Selling your collection

There are many reasons for selling a collection. The collector may want to upgrade item quality or downsize into a specialty. If this is the case, you may want to consider working out a trade with us rather than a straight purchase.

Another reason may be a divorce or an inheritance.

It’s also possible that a collector may want to use the proceeds for another project.

Regardless of whether the seller is the original collector or not, the steps are generally the same.

Evaluating Coins & Currency is indeed faster than evaluating Stamps since there are far fewer things to account for but, evaluating any collection is time consuming if it is done properly. It doesn’t matter what the collection is. It can be stamps, coins, comic books, bottle caps or thimbles. They all have certain things in common. This article will focus on stamps but you will see that in most cases, the same general questions are asked as relates to coins, paper money, tokens, medals etc..

The first step

Give us a call or use our form on the Contact Us page. We work by private appointment only. This guarantees your privacy and security as we discuss your collection and your desires. It also  prevents interruptions while we are doing evaluations. Therefore, you will need to call or email us and get on the schedule. If a call goes to voicemail, leave a message and we will call you back. We will have a brief conversation about the collection, its size and complexity, and we will get some background information.

“Appraisal” vs. “Evaluation & Offer”

We offer both services, but it is important to know the difference between an Appraisal & an Evaluation & Offer.

An Appraisal is a legal document intended for a court or an insurance company. It states the current inventory and condition of each item as well as its replacement cost. 

This is not an offer to purchase, this is a service with an hourly fee attached to it and depending upon the size and complexity of the collection can become rather expensive. If your insurance company or the court is requesting this, we are happy to assist you. Learn more about our Consulting Services here.

The majority however want an Evaluation & Offer. This is a free service we provide. Simply put, we examine your collection and decide if it makes sense for us to offer to buy it and what we can offer to purchase it for.

Arriving at the office

Collections tend to be both large and heavy. Our building has 2 loading zones, one in front and one in back. If you need assistance, we can meet you in either loading zone with equipment to get the collection to our 5th floor offices. If you are planning to ship the collection to us, please contact us to make arrangements. We are able to receive standard pallets at the rear loading platform. In addition, there are 2 large parking lots on either end of our building in Downtown Maryville, Tn.

Once in the office, we will discuss your goals and any pertinent information especially if there are multiple heirs or special instructions. We have lots of experience with complicated distributions and special situations containing multiple heirs. Once we have the instructions set, you will receive a receipt for the collection and it will go into one of our vaults until it is ready to proceed to our “clean room”.

The receipt contains a control number which not only identifies it as it moves through our processes but is also how it is covered by our insurance. Please do not lose or misplace your copy of the receipt.

The evaluation process

 We only evaluate one collection per room at a time so there is no chance of co-mingling or loss but this also adds to the time frame.

We have a wide array of cameras, microscopes, light filters, short and long wave black lights, watermark detection, scales, and other sophisticated equipment that we use to authenticate as well as evaluate your items. 

In addition we have one of the largest libraries of obsolete, out of print and rare books covering more than 3,000 volumes in multiple languages, most of which are extremely specialized and may possibly be the only source for certain information. This allows us to find value that others might miss.

The process begins with a series of questions about the collection as a whole such as the method of storage, environmental issues such as mildew or other mitigating factors*. How is the collection organized? If a “collection” is in a shoe box or a bag of stamps cut off the mail, that is not actually a collection by our definition. That is an accumulation and may or may not be accepted by us. 

Next we will begin to look at the individual items. 

Each stamp (or other item) needs to have numerous things considered before an estimate of value can be considered.

Some of the most important factors are:

•  How common or uncommon it is. 
• Is there any damage to the stamp? Stamp damage can be hard to detect but can alter the value of the item up to 90% or even more**.
• How appealing is it to the eye?
• How is it centered?
• How is the color?
• How does the gum look on the back?
• Was it hinged?
• Is it real or counterfeit or altered etc. 

This is definitely not a comprehensive list but it provides you with an idea of what happens behind the scenes. It is only after all these things and more are considered that Catalog Value is even considered. Again, similar questions will be asked about coins, paper money etc.

There are only a handful of stamps, coins, etc that are truly ‘rare’ in comparison to the vast amount of stamps, coins, etc. produced. This is good since very few people can afford these ultra rarities. Most collectors are looking for common or moderately uncommon items that have a reasonable price and that fit nicely within their collection. Every collector wants the nicest one they can afford which is why eye appeal is one of the top considerations assuming there is no damage to the item. 

Another very significant area of consideration is the back of the stamp. In unused stamps, the gum (the adhesive is called ‘gum’) condition will greatly affect the desirability and by extension the selling price. In Used stamps, gum condition is not an issue but the back of the stamp still matters. Is there any hinge or remnant? Are there any thin areas? Is there writing on the back? These and many more questions need to be answered for every item to correctly estimate its resale value. There are similar areas for coins, paper money, etc.

Damage on stamps can be very hard to detect and ‘stamp repair’ for thins and tears has been an art since the late 1800s. Some high level repairs can only be discovered through specialized equipment. Another example of stamp damage can be in the edges. A stamp may have one perforation that is shorter than the ones around it. This is called a ‘Short Perf’. There are also ‘pulled perf’, ‘trimmed perf’ , ‘straight edge’ and more. Considering how small stamps are and how much smaller than that the perforations are, it can be very hard for someone to tell this with the naked eye but for the most part, a stamp with any perf issue may retail for only 5% of the Catalog Value and this price might be lower than the cost of the card used to house, protect and market the stamp. Perf issues are only a few of many different types of ‘Faults’ possible.

*Collections that have been improperly stored and have acquired mold, mildew or other conditions that could potentially be transmitted to other collections or that pose a health risk will not be accepted into our facility.

We reserve the right to refuse any collection.