The Greatest Barn Find Stamp Collection Ever? Pt. 2

[@AnnieSterner]

I am a very very new collector of stamps, I haven’t been collecting for a full year yet. It’s because of your infectious joy of this hobby that helps fuel my new found passion. Thanks!

[@RonDale-jy8et]

That hand-drawn cover is a piece of History! Congrats on adding it to the Sik Collection! Have fun...!

[@godcountrycorps7621]

Is there an item you are looking for and would like to add to your collection that I could give to you? If you have a price in mind, think of an item for about that price, and I will try to fill that gap in your collection. Let me know!!

[@fvoel7468]

Hi.. I am a neighbor of yours from nearby Wyoming, MN and enjoy watching Silk on the Web. Today I luckily found a Scott's International Postage Stamp Album, Junior edition at a local antique sale. The album is dated 1930 and is full of several thousand stamps dated from 1840 to 1930. This was an incredible find for $145 and is full of countries that I have never heard of. I share your excitement at finding rare treasures! Would like to meet you some time.

[@fareast_de]

It´s not about money, honey... so congrats on this valuable find ! 😄I like the folk art envelope from 1903, this guy was extremely talented. 6:56 That´s U.S. fractional currency, very common in late 19th century and worth a pretty penny, depending on the condition. 8:06 Chinese currency during the Guomindang aera. The Oxford Banking Co. items are 19th century cheques, also worth a few bucks. Anyways, an awesone barn find with tons of interesting material and a lot of work to clean these items as well. 😉Greets from GER, U.

[@scottcarlson6012]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful and exciting barn find with us. SO COOL!!!! lol

[@gumshoe2273]

Yeah, Silk posted...happy dance!

[@billsweeney4785]

WOW!!!!!!!!! Awesome cover WOW!!! I love it pal.

[@chrislovesstamps]

Amazing find, Silk. Really enjoyed this video you foinf through your barn find. Probably will take a huge amount of time goinf through it thouroughly and catalogue it all. Thanks for the video!

[@voneschenbachmusic]

Measured in joy was it worth $100? Absolutely! Such interesting material, especially those revenues!

[@silkontheweb]

Precisely!

[@piratephilately]

The revenue stamps that you think are suspect ... usually they need to have larger side margins to be a little more "convincing" to anyone wanting to be sure that they are imperforate rather than faked. Great find indeed, bravo! Always a great find when you get it before a dealer gets to cherry pick it :)

[@RonDale-jy8et]

As an American collector I'd be interested in a deeper dive on the Mistletoe box that was filled-up with American stamps...!1 (There's one vote anyway...!)

[@godcountrycorps7621]

If you can't part with that West Chester, PA, cover, then I understand. It's a beautiful find. But if you ever decide to, please allow me to have a chance at it. If not, thank you for showing it to all your fans! You have been and continue to be a blessing for the philatelic community and those of us looking for more quality stamp content.

[@billsweeney4785]

Ya bro I'm on the same page as you. I have Many many stamps and it's all because I love stamps too. Thanks buddy.

[@olivermiller2013]

I love your statement it is not about money. 100% my opinion. People talk way too much about money when thinking about stamps. But when I want to invest money, I buy shares. Stamps is only hobby for me. This collection was really worth buying it. Some letters are really nice. Do many people in USA collect the revenue stamps? There are some existing in Europe as well, but you don´t find them in a common catalogue. There are some people, but it is seldom. The ones you have are really nice looking. You made some remarks on the cat worths which were quite high, so they are not that common. Regarding the smelling stamps I experienced, if you stock them in a good environment that they lose the smell. It takes it time, but it will disappear. I had a card with a german eagle (not very seldom) which I bought from someone who smoked a lot and the smell was horrible. After 6 months it was quite OK, do this is not forever.

[@johnscamardo2145]

I bought Scott's revenue pages years ago and continue to fill pages as i can.

[@RonDale-jy8et]

Noticed some Washington/ Franklin series (Saw a purple Washington) Best of of luck sorting through those (I don't have the patience!)

[@Martha-q8p1b]

WOW! That hand drawn cover! The beavers! All those revenue stamps! I was holding my breath as you sorted through them How exciting. I am SO hoping one day I can have a similar experience. My brother told me that a friend (who is a postal worker) of his has his grandfather's collection and has no interest in it and that (if all goes well) I'll end up with it. Fingers crossed! It's clear I will never find undiscovered treasures at the stamp club auctions or Stampfests. Tonight I'm going to a "soup and sadness" party (I'm a Democrat), and wherever I go I make it known I'm on a quest for stamps. You never know who might know someone that doesn't know what to do with an old collection they have. Thanks for the fun and exciting video:)

[@Christopher-zf1ng]

That was freaking awesome

[@primevalseeker3952]

Great fun to share your excitement for stamps and this barn find was pure joy.

[@bobkeane7966]

Awesome, all that back of the book stuff is hard to find even through dealers.

[@willardtaylor6249]

You were asking about the Oxford Banking Company. Possibly the main value with them is that a number of them are listed in the US Specialized catalog under revenue stamped paper. They would be of local interest to me as I am very familiar with Oxford, PA. I was just there on this past Sunday. Other than that, am not aware of any value for the bank notes, except for the ones that would listed under revenue stamped paper. As I watched this video I paid particular attention to the addresses on covers that I saw. Downingtown; Paoli; Westtown; Oxford; West Chester are all Chester County places that I am very familiar with. Whoever collected these must have lived close to where I live in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

[@DavyBoy007]

I can only imagine the incredible value of these stamps if all were undamaged. As a note, some used stamps are uncancelled; one cannot assume that all stamps without cancellations are unused. Now, my favourite of the bunch is the cover with the Canadian beaver pair.. Overall, this collection/accumulation could well be a once in a lifetime find.

