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There are three versions of the Penny Red. The first was imperforate, just like the Penny Black. They even used some of the same printing plates from the Penny Black to print the Reds. There were 177 different plates. Then they made them perforated. They then introduced the third set with letters in all four corners. These are the only ones with the Plate numbers printed in the design. The first two sets don't have that feature. The only way to recognise the respective plates numbers on those sets are from corner letter positions, constant flaws and sometimes the type of cancellation helps.

I like my stamps the same way I like my women, lickable and unhinged.

Sorry - can't watch a video by a bloke with cap on backwards!!

I can help with stamps from Canada if you’re filling the book.

This is the second digital microscope I come across that (when new) seems to be available only through Amazon or maybe Ali Express. Aren't these sold directly from the manufacturer? I refuse to deal with Amazon and Ali Express is always a bit risky.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy and Healthy New Year 2025.

Great and intresting video, and Merry Christmas to You and Youre family 🎅

If you ever find yourself in London then you have to check out the Tapling Collection open for public display as the British Library, it holds many of the world's rarities on display for you to see including a Plate 77 in the flesh, the closest I'll ever come - I think the number of complete plate runs would sit around 7-9

I know about these plate numbers for decades, but to be honest I´m not patient enough. To find a 77, I think collectors are dreaming many years for this. I liked your penny black a lot, a very nice example. This is one of the better ones. Have fun searching your penny reds, may be there are some more seldom ones you find.

That microscope might help me read the perf. 14 vs perf. 14 1/2, etc. Unfortunately aging affects your eyesight and this might keep me in the hobby a little bit longer. I had already given up reading the plate numbers on the penny reds, and I've only been staring at mint copies. A new lease on stamp life perhaps.

Nice penny black ! Sadly, at this time, I have very few penny reds...... I have an old microscope (4-25x) from my science teaching days that I sometimes use to look closer at my stamps.... Thanks for another cool philatelic video ! And I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas !

Lovely pair of tuppence blues

As usual I enjoyed the video. The Penny Reds are some of my favs...i have the complete run of plates (including 225) except for the one I will NEVER own...(77). I appreciate the discount on the scope and will ask my wife for permission to buy...lol. Have a great Christmas, Silk! Greg from Alabama

Hey Silk! You can use that digital microscope to help grade your sports cards. I want one.

Great video of your Canada stamps. Next to the US Canada is the one I have the most. 😊

As common as you say penny reds are, out of the tons of stamps I inherited...not one:/ You are the 3rd TH-cam stamp channel I have seen to review a microscope. Those do seem like they make life easier for small details. Someday I hope to get something like this. Very cool.

Great video Mr Silk , it's good to see how technology can be used to make things easier and faster in stamp collecting . What a great device. I have spent many hours struggling over the magnifying glass looking for plate numbers . I'm looking for the elusive plate 77 and 225 to complete my penny reds. Thanks for showing us this great piece of equipment Terry from Devon uk 😊

The microscope is listed at $89.99 US on the American Amazon site. On the Canadian one, it's a very high $212.15 Can. currency. While the Canadian dollar has been going into the toilet recently, $89.99 US = $121.73 Can. at the moment . BTW, I really like those old British covers ... and the stamps are very nice too.

I'm looking to get one of those HD microscopes as well, more to identify grills on classic U.S. stamps...😊

I have a ton of Penny Red's. I too have yet to identify any of these, maybe I'll be lucky once I do 😊

Go Cubs!

So glad I discovered your series on TH-cam. I've learned a lot already.

I was watching your video and I have a question? I have saved some stamps from the sixties and they are from over seas like Portugal and Brazil.just wondering if they are worth anything?

I'd like to add a point about unused/mint stamps. If they are hinged, this will significantly reduce the value ; modern hinged unused stamps are generally unwanted by serious collectors unless offered at a deep discount. Another issue in regards to used vs. unused stamps - it's better to separate the two categories as few will buy a set composed of both. Finally, overall condition is if paramount importance.

High end markets are mainly for investors, not real collectors. As a collector I really appreciate rarity. However, that doesn’t translate into high $$$$ for what I like.

I remember the thrill of receiving my packages of stamps by mail when I was a child. I think the thrill would be akin to an adult finding rarities. they were all rarities to me back in the 60s as a little boy.

I do have some stamps I want to get rid of...a boatload of stamps from the 1800s

Please contact me. I have a large stamp collection that hasn't seen the light of day in over 50 years. It's International and includes countries that don't exist anymore.

Ah, the Scott Traveler! Wait, you didn't go through it. Darn. Maybe next time. I just began my fifth Traveler, shifting pages between the previous four. In addition to a few select country albums, the Travelers are what I started with in childhood. I still enjoy seeing their ruddy covers looking at me and inviting me to look through (and value) their contents. Anyway, good advice you've shared here, thanks! - Eric

Mr. Silk as always I appreciate your advice. I have quite a lot of extra stamps to sell and I now feel confident to sell via eBay.

