A common question asked by members of the public who have postcards to sell is how much are postcards worth in the UK? A great question with no straightforward answer unfortunately. The value of old postcards depends on so many factors such as age, condition, subject matter and of course rarity. Just because an old postcard is 120-years old does not mean it’s worth a lot of money. Postcards in the Golden Era of pre-1918 were produced in such big numbers that most of them are worth just a few pennies.
It’s a shame that the Edwardian photographers would have no idea how collectable they were going to be 80-years later. I think most postcard collectors have had the fantasy of going back in time in a home-made time capsule and buy all the animated real photographic street scenes, gipsies, suffragettes, Titanic, social history, transport and just about any postcard that was going to accumulate in value as time went on. You could buy them for pennies, jump back in your time capsule and sell them for massive profits in todays market. Ah well, we can all dream.
If someone gave me a full postcard album to value that has never been tampered with I would suggest maybe 5% of the contents would have any real collectable value. Postcards collectors know what they like and just like porcelain collectors, they would never buy anything with a tiny chip. It has to be mint. It’s the same for many postcard enthusiasts who insist the postcards they buy are in very good condition. When they are, they will be happy to pay a premium to secure it.
I remember being invited to view a collection from the Blackburn area of Lancashire. If you know your topographic postcards then you would know that Blackburn is not very collectable. Nobody seems to want them and those that do will not pay a premium for them. A few miles down the road we have Burnley, which has always been highly collectable and some of their real photographic street scenes and social history postcards can sell for very high prices.
I explained this to the seller of the Blackburn postcards. There was only so much money I wanted to offer because I know they would be tough to sell and it would take me a long time to get my money back. Dealers cannot wait for collectors to come along. Not all postcards are going to fly out of the door straight away but you need to be in profit as soon as possible so you can buy more stock.
This is a typical example of the scarcity of old postcards and where their value lies. Buy quality Burnley postcards and you’re onto a winner, buy Blackburn and Bury just down the road in Lancashire and you will be sat on them for a long time unless you sell them for much less. Postcards collectors are very particular in what they collect. They treasure their collection and any addition has to fit the criteria. Many collectors will not touch printed postcards and will only buy real photographic…myself included.
I have nothing against printed postcards but the clarity and detail of any street scene or railway station can only be accomplished as a real photograph. Publishers of the day would print both, printed postcards being cheaper because they cost less money to produce. Anyone who has an eye for quality would buy real photographic if they could afford it. A statement of their financial position and their standing in the community.
If you are in the UK and want to know how much your postcards are worth then Contact Us for a free, no obligation valuation.
