Along with stamps I also collect postcards. I have hundreds of postcards from around the world, most of which include at least one stamp. I was just wondering if it is best to leave the stamps on the postcard or to remove them? If it is best to remove them how would you go about doing that without damaging the postcard?
My advice is "Keep the stamps on the postcards or on envelopes". The reason I say it is that I like to see a stamp used the way it was intended. For 30 years, I would have taken the stamps off the postcards. It was a big mistake. Nowadays, I buy postcards with stamps attached. I think it adds something for display. I specialise in Ireland stamps mint and used ...and this is a page from an album, which I scanned months ago. Although the used stamp is on an envelope, the principle is the same. I like the way it looks...a stamp used the way it was intended. I also collect postcards. I started collecting unused Irish postcards about 30 years ago and now I have 1,800. Then I expanded to other countries and have about 1,200 unused cards worldwide and nearly 800 are USA. Then I expanded to used cards. If you are interested in postcards, I recommend a site called POSTCROSSING....the idea is getting random cards from around the world. There is also a Facebook page where you can exchange direct. basically it has taken me 50 years to realise that stamps and postcards to work together. And the really important thing is that every collector finds whatever works for him or her.
Let me echo FitzjamesHorse and advise you to keep them on. I think that it both helps to retain the value of the postcard and makes the postcard more interesting historically.
It is a good thing I have always kept them on then! I was just wanting to see what other people thought on the subject. FitzjamesHorse I actually am already apart of Postcrossing and it is where I have gotten majority of my postcards! I agree that the stamps give the postcards more personality. Are postcards worth money in a similar way that stamps are?
Postcard take up a lot of space and are franked mostly with the lowest going postal rate - that is for the modern version, maybe after the 1920s. PC before then may be valued per stamp and clear postmark. PC are collected to show a family docomented vacation or personal visit of a distant memorable place or just to have a picture that would be of interest to you or someone known to you that may enjoy the PC. In my early years of travel I made a point to visit the local post office to send a post card with some detail. Also made my own Maxicards, so a little history is attached to that too.
If you really wanted to remove the stamps from the postcard, you could try unsticking it using the steam method (basically just place the postcard above some steam and it should come off without damage). The question is why would you want to? Like the poster above said, postcards and stamps really do go together, and whether it's for collecting or selling purposes, I don't see how those two things would be worth more apart than together.
When I was younger, I saw the term "Postal History" mentioned alot in magazines and never really understood it. It sounded boring. As I got older, I understand it better. It really is just postcards and envelopes. To give an example ...I go to the Philatelic Shop at the Post Office in Dublin about eight times a year. I buy at least three sets of new issues. One set I keep and the second set I post to myself in the Philatelic Shop and I get a nice clear cancel. When I receive them I soak them off the envelope. So I have the stamps mint and used (as in the album page I scanned). The third set? I post a national rate stamp to myself from any town on an envelope or postcard and I get a commercially cancelled stamp on an envelope. ...which also goes into the album. And I post an international rate stamp on an envelope to random friends who are not collectors in USA....or anywhere in world. And I ask them to return the envelope to me. Thus I get commercially, authentic used stamps on postcards and envelopes which travelled to Texas or New Hampshire or Indiana or wherever. They add a "story" to the album as well as being life long reminders of friends. This is a form of "postal history". If we go to see a stamp exhibition, there is postal history. I guess I like to make my own history. A point about the value of postcards. It depends. Postcards posted in 1915 might be more numerous than cards posted in 2015. A lot of cards were sent by young people to their friends. It was Texting one hundred years ago. It seems that the same card can have different values to different people for different reasons. 1 the picture might be a place or person (movie star) or theme which means something. 2 The publisher of the card might be collectable. 3 The stamp 4 The postmark (eg in Ireland before 1922 the postmarks are in English on British stamps and after 1922 are in Irish on Irish stamps). 5 The message on the card...(eg about five years ago, I saw a card posted in Belfast by a guy who wrote that he was working on a new ship that would be finished in a few months....called the Titanic. That card was £20 and out of my league but I should have bought it). 6 The War time cards etc. Quite a lot of cards were sent by parents of soldiers killed "sorry to say we got bad news about William". It is often sad to see these end up in market stalls. They deserve a good home. 7 Most cards are holiday reminders and seem to sell for about 10pence. But once I picked up a bargain ....a card sent from a holiday in Rome, Italy to a person who was quite famous. Sorry this is much longer than I thought it would be. But there is no right answer. Just do your own thing and get as much fun as you can.
I also think that it will be best to just keep it that way. Specially if you collect postcards too aside from stamps.
Agreed... post cards are small enough that they are easy to store, and you will most certainly do damage to the card by soaking... not sure if there is any other way to effectively remove the stamp. Keep the stamps on cards and, if you want a single of that variety, go to the auctions and stores online.
Randi, I don't know much about stamps, but I think the comments above make sense. I am mostly writing to comment on your collection of postcards. Your box of mixed cards look so interesting. The pictures, photographs, illustrations, have to be of value to you. You keep the stamp and the card for references and sharing stories with others. You have a box full of conversation pieces. I would enjoy such a collection. I have one post card that was sent to me. A friend visited Egypt and sent it to me. It was very nice of her.
Absolutely do not remove stamps from postcards, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, the combined postcard with stamp has much more human interest and philatelic value than the separate pieces. If you steam or soak off the stamp, you are left with only a damaged postcard and a cheap stamp, but the original undisturbed item can be worth hundreds of times more.
I would not advise you to remove the stamp from the card on the envelope because you risk to damage your stamps and be irreparable. If you want to sell a stamp that it is on a post card you can sell it as it is with the post card.
