You are viewing a collection of STAMPS from BOLIVIA. These stamps come from a large stamp collection (see below, “The History of These Stamps”). These Bolivian stamps are mounted on hand-made album pages, cataloged, and annotated by the gentleman who put the album together. Most of the stamps are used, but there are a few unused stamps.

The album is actually a reused 3-ring binder with removable pages. The scanned images show only a few representative pages from the album.

This auction also includes a few envelopes and glassines with LOOSE, UNMOUNTED, UNCATALOGED BOLIVIAN STAMPS. Some of these loose stamps are unused.

Also included in this auction is an OLD PRICE SHEET (several pages) FOR BOLIVIAN STAMPS, probably published in the early 1980’s. The price sheet may help you identify stamps the stamps by picture and catalog number.

Here is how the album is organized:

• 28 pages labeled for Bolivian definitives. 11 pages labeled for Bolivian Air Mail.
• Definitive dates range from 1887 (the first catalog number is hand-written: “24 A7”) to 1955.
• Air Mail dates range from 1930 to 1957. However, the earliest air mail stamp is from 1932, “C39 AP8”
• Some years are not represented in these hand-made album pages. Upon looking over the price sheet, some of the years are skipped accordingly.
• Of the 28 pages created for definitives, 2 of them have no stamps mounted, 5 of them have only 1 or 2 stamps, and the rest have 3 or more.
• Of the 11 pages created for air mail, 1 has no stamps mounted, and 1 has only 1 stamp, and the rest have 3 or more.

If you are the winning bidder of this auction, you will receive the pages removed from the album, but I will not be shipping the 3-ring binder so as to reduce the shipping/handling costs. You will also receive the loose stamps (in glassine) and the price sheet.

IF BIDDING ON THIS ITEM EXCEEDS $20 (US), THEN SHIPPING WILL BE FREE AS LONG AS IT IS SHIPPED TO ANY DESTINATION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES. International shipping/handling charges will still apply no matter how high the bidding goes.

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Please note:

·        This auction is for e-Bay members using PayPal only, please.

·        Shipping is by USPS. Depending on the package, I use First Class, Parcel Post, or Priority Mail. International buyers: Please contact me for international shipping rates.

·        Insurance is optional. If not insured, I cannot be held responsible nor can I help you recover any losses or damages due to shipping.

·        If you are the winning bidder, please pay within 7 days of the close of the auction. Otherwise, please contact me by e-mail. If payment (or e-mail) is not received within 7 days, the item will be relisted, and appropriate feedback will follow.

·        If you are unhappy with your purchase, please e-mail me within 7 days of receiving it, and I will refund the purchase price upon receipt of the item(s) returned.

·        I am not a stamp collector. I try to describe the items to the best of my ability, but there may be errors in my descriptions. If you have a question or a comment, please contact me, and I will do my best to respond quickly and accurately.

·        All items come from a smoke-free home.

·        I believe in the Feedback system. If you are the winning bidder, please leave appropriate feedback, and I will do the same.

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THE HISTORY OF THESE STAMPS

The e-Bay item described here comes from a collection that was originally built by the grandfather of an acquaintance of mine. The collector passed away several years ago and he left the stamps to his grandson, who in turn did not seem to have any interest in them. I purchased the collection from him (thinking that I would get “hooked” into stamp collecting), and I have kept them in storage for about nine years.

The collection of stamps came in nine large boxes. Some boxes were labeled “ALBUMS,” and other boxes were labeled “UNSORTED,” “SEMI-SORTED,” and “BOXED MISH-MASH.” There must be hundreds of thousands of stamps in the entire collection. There are too many to describe the entire contents in detail, but here is a brief description of the collection.

• U.S. stamps, approximately 30%; Foreign stamps approximately 70%.
• Mostly used, but there are many unused/mint stamps.
• Mostly definitive stamps for general purpose postage, however there are several first day covers, air mail stamps, commemoratives, Also, there are a few other items such as old envelopes and correspondence (post cards and letters).
• Stamps range from about the 1880’s to the 1990’s.
• Mostly off-paper.
• Mostly single stamps, but a few plate blocks and strips of attached stamps.
• The stamps have been stored by various methods: albums, stock pages, mini stamp sets (some year sets, some topical sets), glassine envelopes, paper envelopes, and boxes. I’d estimate about 75% of the envelopes and boxes are labeled with Scott catalog numbers, but I cannot tell if all the labels or catalog numbers are true (I found a few envelopes that were incorrectly labeled, so I suspect the original collector re-used envelopes and didn’t bother to re-label). There are several examples of single stamps mounted individually.
• Not only was the original collector a hobbyist, he was also a dealer who bought and sold at stamp trade shows. There are many examples of stamps that have been labeled with the year of issue, country, catalog number, catalog value (values probably taken from catalogs of the mid-1990’s), and/or selling price.
• The original collector apparently bought, sold, and traded stamps at trade shows. A portion of the collection represents stock used for trade show sales. As such, many of the stamps (or stamp sets) have hand-written prices. Also, there are many sets of multiples of specimens.
• It is apparent that a great deal of work went into this collection. The collector prepared hundreds of album pages, mostly by hand. Many of the albums consist of re-used 3-ring binders containing the hand-made album pages, and stamps mounted (and occasionally annotated) on the pages.

Because the collection is large and not organized enough for me to sell it in a single auction sale, I have decided to break the collection up and auction it off over time in smaller lots. I am not a philatelic expert, and I do not have the time to look up catalog values or identify rare or valuable stamps. However, I do know that there are several high-value “gems” in this collection. Therefore, I am putting these stamps up for auction on e-Bay for your bidding pleasure.

Good luck. I hope you find what you are looking for.