I agree with a lot of what you said, Silk, but like other comments on this vid I strongly advise checking in with your local stamp club before you do anything else. I won't go into the details of my loonnnngggg stamp journey from inheriting to selling to personal collecting, but now that I know more and now that I am a member of a stamp club, I can say that there are significant variations and nuances to the advice you gave in this vid. Try to find a mentor at your local stamp club. I also will echo another comment: do not trust dealers and do not leave albums with them, period. Make a date to sit down with a dealer and let them leaf through your stuff and either make you an offer or hand the collection back to you. I now have good friends who are dealers but I still would not let them take my albums home unless I had photographed every page. Sorry to say. An exception to that would be a huge dealer like Apfelbaum, which dealer will not only pay for shipping your collection to them, but also will send your stamps back if they don't purchase. Personally, I had the best results selling my albums on eBay, after I had done considerable homework. Even so, I probably let some valuable stamps go at less than I could have gotten for them sold individually. But you have to accept that you do not know what you do not know, and move on. As far as what I buy, now, I mostly buy singles and series of the two genres I collect and I prefer to buy on eBay. My experience with Hipstamp has not been as good, and I find their search engine to be cumbersome. Also, it seems to take forever to get the stamps. Yes, I know one has to be careful on eBay, but I have gotten great deals and overall been quite happy with my purchases. On another note, I'm wondering whether you date your stamp valuations (on the cards you made); stamp valuations can change from year to year, and in some cases radically. Having the date on your valuations would at least tell your kids whether they might need to update some of the older values before approaching a dealer.

One more way that I've been using (since I am a member), is to auction off lots and collections through my local stamp club...I'm sure most major cities still have clubs...and they are still enthusiastic to buy and sell - although the prices will not/may not be realized. At least the stamps are going to another enthusiastic collector! Great presentation - very good information. I wish all those who 'inherit' a collection would watch this video!

Here is my tip to get a feel as to a value of a "collection".if it is in the form of albums. If a stamp dealer is asked to give a value by going thru an album. Watch him how he turns the pages of your album as he view the contents. If he leafs thru the stamp pages as though he is searching a name in a phone book, then your album is worthless. If he opens to a page, and he pauses a moment to look at a stamp, and he does this pause a number of times throughout the album, then you may have something of value. If the collection has value, then the dealer can make a profit, and he would be interested of buying the collection from you.

That's a really nice French stamp album.... Lots of good advice for selling stamps. One thing I would like to suggest..... it irks me and often leads to the loss of a sale if dealers on ebay or HIP stamps want what I consider to be "excessive" postage. Example, a fairly common, low priced stamp can be sent to me for $1.00 ~ I will not pay $6.95 for USPS Business or whatever to get that stamp or those few stamps. I feel sorry for stamp sellers in the UK - postage is pretty expensive there. I'd thought the UPU was helping regulate stamp rates for international shipping..... but I guess not. So, my advice to stamp sellers would be to be honest with the costs to send the stamps - the "postage and handling" should not be part of your "profit." OH, and while I appreciate good packaging to protect my stamps going through the mail, the enclosure does not have to be encased in tape !!!! Thanks for another great Philatelic video !

NEVER sell to a dealer. Sell only to other collectors. I sell to them at 1/3 catalog value. For covers or other non-cataloged items , go to a large source online source and calculate an average price. Then lower the price by 10-20% for other collectors,who are not dealers. (I am a senior who has collected for 60 years)

Hey Silk! You missed a rather more fun way to sell/dispose of your stamps... Check the local stamp club if there is one close to you. We do it at our club, we provide an auction (where fellow stamp collectors can buy what they love about your collection). We also take donations for the scouts merit badge. Or another option - give a donation and we provide a document for a tax write off :) Our/any stamp club is the best place to get honest opinions as well on what to do and what dealers we trust. Hope this helps

Great video

Take care when asking for valuations from stamp dealers. If a stamp dealer asks whether you have an inventory for your stamps, DO NOT leave your collection with them! This is a massive red flag for a dealer who will remove (steal) stamps from your collection. It happened to a friend of mine. The dealer asked about an inventory - my friend said no inventory - and the dealer would only agree to look through the albums when my friend was not there. When the albums were returned, stamps were missing. The dealer claimed the album was returned intact and the missing stamps must have fallen out and got lost in my friend's home. The stamps were in Hawid mounts, there was no way they fell out and got lost! Beware of dishonest stamp dealers. :)

Great show. If you got some high end collections, regular auctions will be the best way to sell these. Low end stuff could be sold at flea markets or on platforms like ebay. Or donated to organisations like the Salvation Army. Stamp dealers ? They are very picky nowadays, and some of them also like to scam. Just my 2 cents. 😉Greets from GER, U.

Great channel! Lots of love from Bavaria :)

I like the letters from sellers from France and Belgium the most. It's nice when someone wants to choose stamps that match the themes of the ones I ordered. (e.g. Belgian comics)

I’m thinking of going on FB marketplace and buying up a collection…thoughts? My budget is $100 to kick off the hobby.

So much love and memory building in that video!

If you feel like you're doing sneaky, you're probably doing something sneaky haha ;)

Another great video! Love your energy and your obvious love for stamps! It's contagious haha!

I have such a large collection that its overwhelming. I need to talk to someone about selling them.

I've boxes and boxes of old stamps, some worth good money. Any idea of how to start to organise and research them?

The premise behind the valuations given is that the owner will actually take the time to correctly value, photograph, list (correctly describe), and deliver each item to be sold. That time and effort has value. Most non-stamp collectors (as well as many collectors) are unwilling to put in that effort to sell their collections/inheritance/etc. They also lack the expertise to correctly identify, described and price their holdings. So when a dealer offers 70% (or less) of catalog or face value, they are not trying to rip off the owner, but reflecting the cost of selling plus some profit margin.

would you please leave the stamp details up long enough to read them, having to backup and pausing is not fun

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