I have a very distinct goal with this article. To help novices or beginners be on the look out for valuable stamps that you might not know about.

A typical scenario is that you came into a stamp collection and have no idea if any of the stamps are worth anything! Is it possible to go through every stamp? Well, you could and that will take some time.

But here I have selected some valuable stamps that you might actually have!

I have left out the extremely rare stamps that are worth a hundred thousand dollars or more. The chance that you have one of these is very rare. What I have put here in this collection is some of the stamps that are worth hundreds or even a thousand dollars or more.. and that you might actually have.

Note though that stamps can vary wildly in their value. If you think you have any of these stamps you should take them to an expert to have them appraised. There are many factors that can affect the value.

And I will add to this guide, expand it for you in the future. But, these are not the only stamps worth money! And even though 99 percent of stamps are worth very little there still are many more than these that are of substantial value.

So don't assume that because you don't have any of these stamps that your collection has no value. It might! Get it assessed!!

The Stamps To look out for

This is the Scott #241. It is part of a coveted series of stamps called "The Columbians" This is the one dollar denomination stamp. And printed on it is "Isabella Pledging Her Jewels".

You can find this one and the other Columbians in your stamp album under year 1893.

Depending on the quality of this stamp, used, new, very fine etc. You can expect to get anywhere between 100 dollars and 1,000 dollars for this stamp.

Note: There are rarer stamps in this series including a two dollar, three dollar, four dollar, and five dollar. Those are even rarer and worth more!

This is Scott # 292 (Western Cattle in Storm). It is part of a series of nine stamps named "The Trans-Mississippi" stamps. It was issued in 1898 and has a one dollar denomination. It is also generally considered to be the most beautiful stamp every printed. I guess that is up for debate but that's the general consensus among philatelists. You might expect this stamp to be worth 500 and two thousand dollars. Notice the one dollar denomination on it.

This is the Scott #277 stamps. It was issued in 1895 and notice the two dollar denomination.

A limited number of these stamps were issued (Around 31k) and they have a double line watermark on the back. If you don't know what a watermark is I have a tutorial here.

You could possibly expect to get between 300 and 1,000 for this stamp depending on the quality.

This is the Scott 312 James Madison Stamp. This is another James Madison stamp just like the Scott #277 but notice that it has some differences.
It was issued in 1894 and note the denomination is two dollars. It is a moderately rare stamp. Only about 40,000 were printed some were watermarked and some were not. You might expect to get between 100 and 600 for this stamp depending on quality.

This is the first US Postage stamp. It was issued in 1847 and it has a five cent denomination with Benjamin Franklin. You might expect the value of this stamp to be between 100 and four thousand depending on the quality.

An important thing to note about this 5 cent stamp is that there are several subtle variations of this stamp. Have an expert look at it to assess exactly which stamp it is!

This is the second postage stamp. It is a ten cent denomination with George Washington on it. It was issued in 1847. You might expect the value of this stamp to be between a thousand and ten thousand dollars!

New: The almost overlooked clump of stamps stuck together - worth over $1,000 dollars - Hard work and paying attention to detail sometimes pays off big.

A family member bought a big box of stamps at an estate sale. It was a lot of the usual stuff but....Read the story here

The most valuable stamp in American Stamp collecting. One sold at auction for over a million dollars. And I have one. Well, not really. I kind of have one. LOL - There are only 100 of these stamps with the airplane accidentally printed upside down. Read more about it here

The picture here shows the actual stamp I own.