Buying Estates

Just over 5 hours ago I wrote a fairly long blog; then because this picture had been inserted in a "draft" I hit "preview". Everything looked OK so I was about to post it; I couldn't find any button to hit so I went back one page. It was BLANK ....frustration - there is nothing on any computer that is safe when I sit down.

I have calmed down.

The picture is fairly late in the evening of our Grand Opening after the crowd had thinned out a bit.

The estate this morning was some 40 volumes with strength in Canada and USA. Before starting to appraise the collection I looked at some photographs of album pages - there were some obviously great stamps. When the album was opened it turned out the great stamps were photographs from auction catalogues. The real stamps eg #4, #8, Large Queens, Jubilees except the $3 and $5 were all bought from dealers who advertised the lowest price. What a disappointment. It's hard to find any stamp worth at least $10 that I want to add to my stock.

Nevertheless the collector who died at the age of 96 had a lifetime passion for stamps. And we will be passing on virtually all of his collection in the same manner and format as he collected. By tomorrow the volumes should all be priced and ready for sale. The early worldwide lot at $300 is my bet for the first one to sell.