Inherited an album and no idea what’s in it? Thinking of selling but unsure what is worth sending to auction? We review your collection from photographs of your album pages, identify what you have, and tell you what it is realistically worth.
You don’t need to post anything or part with a single stamp. Everything starts with pictures you take yourself, at home, with an ordinary phone camera.
How It Works
You get in touch
Fill in the form below telling us roughly what you have — how many albums, which countries, which period. No photographs needed at this stage.
You send photographs
If we’re a good fit for your collection, we agree the scope and fee, and you email us photographs of your album pages. One clear, well-lit picture per page is all we need.
We scan and identify
We work through every page by hand, supported by our own stamp recognition software and specialist catalogue databases, so nothing of value slips past unnoticed.
You get a report
You receive a written valuation listing what was identified, with estimated values and our notes on the pieces that stand out — and, if you wish, help placing them with auction houses.
Human Eyes, Machine Assistance
Stamp identification is not something software can do alone, and it is not something one person can do quickly across thousands of stamps. So we do both.
Every page you send is examined manually — that is where perforations, watermarks, overprints, cancellations, and condition are judged, and where the difference between a common stamp and a valuable variety usually lies. Alongside that, we run your pages through our own recognition tools and cross-reference specialist catalogue and auction-result databases. The software gives us speed and coverage across a large collection; the manual review gives us accuracy on the pieces that actually matter.
What You Receive
- A page-by-page inventory of the stamps we were able to identify.
- Estimated market values, based on recent auction results and catalogue references rather than wishful thinking.
- Notes on condition and on anything that needs closer inspection in person.
- A shortlist of the items genuinely worth taking to auction, and those better sold as lots or kept.
- Honest guidance — including telling you when a collection is worth more as a keepsake than as a sale.
Listing With Auction Houses
If you would like to sell, we can take it further. We help prepare your material for auction: grouping stamps into sensible lots, writing accurate lot descriptions, preparing the images, and approaching auction houses whose specialisms and buyers suit what you have. You remain the owner and the seller throughout, and you decide what goes and what stays — we simply make sure your collection is presented the way the market expects to see it.
This part of the service is entirely optional. A valuation is useful on its own, for insurance, probate, division of an estate, or plain curiosity.
Practical Notes
Photographing your pages
Daylight, no flash, camera parallel to the page, whole page in frame, one picture per page. A modern phone is perfectly adequate. If something looks particularly interesting, a close-up helps.
Fees and timing
The fee depends on the size and complexity of the collection, so we quote once we know what you have. We’ll always tell you the price before any work begins, and most valuations are returned within two to three weeks of receiving your photographs.
Your collection stays with you
Nothing is posted, nothing changes hands, and nothing leaves your house for the valuation itself. Your photographs and details are used only for your valuation — see our Privacy Policy.
What we can’t do from photographs
Some judgements — repairs, regumming, subtle forgeries — need the stamp in hand. Where that applies we say so plainly and, for high-value items, point you towards formal expertisation.
Request a Valuation
Tell us a little about your collection and we’ll come back to you by email with a quote and the next steps. Please don’t attach photographs yet — we’ll ask for them by email once we’ve agreed to go ahead.
Prefer to write directly? Email hello@obelisk-stamps.com. Valuations are our opinion of market value and are not financial or investment advice.