11-20-2007, 10:10 PM
LITTLE ROCK - Duck hunting opens in Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 17, thousands of waterfowlers in the state will buy federal and state duck stamps, if they didn't get them for the earlier teal season.
They will take old hunting stamps out of their wallets, and just a few will pay attention to these. These are the duck stamps required to hunt ducks, geese and other migratory waterfowl.
Some stamp collectors go after these. Some specialize in them. Buy old duck stamps from a dealer, and you need a healthy bank account. There is probably more potential in the individual waterfowl hunter in Arkansas assembling his or her own collection for nostalgia and to pass down to up and coming generations.
Some basic information here: You are not going to get rich selling your old duck stamps unless you have a passel of them from the 1930s and 1940s.
Contrary to an occasional rumor, you won't be able to sell this season's duck stamp that you signed across the face as required for more than you paid for it.
And there won't be collectors and dealers knocking on your door to buy the stamps you've stashed in a dresser drawer for a few or for many years.
But - if selling them is your aim, take a look at eBay and log on to the Web site www.shduck.com. That's the Sam Houston Duck Co., a stamp dealer in Houston, Texas, and owner Bob Dumaine is the nation's premier expert on duck stamps, federal and state.
When stamp collecting folks use the term "catalog," they usually mean the annual publications of The Scott Publishing Co. These are the bibles of stamp collecting, and the listed catalog values are yardsticks in determining what a stamp is worth. Only rarely will a stamp of any kind, duck or regular postage, sell for the catalog price, even by a dealer. That dealer may peg it at "75 percent of catalog" or less.
If you contact the dealer and offer him a stamp for sale, the percentage will shrink drastically. He won't offer you anything close to "75 percent of catalog," and it's understandable. He is in business to make a profit.
The federal duck stamp you used in the 2006-2007 hunting season has an immediate catalog value of $10 or $11. There were two types of stamps issued. The used Arkansas waterfowl hunting stamp that cost you $7 has an immediate catalog value of $5.
Used, for the purpose of stamp collecting, means stamps that have been signed across the face in ink as required by federal and state regulations. Whether or not the stamp has its original gum on the back is immaterial. The signing makes it used, even if it was not pasted to your hunting license. If you stamp has been folded so a crease remains or if it is stained, its worth goes down quite a bit.
So what is this year's used duck stamps worth in reality? It's doubtful you can get more than $3 for the federal and maybe $2 for the state on a straight sale to a collector or dealer.
A more appealing route for Arkansas waterfowlers could be their individual collections. These can be housed in albums and on pages obtainable from stamp collector supply sources or they can be displayed in frames with mats cut out for several years of stamps. Check art supply sources for these.
If those old stamps from years past in the dresser drawer are stuck together, they can be salvaged for display and collecting purposes, but handle them carefully. Soaking in plain water then blotting and drying overnight between several sheets of paper towels works.
You may want a duck stamp from the year you first hunted, but yours has disappeared. You can buy these - for a price. Check eBay and check Sam Houston Duck Co.
They will take old hunting stamps out of their wallets, and just a few will pay attention to these. These are the duck stamps required to hunt ducks, geese and other migratory waterfowl.
Some stamp collectors go after these. Some specialize in them. Buy old duck stamps from a dealer, and you need a healthy bank account. There is probably more potential in the individual waterfowl hunter in Arkansas assembling his or her own collection for nostalgia and to pass down to up and coming generations.
Some basic information here: You are not going to get rich selling your old duck stamps unless you have a passel of them from the 1930s and 1940s.
Contrary to an occasional rumor, you won't be able to sell this season's duck stamp that you signed across the face as required for more than you paid for it.
And there won't be collectors and dealers knocking on your door to buy the stamps you've stashed in a dresser drawer for a few or for many years.
But - if selling them is your aim, take a look at eBay and log on to the Web site www.shduck.com. That's the Sam Houston Duck Co., a stamp dealer in Houston, Texas, and owner Bob Dumaine is the nation's premier expert on duck stamps, federal and state.
When stamp collecting folks use the term "catalog," they usually mean the annual publications of The Scott Publishing Co. These are the bibles of stamp collecting, and the listed catalog values are yardsticks in determining what a stamp is worth. Only rarely will a stamp of any kind, duck or regular postage, sell for the catalog price, even by a dealer. That dealer may peg it at "75 percent of catalog" or less.
If you contact the dealer and offer him a stamp for sale, the percentage will shrink drastically. He won't offer you anything close to "75 percent of catalog," and it's understandable. He is in business to make a profit.
The federal duck stamp you used in the 2006-2007 hunting season has an immediate catalog value of $10 or $11. There were two types of stamps issued. The used Arkansas waterfowl hunting stamp that cost you $7 has an immediate catalog value of $5.
Used, for the purpose of stamp collecting, means stamps that have been signed across the face in ink as required by federal and state regulations. Whether or not the stamp has its original gum on the back is immaterial. The signing makes it used, even if it was not pasted to your hunting license. If you stamp has been folded so a crease remains or if it is stained, its worth goes down quite a bit.
So what is this year's used duck stamps worth in reality? It's doubtful you can get more than $3 for the federal and maybe $2 for the state on a straight sale to a collector or dealer.
A more appealing route for Arkansas waterfowlers could be their individual collections. These can be housed in albums and on pages obtainable from stamp collector supply sources or they can be displayed in frames with mats cut out for several years of stamps. Check art supply sources for these.
If those old stamps from years past in the dresser drawer are stuck together, they can be salvaged for display and collecting purposes, but handle them carefully. Soaking in plain water then blotting and drying overnight between several sheets of paper towels works.
You may want a duck stamp from the year you first hunted, but yours has disappeared. You can buy these - for a price. Check eBay and check Sam Houston Duck Co.