Postage stamps are some of the most common items discovered in family estates, inherited albums, and old storage boxes, yet most people don’t know how to separate common issues from potentially valuable ones. While millions of stamps were printed with minimal resale value, certain early issues, errors, print varieties, and lightly cancelled examples can be worth far more than beginners expect.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 661 gives you a complete, beginner-friendly, non-destructive workflow for evaluating postage stamps. Using simple visual techniques—no soaking, no removing stamps from album pages, and no chemical testing—you’ll learn the same observational methods used by appraisal professionals.
Inside this guide, you’ll learn how to:
Understand what makes stamps valuable: rarity, age, error types, condition, and demand
Identify early U.S. and foreign issues worth isolating
Recognize engraving, lithography, and typographic printing differences
Spot printing errors such as misperforations, color shifts, and inverted centers
Evaluate condition properly—including perforations, cancellations, creases, and color
Distinguish lightly cancelled stamps from heavily cancelled low-value examples
Isolate stamps from high-demand countries such as China, Great Britain, German States, Japan, and certain South American nations
Identify paper types, perforation differences, and watermark clues
Avoid common misidentifications seen in beginner sorting
Use a full visual evaluation workflow before deciding on expert appraisal
Apply the full DJR non-destructive workflow for evaluating postage stamps
Know when an item deserves professional appraisal or authentication
Whether you’re sorting inherited albums, reviewing estate boxes, or exploring a lifelong collection, this guide gives you the expert structure needed to identify stamps worth researching—and potentially worth far more than expected.
Digital Download — PDF • 8 Pages • Instant Access
Postage stamps are some of the most common items discovered in family estates, inherited albums, and old storage boxes, yet most people don’t know how to separate common issues from potentially valuable ones. While millions of stamps were printed with minimal resale value, certain early issues, errors, print varieties, and lightly cancelled examples can be worth far more than beginners expect.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 661 gives you a complete, beginner-friendly, non-destructive workflow for evaluating postage stamps. Using simple visual techniques—no soaking, no removing stamps from album pages, and no chemical testing—you’ll learn the same observational methods used by appraisal professionals.
Inside this guide, you’ll learn how to:
Understand what makes stamps valuable: rarity, age, error types, condition, and demand
Identify early U.S. and foreign issues worth isolating
Recognize engraving, lithography, and typographic printing differences
Spot printing errors such as misperforations, color shifts, and inverted centers
Evaluate condition properly—including perforations, cancellations, creases, and color
Distinguish lightly cancelled stamps from heavily cancelled low-value examples
Isolate stamps from high-demand countries such as China, Great Britain, German States, Japan, and certain South American nations
Identify paper types, perforation differences, and watermark clues
Avoid common misidentifications seen in beginner sorting
Use a full visual evaluation workflow before deciding on expert appraisal
Apply the full DJR non-destructive workflow for evaluating postage stamps
Know when an item deserves professional appraisal or authentication
Whether you’re sorting inherited albums, reviewing estate boxes, or exploring a lifelong collection, this guide gives you the expert structure needed to identify stamps worth researching—and potentially worth far more than expected.
Digital Download — PDF • 8 Pages • Instant Access
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