored in a book. I realize the denominations are much smaller and it would take a lot more stamps to mail a letter today.

 

I am in the US but maybe others around the world would like to know about their own country's older postage stamps.

[carlos.q]

Wouldn't a vintage stamp collector be interested in these?

[CraigR]

Wouldn't a vintage stamp collector be interested in these?

Before posting, I did check on values of the stamps I found. There were several sheets of collectible stamps that I will keep for that purpose, but there are many more that have no real collector's value and it may be more fun to use them.

[Freddy]

Before posting, I did check on values of the stamps I found. There were several sheets of collectible stamps that I will keep for that purpose, but there are many more that have no real collector's value and it may be more fun to use them.

 

Use 'em as long as you post $0.50 for a first class letter....People you can buy for example USPS space stamp of

USA and Russia Astronauts for $7-$9 for twenty 29 cent stamps...........

 

Fred

 

Have fun.........................

[thudthwacker]

Short form: yes! Any uncancelled stamp retains its face value. If you really like the vintage stamp thing, you can look around on Ye Bay, which often has lots (as it were) of vintage stamps, often for face-value with free shipping. Of course, if you want some older stamps that are in demand -- eg: the Looney Tunes stamps which came out in the late 90's, or the Snoopy WWI flying ace stamp that came out in 2001 -- you may pay a bit more than face value.

 

Also, stamps without a printed denomination are still worth whatever their value was when issued. For example, there was a purple stamp with a white eagle that just says "B" and "US Postage" on it, and it was worth 18¢ when issued, and is still worth 18¢. (It was a "transition stamp" -- the USPS didn't always know when or by how much stamp prices would change, and to avoid getting caught flat-footed without any stamps of the proper denomination on hand, they would print stamps without printed denominations ahead of time, and release them with an official value when needed.)

 

A good page on these non-denominational stamps (transitionals and others) is here: http://alphabetilately.org/G2.html

 

There are also vendors on Ye Bay who sell sets of vintage stamps whose combined values are suitable for some current need. For example, some vendors will sell a set of 20 20¢ stamps and 20 15¢ stamps, which you can combine to send 20 postcards (as the current postcard rate is 35¢). I know about the B Series Eagle stamps because I wanted to get the Looney Tunes stamps (all worth between 32¢ and 34¢), so getting a book of the 18¢ stamps means that I can put one B Eagle with any of the Looney Tunes stamps and have it add to at least 50¢ (the current first-class rate, as ye know).

 

As you may be able to tell, I've been having a lot of fun picking up vintage stamps and sets of stamps, and learning about the various odd nooks and crannies of stamp history. It's also kind of neat, after so many years of self-adhesive peel-and-stick stamps, to actually have an honest-to-goodness book of perforated, gum-backed stamps again.

[GaryUK]

Of possible interest...Unused (decimal) stamps can be used in the UK; however old they are. Even 1/2p stamps which is a coin denomination withdrawn in 1984.

 

Gary

[pitonyak]

Yes they can, and if you are unsure of their worth, but I think that you currently are, drop me a note and I am happy to identify them along with a ball-park value.

 

As a side note, if you have use for postage, that is often a good way to use them. I have purchased similar at below face value from dealers who simply have no good way to sell it all. The dealers usually buy it as part of estates (and similar), but you can be sure that they still made a profit, so they paid someone else even less to buy it.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

For the European or even Italian folks reading this, you have to reach the current postage fee with your stamps, this is the only limit. So if you have old 0,35€ or 0,60€ stamps lying around and want to use them, you can as long as you reach the current value of 0,95€.

 

BEWARE: I did NOT ask if stamps harking back before the EURO currency can be used.

 

I do this for Europe-bound letters because I've bought many "under 20grams" stamps and no "above 20grams" ones, and I stack them on the envelope until I reach the quota.

 

PS: For reasons fathomable to no one, the new international stamps (and I mean Europe too) do NOT have the current value printed on them. You need to check the value on the Poste Italiane website. This is the sorry state of our international stamps right now. Hopefully Poste Italiane will pull itself together soon.

 

Happy Easter.

[Charles Rice]

All US Postage stamps are valid EXCEPT those issued before the Civil War. Feel free to put one on an envelope anyway next time you send me a letter.

 

PS - Very few US stamps from the 60s and 70s have significant collector value

[GaryUK]

Civil war???

[Astronymus]

Civil war???

And you thought you British are tradionalists.

[Charles Rice]

Yes, US stamps issued before our Civil War are invalid. The federal government didn't want the South to cash them in.