[@silkontheweb]

It's a bit heartbreaking to think what this collection could look like today if it had been organized and stored properly years ago

[@alexgrannum9866]

Brilliant find! I especially loved the unboxing of the USA box. Can you explain the cleaning process using baking soda?

[@silkontheweb]

Brain fart! Meant baking powder... and I just store materials in Tupperware next to a box of it in the hopes that it'll absorb odor

[@Dany-ps9tt]

I am jealous 😅

[@kozzackkelt]

iirc, there wa s a shortage of coins during and after the US Civil War.... so the us government started printing "fractional currency" The first ones were really cool; they depicted current US postage stamps. Later they changed to boring gov't officials like the one you found. That "oriental" banknote might be "Chinese" as I saw the China symbol on it like you see on Chinese postage stamps ( the rectangle with slash through it ). Very nice double beaver Canadian cover ! Smell Removal..... you might try getting a cardboard box, putting some smelly items in it with some wadded up newspaper, then seal box for several days ..... maybe the newspaper would "soak up" the odors? Thanks for sharing this treasure with us..... and making us a little jealous... ;-)

[@silkontheweb]

Great info! Thanks for sharing

[@doughoback5226]

Your opening, dead on. My mother had a somewhat similar find. That was a blast to work through.

[@petervik5399]

Hi Silk, i enjoy your content and can relate to finding high value or even collectable stamps only to find they are damaged when the rest of the stamp pile is in near perfect condition. why is that... I rarely keep them as space fillers.. But you have given me a new perspective about being more about search and the hobby than value of these little objects. Do you feel those high value /damaged stamps have a percentage of Cat. value. Really like some of those covers... Cheers Peter from Aussie...

[@RonDale-jy8et]

I meant WW2 AIRMAILS... that important word got left out...!

[@chrissahar2014]

Regarding the fractional currency form US. Looking at ebay and the condition it is in, averages about $20. Nice find.

[@johnscamardo2145]

don't soak the mint ones but use a steamer to loosen them out of those vanilla card. I would myself leave the stamps in the vanilla card until u check them for catalogue. the oxford checks have the imprinted revenue values in the middle of the checks and are or should be left whole.

[@kiwininja9237]

I think the fractional notes were issued during a shortage of coins in circulation.

[@chrissmith1958]

That would be a shinplaster

[@markhoerner2354]

If I ever acquire investment grade stamps it would be coincidental with wanting them because I also love stamps. I could never sell something like that. I acquired an high value art deco mirror once and sold it , forever regretting it.

[@silkontheweb]

That is such an important point that gets missed in the conversation. Collectibles only become assets when you sell them... up until that point they're basically heirlooms... and I gotta think there's a lot of seller's remorse when you ultimately part with them, even if you acquired them as an investment opportunity

[@paleog]

What would it take for you to abandon the term "new"? That should apply to something you just bought at the post office. Try for "unused" , "mint" or "mint never hinged" ( I have used those terms since 1943 and they worked for me.)

[@silkontheweb]

Good call!

[@RonDale-jy8et]

Did you mean "Baking Soda" not Baking Poder" to deodorize the postcards?

[@silkontheweb]

Yup!

[@billsweeney4785]

Hey Silk, where did you get your tongs from. I really like them. and how much did you pay. MY WIFE GETS A LITTLE HOT WHEN i SPEND ON MY COLLECTIONS BUT i DO NEED A GOOD PAIR LIKE THE ONES YOU HAVE

[@silkontheweb]

They were pretty cheap... picked them up at my stamp shop, not sure the brand tho I'll check next time I visit

[@godcountrycorps7621]

Would you sell that cover to me? I grew up 5 minutes outside West Chester, PA. Name your price.

[@silkontheweb]

You've got me thinking... I'm working on a Silk on the Web website, and if I decide to sell I'll put it up on there and let you know... really don't want to part with it, but I don't have a connection to PA. I'll let you know...

[@godcountrycorps7621]

Thank you for considering me. Let me know! Keep up the good work. Love the new finds!

[@willardtaylor6249]

The hand -drawn cover that caught your attention is truly a beautiful work of art. But what really catches my attention, in addition to the beauty of that cover, is where it comes from. Of all the places that it could have come from, I have very strong personal ties to West Chester, PA. That happens to be the town where I go to get stamps for my collection. I have lived there, my father grew up there and I know of ancestors on both sides of my family who had also lived there, going back to the 1800’s. West Chester,PA is the county seat of Chester County in Southeastern Pennsylvania. It is a beautiful college town, home of West Chester State University. 214 South Walnut Street is in a residential neighborhood of well kept up older homes. 6 years after that cover was postmarked, West Chester celebrated its centennial, as it was founded in 1799. I have at least 1 centennial cover along with a book published for the West Chester Centennial in 1899. Historically, the area is noted for the Battle of Brandywine, during the American Revolution, and also for involvement with the Underground Railroad. It is very fascinating to me that the cover that made you want to obtain that lot is not only a very beautiful piece, but that it comes from a town that has meant so very much to me in my life.

[@silkontheweb]

Thank you for sharing! What a happy little coincidence

[@VijhaiAllwinraj]

Sir from India can i get ur email id