Do you collect/prefer Mint or used/cancelled stamps? Why do you prefer one over the other? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each category?
I collect both but I prefer used stamps. I prefer the used stamps because of the cancellations and postmarks together with the distance these stamps had traveled. I think an advantage of unused stamps is that all details of the stamps can be clearly seen.
The stamps provenance certainly adds interest: where it came from, where it went etc. The postmarks certainly do make those much easier to detect. Used stamps are also easier to find!
Easier, but not as fun. And not as rewarding as when you need to actually put the kind of effort into the search as you do for mint condition stamps
It's one of those personal choices, and I see nothing wrong with doing both. Certainly, price is a big issue, especially with older stamps.
US - both mint and used. My mint US album contains a lot of used early US, and as I get a chance or the funds to upgrade them, they go into my used US collection. The used US is in a different set of albums, and there are a lot of unfilled spaces in the more recent years. It's almost harder to fill the US used spaces with recent stamps than it is to fill the early US in the mint album; few people use commemorative stamps anymore. Plate blocks are all mint as are the sheets. Canadian collection is mostly mint with used 'fillers'. World wide collection is mostly used with a few mint (British commonwealth mostly). Prefer used in this collection because I don't feel bad about hinging them. I couldn't afford the expense of Showguard or Hawdid mounts for the 80,000 of so stamps, and I'd have to have twice as many binders (currently 28) to deal with the bulking up of the pages.
Wow. You have an impressive collection, Larry. I"m impressed. Thanks for sharing with us. I like your strategy of starting with used and "upgrading" as you can afford it. That's a very practical approach in many ways. How long have you been collecting?
So far I only have the used stamps right now but I would like to collect both that is if the mint stamps don't cost a lot.
I have both mint and used stamps in my collection. Oddly enough, I prefer mint older stamps and used newer ones. Prior to stamps being issued as collectables, the mint ones were more difficult to find as people were buying them to use them. Now, with so many stamps being issued as items to collect (We have been able to buy mint year sets in Canada for many years now) the rare stamps are the ones that have actually been used and that makes them more interesting to me.
I collect mostly used stamps, world-wide these days. As many others, though, I began collecting mint U.S. and still collect mint for my topical collection (aircraft on stamps). I prefer used for the W/W for a variety of reasons, mostly those stated by Larry in his post above. Nice clear cancels also appeal to me and I have a collection of bullseyes and cdc's. I usually arrange the cancels by general geographical areas. Then, too, I like to put couple of nice bullseyes or cdc's in a page of mounted used stamps for variety. They become a focal point when viewing the page and tend to cause the viewer to focus more closely on all of the stamps on the page. Don
I want to echo Lostvalleyguy. Finding modern stamps legitimately used in the mail is a challenging endeavour, so I also like collecting used modern stamps. I also share the same passion as DonSellos with regard to interesting cancellations and socked on the nose cancels. Mint stamps are nice where the design of the stamp is the focal point.
I am the kind of person who likes collecting things that might have a story behind them and I feel like used stamps have more of a story behind them, so for that reason I prefer used.
I really like used stamps. New ones are nice to look at but ones that actually have been used have so much more gravitas to them. It's like they carry a story along with them.
Well, generally speaking, mint stamps cost more than used. However, there are exceptions. One area that comes to mind is the German inflation stamps of the late 1920s. Many of them sell for more in used condition than mint. One reason is that the postage rates changed so rapidly in Weimar Germany that there were always large stocks of mint stamps left over. As a result, those canceled in regurlar usage now demand a higher premium than the unused stamps. There are other cases too where so few stamps were used that a used example is more costly than a mint one. The collector, however, has to be careful in situations like this as it is easy to fake a cancel or, perhaps, have a postal employee surreptitiously cancel a bunch of mint stamps. Don
I think it depends on the characteristics of a stamp. Just like if it is rare, with error and in small or big denomination.
When I started collecting as a young boy, I only collected Used stamps. Everyone I knew would save them for me from any mail they got. It was so much fun and I even loved soaking them off of paper then. It wasn't until later in life that I started and could afford to collect mint stamps.. Also used 1800's stamps are very fun to collect.
