Americana Postcard
What You Need To Know About Vintage Postcards
One thing to ask yourself is which postcards are valuable? There are books that set a standard price range which can be a good guideline, but when it comes right down to it the book is only good as a general guideline. The value is in the collector’s mind and what he will pay for it. It all depends on the collector as to what he collects and is looking for. One might collect Michigan postcards; another might collect bridges; another might collect his home town; another might collect birds; another might collect Black Americana, etc.
So if you have a geographic specific post card it would be a good idea to try and sell them at a flea market in the area of where the postcard is based. Also if you have an old postcard from a business you could try contacting the business where it stands now and see if they would be interested.
One thing to know that will help you determine the value of a postcard though is the availability of each card. The fewer there are the more valuable they will be. One good idea is to monitor the value of a by monitoring the local trends. Google has a website that displays the trends of whatever you type into it. You can check out the trend for ‘postcards’ here. (http://www.google.com/trends?q=postcards) This site will show you the latest news and break down the latest trend by geographical location.
At the time of this writing Google Trends displayed news about postcards containing Cold War spy messages being unearthed. You can be sure that if you come across these postcards that the value of them has raised due to the local publicity of the news.
You can find vintage postcards for resale by going to rummage sales, auctions, estate sales, eBay, flea markets, and the internet. Similarly, you can also sell the postcards at the same locations; it is just a matter of spotting the bargain postcards for resale.
So how can you tell if you find a good bargain?
One thing to look out for is reproductions. Since reproductions are not worth as much as the originals it is important to be able to spot the difference and here is how you do it.
An obvious one is to look for a stamp. Is it a 1 cent or 2 cent stamp? Then more than likely it is genuine.
Check the postmark of the postcards, if it has an old date chances are it’s an original. There are not many reproductions out there that are that old. You can also tell by the paper of the postcard. Originals mostly have a slight yellowing of the paper; and most old postcards have light soil marks on them and they have a musty odor on them from being in storage for so long. Reproductions usually look too new, are printed on an off white color, and don’t look like they have been handled too much. A lot of the old postcards have on the back of them the name of the publisher; where they were printed; and some have series numbers as well. Of course, they could have been copied too but this gives you something extra to look for. After handling a lot of postcards you can almost tell right away if it’s a reproduction or not.
Another good idea is if you spot a postcard that you wonder is valuable or not you could look it up on your phone if it has internet access on such sites such as eBay to see the current going rate.
We hope you learned some tips and you are welcome to learn more from our site at http://bobspostcards.com. Until then have a great day!
Kathy and Bob Penn
About the Author
Article written by Kathy Penn. All Rights Reserved. For more information on Vintage Postcards for Sale please visit http://bobspostcards.com.
BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD COLLECTION
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Black Americana Pickaninny Series In Case You Git Fresh Postcard $9.99 |
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1956 KWAKIUTI INDIAN VILLAGE NATIVE AMERICANA POSTCARD $12.98 |
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Vintage Black Americana Postcards Unused Great Vintage Conditon lot of 4 $12.99 |
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Kiss of BLACK Americana KIDS in Snow Vintage PC $29.99 |
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” The Three Bares ” Black Americana, Beach — Old Vintage Linen Comic Postcard $2.99 |
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Watching Steamboat BLACK AMERICANA Vintage 1898 PC $29.99 |
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4 VINTAGE POST CARDS ~ BLACK AMERICANA ~ POSTMARKED 1906 – 1909 DIXIE LAND $19.99 |
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Black Americana mama eat apple old 1900s Photo postcard $12.00 |
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Native Americana Woman w Baby on Back Comic Postcard $6.89 |
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**1900′s AMERICANA ~ G. W. HUNT STORE ~ COAL, HAY, GRAINS & KINDLING ~ RPPC $25.00 |
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1908 BLACK BARBER, BARBER POLE BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $28.79 |
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1899 NORFOLK, VA, JAMESTOWN BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $71.09 |
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1907 EASTER BUNNY, PERSONIFIED BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $17.09 |
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USA ANGOLA NEW YORK PROFESSORA PHOTOCARD COM SUAS DISCIPULAS MISSAO AMERICANA QU $16.38 |
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1900′s AMERICANA ~ THE NORTHERN CLUB ~ CURLEY’S HOME BAKERY & RESTAURANT~ PIES $15.00 |
