If the latter - gratitude - you can skip most of the rest of this article and click here, and just pick a charitable organization. In the U.S., we recommend the American Philatelic Society, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation.

If any of the other choices, including taking a tax deduction for your donation (in some countries and situations), then the first step is to get an idea of what's in the collection. The more work you do, the more you'll get from the collection.

You can just take all the books and boxes to a local stamp dealer, dump them on the counter, and say, "What will you give me for this?" but how will you know if you're getting a fair deal?

First, then, visit our Introduction to Stamp Collecting article just so you know a little bit about what you have. If you need more information, visit our Message Board and don't be afraid to ask. No one will jump down your throat.

Then, sort the material in the collection by country, and sort the covers (envelopes) from the stamps within the countries. Some of the country names may be unfamiliar to you - "CCCP" is the Soviet Union, for example, and "Magyar Posta" is Hungary - so visit the Message Board and ask if you run into one you can't decipher.

Now, go to your public library and ask to see the stamp catalogues most have in the Reference Department. Scott catalogues are the standard in the U.S., Stanley Gibbons in Britain and many British Commonwealth countries, Michel in Germany and other parts of Europe, and Yvert in France and French-speaking countries. If the library has some not-quite-current versions, you may be allowed to take check them out.

Look up some or all of the stamps in the collection. Keep in mind that the minimum value in the Scott stamp catalogues is 20 cents, no matter how undesirable the stamp is, so don't mistake 1,000 20-cent stamps for $200. Also don't mistake catalogue values - which are supposed to resemble selling prices - for what a dealer will pay you. Stamp dealers who buy and sell at the same price don't remain in business very long!

What you're looking for is to see if the values of any of the stamps in the collection jump out at you - significantly higher than the others. Make a note of those.

If the entire collection consists of "better" stamps, and especially better stamps in a single country or subject, then you'll want to contact a dealer who specializes in that area. Anyone else is likely to give you less for the collection, so that he or she can make a profit selling it to a specialized dealer.

If they're all mediocre stamps, your best bet may be to donate them to a charitable organization, as discussed above. The tax deduction may be worth more than whatever cash you'd get from a dealer.

If there are a few better stamps, but most are mediocre, you may be able to get a dealer to purchase the entire collection, so our advice is not to remove those better stamps, because they make the package more desirable. Pull all the good stuff out of a collection, and you may be stuck with the remainder.

To find a general-purpose stamp dealer, look in the Yellow Pages under "Stamps for Collectors." Many of these stamp store owners do specialize in particular areas, but handle a variety of philatelic specialties. (Here's a tip: If a store says it's "Joe's Coins & Stamps," Joe is a coin dealer who dabbles in stamps. If the name is "Stamps & Coins," then Joe is a stamp dealer who dabbles in coins. You'll do better selling stamps to a stamp dealer and coins to a coin dealer.)

No one listed in your phone book? Check the Web sites of the American Philatelic Society or the American Stamp Dealers Association. Both allow you to specify a specialty, a location or both. Both also expect their members to conduct their businesses ethically.

Or ask for recommendations in the Message Board here.

To get several quick looks at a collection at once, and if the collection is small enough to be portable, you might want to take it to a local stamp show; you can find next weekend's shows on The Virtual Stamp Club's Web site here. However, dealers at a show are often pressed for time and distracted, so this may be best only for getting a "ballpark" idea about the collection.

Good luck!

Charitable Stamp Collecting Organizations Both the American Philatelic Society and American First Day Cover Society are registered as not-for-profit educational institutions with the IRS. Donations to them may be tax deductible for U.S. citizens. Both will furnish you with a receipt for your contribution, although neither will put a dollar value on it.
American Philatelic Society 100 Match Factory Place Bellefonte, PA 16823-1367 {814} 933-3803 apsinfo@stamps.org	American First Day Cover Society Post Office Box 16277 Tucson, AZ 85732-6277 {520} 321-0880 AFDCS@aol.com
If using a shipping method other than the U.S. Postal Service, contact the organizations directly for a shipping address.