Looking for Collectible Postcards
I've found that the best place to find collectible postcards
is at art auctions. I was at an art auction in Eastlake, Ohio
looking for stained glass and found them auctioning a lot of
vintage collectible postcards. I bought the lot at the art
auction and it contained almost three thousand beautiful
collectible postcards.
About thirty percent of the collectible postcards were
pre-linen. These are postcards that were all made before 1930.
The linen collectible postcards were made from 1930 to 1945 and
the lot I won at the art auction had thirty percent linen cards
as well.
Forty percent of the lot I won at the art auction was for
early chrome collectible postcards. Most of them were from the
fifties and sixties. There were also collectible postcards from
the British museum series from the seventies.
The collectible postcards that are my favorite are all turn
of the century and were sent for holidays. Valentine's Day
collectible postcards from the early 1900s are very romantic.
The Christmas postcards have some really nice artwork. I was
really fortunate with the purchase at the art auction because
the assortment was so varied.
My collection of collectible postcards contains many
different themes. I like the non-US card. I found an art
auction that had a shoebox full of these postcards and they
were from places like Bermuda, Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden,
Germany, Ireland and even Istanbul. I had never owned a
collectible postcard from Niger before that art auction.
People who do not collect vintage collectible postcards just
don't understand their value. They are usually not even
mentioned as being part of an art auction. I go to art auctions
every other weekend on the off chance that there will be
collectible postcards on the auction block.
I am always so pleased when I find linen ere collectible
postcards at an art auction. The auctioneer at most art
auctions does not even announce the lot as linen postcards; he
usually just announces it as vintage or old collectible
postcards. His lack of knowledge of the subject almost always
works to my advantage.
I have various collections of collectible postcards within
the main collection. I tried for awhile to complete a set of
state views in all linen era postcards. I can't even count how
many art auctions I attended before I even had thirty of the
forty eight states. I know that I finally tired of the pursuit
and have just put it on the back burner.
The holiday collectible postcards go to collectors of more
than just postcards. I've seen people buy holiday collectible
postcards at an art auction just to frame and decorate with
them during certain holidays. I actually found five really nice
vintage Christmas collectible postcards at an art auction and
had them framed for my mother as a Christmas gift.
I went to an art auction and estate sale of a man whose
grandfather had been a colonel army officer. The collectible
postcards that I found there were fantastic. The officer had
amassed 353 different postcards from India. It was amazing.
They had been tucked into an album and never used and were in
perfect condition.
For awhile, I thought that I wanted to collect postcards
from soldiers in WWI. I found a two hundred piece lot of this
type of collectible postcards at an art auction in New Haven.
The mix of cards was British, French and German. It was
interesting because some of the collectible postcards were
censored. I've never seen censored collectible postcards
before.
The most I've ever spent on collectible postcards at an art
auction was $530 for four postcards. They were all from 1904
and they depicted automobile racing. They were in pristine
condition. I doubt that I will ever find any more even remotely
like this the rest of my life. They were exceptional.
The lot of collectible postcards I found last weekend was
really fun to look through. The art auction had a lot of things
from a family that had emigrated here from Serbia. The
postcards were all from either Serbia or Belgrade. This was a
good lot and it went for the opening bid.
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