It would also help if we had an idea of where you are located, so we can point you toward a reputable club in your area. They'll be able to help much faster than we can, since they can scan the whole lot and point out anything worth investigating...

Online Stamp Collections

Hi.  Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.  I'm located in Riverside, CA right now, about an hour north of San Diego - sort of centralish California.  It's a pretty large town and the county is the Inland Empire which is very large.  I'm about 1 1/2 hours south of LA.  Any names you could give me of people or groups or clubs you feel are reputable would be most appreciated.  It's just far too much for me to handle.  You just plain can't know something about everything.  Thanks.  Arly

arlykat wrote:

Hi.  Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.  I'm located in Riverside, CA right now, about an hour north of San Diego - sort of centralish California.  It's a pretty large town and the county is the Inland Empire which is very large.  I'm about 1 1/2 hours south of LA.  Any names you could give me of people or groups or clubs you feel are reputable would be most appreciated.  It's just far too much for me to handle.  You just plain can't know something about everything.  Thanks.  Arly

Riverside stamp club :

http://employee.lasierra.edu/~wclarke/rsc/

Thank you thank you thank you!!  This is more the type of thing I've been thinking would be the best venue to follow with all the stamps.  Can you give my your opinion please of when I approach the club regarding all the stamps how I would go about finding someone who you think I could honestly trust.  My mom worked so hard in saving these stamps (even in very collectible cigar boxes) and I know the vast majority of stamps aren't worth very much yet I do know some are. When I ran estate sales and did one for a fellow who died who had a stamp store and coin store I found a man who would meet with me at the estate house privately and go through all the stamps and some brought a couple of hundred dollars back in the 1980's. With all the stamps mom has, and her being allowed to take ALL the stamps from a large J.C. Penny's stock room there just may be some stamps of interest to collectors and buyers - I really want to do right by these for my mother.  So, how would you approach this Riverside stamp club to find someone to look at the stamps. Would you advise I sit with them as they looked over the stamps or just gave them all the boxes or what? (Even if I sat with them I wouldn't know if they were honest or not really.)  I'd appreciate your opinion. Thanks. Arly

In San Diego, we have a library that provides assistance to collectors and sellers overwhelmed by the work involved in identifying and selling collections they inherited. See sandiegophilateliclibrary.org. Try contacting local clubs, or see if there is a similar tax exempt stamp foundation library near you.  If that doesn't work, try to find a wacko like me.  I bought about 2099 lbs of stamps in 88 huge sterilite plastic bins. It took me three trips in my van to get them from LA to San Diego. If you are serious about selling, set a price and get the word out, you will be surprised by the response!