If you have been fortunate enough to inherit a postcard collection or someone has gifted you some postcards then you will rightly ask how do I know if my postcards are worth any money?
This is the million dollar question and unfortunately I cannot give you a simple answer. Every postcard album or collection is different and one collection of 1,000 postcards may not be worth as much as a handful of 10 postcards.
In the postcard collecting World most of the value lies in age and how scarce a postcard is. You do not have to be a postcard expert to understand the basics. We can take a couple of basic points that will help you value your postcards.
If you consider Edwardian postcards for example. If it has been through the postal system then you will see a green half-penny stamp on the back if it has been posted to an address in the UK. This is a good indicator of age and you will clearly see the date stamped, day, month and year. This would make this postcard Golden Age and the best years for collectors.
In 1918 the price of postage doubled to 1-penny to help pay for the war effort. The 1d stamps were red so you know this is post 1918 but still a good vintage for postcard collectors. Some collectors are only interested in pre-1939 postcards. Others, like myself can see the beauty in the retro postcards of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Though not as valuable, they can still be very collectable.
Now let’s turn our attention to the front of the postcard, the picture side. Generally there are two types of postcards, printed and real photographic. If we are talking about topographical postcards of street scenes etc then real photographic examples are worth more to collectors.
It’s all about the details. If you use a magnifying glass on a printed postcard you will see the many thousands of dots that build the image. Do the same on a real photographic postcard and you will see so much detail making them more collectable.
Printed postcards were cheaper to produce by the publishers and would cater for people less affluent. They were half the price of a real photographic example and you can use that guide on value. A real photographic postcard would normally be at least double the value of a printed example of the same scene.
Something else that is vitally important to value would be the scarcity. How many postcards would you consider were produced of that scene? You can take Blackpool Promenade for example. Millions of people sent postcards back from Blackpool of the Promenade and Tower. These are the most common views. Published in their millions and are still found in great numbers today.
But what about backstreet real photographic views of Blackpool? Would they be produced in their millions? Absolutely not, and so the ones that have survived the last 120-years are very valuable and collectable. While a printed view of Blackpool Promenade in 1905 may be worth a couple of pence, the photographic example of a back street of the same age could be worth £15.00-£20.00 each and even more on a good day.
So you now understand some of the basics regarding postcard valuation. This of course is just the tip of the iceberg but it will give you an idea if you have something scarce and valuable in your collection. I know much of this is common sense and is only a rough guideline.
But now you have an idea and some knowledge of what is valuable and what is common and worth considerably less. Now you have the information to decide if your postcards are worth money. If you want us to value your postcards then use the details on the Contact Us page and we will give you a free valuation without obligation to sell.
