antiquities

couple of strange questions.
I'm currently sorting through the things of a deceased relative.
i've come across a few things i may need to get valued.
I was wondering if anyone on the mighty org knows anything about this.
I have a moderate collection of stamps, although they have all been posted, ie are affixed to envelopes, i thought this removed any value, i could be wrong.
I also have an old violin and a valuation letter for it, this valuation is 30 years old but seems valuable at that time..
There are also some books that may be first editions, how do i check this and value them??
any help appreciated.

Millers guide- is a guide to antiques published annually, (I think) may be of some use, but I dont know how much it will help as they seem quite specific items, you may be best to take them to a local antique shop and ask them to have a look.

[Stingo]

If the stamps are pre George Vl and on envelopes, show them to a dealer to see if there's any valuable ones presuming that you only have a few, if there's loads they will charge for a valuation. Do some research on the net - have a look at what's for sale on ebay for example - also - catalogues are reasonably priced (Stanley Gibbons) but will only give you the top value of used/unused stamps and are not a realistic way of estimating their actual selling value (ie what you might get for them) - what they are worth is ALWAYS lower than catalogue value except in the case of highly unusual and rare stamps. Even first day covers fetch little money these days unless they are really old one (QV, KEVll for example). Ebay is a good place to start though - you might even be able to email a seller for advice.

Came across more stamps, mainly George VI early 1900s, a lot of them have been stuck onto invoices and written / stamped over, was this some form of legal thingy in the dim and distant past.
Also A WW1 1914 German Iron Cross? internet suggests it may be worth few beer tokens.

[Biker Biggles]

If the violin has anything starting with the letters strad on it you can think about retiring.

about 30-60 quid for the cross depending on condition is normal

Books:

First editions can be a bit hard to spot. They might say first edition on one of the first pages. You might also see numbers inside that say something like 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1. If it's a first edition all the numbers will be there. If any are missing or it just says something like 11 then they're not.

Also, some authors do special editions for book clubs. They're not true first editions and not worth as much.

I collect first editions so if you want to send some pics of the inside pages where it tells you who printed it and when it was first published etc I can let you know.

Hey KG, there's an antiques valuation day on Fri 24th June at the Scottish Antiques and Arts Centre at Doune. From 10am to 5om, experts will value any items for a £1 donation to charity.