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Cherokee NC Native Americana Native-Made Articles Postcard $8.29 |
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Three Vintage Black Americana/Memorabilia Post Cards $9.99 |
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1908 BLACK AMERICANA, UNUSUAL SUBJECT, NICE DATED 1908 POSTMARK $3.95 |
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Native Americana Child Artist Signed Postcard $2.99 |
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CIRCA 1908 BLACK AMERICANA, BOY WITH A SACK EYEING A CHICKEN $3.95 |
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art WUYTS Black Americana Boy In Love Daisy Flower old 1910s postcard SET of 6 $46.00 |
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BLACK AMERICANA Cotton Pickers Down South Vtg Postcard $8.25 |
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1914 BLACK AMERICANA, UNUSUAL OUTFIT, NICE DATED 1914 POSTMARK $4.95 |
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1900s Wapsipinicon House~Iowa Somewhere? RPPC AMERICANA $20.00 |
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Large Letter Greetings from MISSOURI Black Americana Boy eating watermelon $4.95 |
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EARLY LINEN BLACK AMERICANA, PICKING COTTON, ORIGINAL VINTAGE CARD $2.95 |
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CIRCA 1910 BLACK AMERICANA, REAL PHOTO OF EARLY PARADE CART WITH A BAND, RARE $4.95 |
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EARLY LINEN BLACK AMERICANA, 2 SOLDIERS SHOOTING CRAPS, UNUSED $4.95 |
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EARLY LINEN BLACK AMERICANA, SMALL CHILD ON MOUNTAIN OF COTTON, ORIGINAL $2.95 |
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VERY EARLY BLACK AMERICANA TRADECARD, EARLY AFRICAN NATIVES HELPING EXPLORER $5.95 |
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EARLY PRE LINEN BLACK AMERICANA, THE MILKMAN, ORIGINAL VINTAGE CARD $4.95 |
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COTTON SCENE SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $7.25 |
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PICKING COTTON #2391 – BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $6.75 |
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PICKING COTTON #78-17 – BLACK AMERICANA POSTCARD $7.25 |
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EARLY LINEN BLACK AMERICANA, 2 SMALL KIDS ON A LARGE PELICAN, UNUSED $4.95 |
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Postcard from Paris (Tribute to the Band Perry) $0.99 … |
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Postcard from the Deadeye $4.95 … |
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Postcard From California $0.99 … |
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Nostalgic Postcard Set, Americana (Set of 25) $19.99 Big headlines and bold photos leap from these jumbo ripped straight from the newspaper-style cards. Makes it easy to spark memories and discussions as clients talk about living through these key moments in American history. 5″ x 8-1/2″ cards are printed on archive-quality, parchment card stock and filled with interesting tidbits about the big events. Choose from 3 great sets of 25 cards each…. |
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Black Americana Postcard String Lights Party Lights C7 Black Americana Postcard style retro Lantern Indoor/Outdoor Party String lights, 2 each of 5 different lanterns. Each of the 10 white lantern plastic covers measures about 4 7/8 inches tall x 2 1/2 inches wide (the size of a 12 oz. can of pop) like the ones in the picture. The 12 foot wire in this set of string lights is green and constructed like an extention cord so up to 3 sets of string lights… |
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Route 66 Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited, Volume 2 $29.95 Much more than a ribbon of crumbling asphalt, Route 66 is a cultural icon revered the world over for its nostalgia value—an east-west artery pointing America toward all the promise that the great West represented. But as stretches of Steinbeckâs “Mother Roadâ were bypassed and fell into disuse, so too did most of the bustling establishments that had sprouted up from Illinois to… |
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Real Photo Postcards: Unbelievable Images from the Collection of Harvey Tulcensky $11.33 It may be hard to believe, but there actually was a time when the postcard image was not a clich. To reach it, you’ll have to set your clock back to the end of the nineteenth century, when an Act of Congress allowed Americans to mail a card for just one cent. A few years later, Kodak introduced an easy-to-use and affordable folding camera that put postcard power into the hands of ordinary citizens… |
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The Art and Flair of Mary Blair $40.00 For more than a dozen years, an unassuming, quiet-spoken woman dominated Disney design. The stylishness and vibrant color of Disney films in the early 1940s through mid-1950s came primarily from artist Mary Blair. In her prime, she was an amazingly prolific American artist who enlivened and influenced the not-so-small worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. At its… |
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Vintage Black Americana Postcard Darky’s Prayer, Florida. Vintage Black Americana Postcard Darky’s Prayer, Florida. No date assumed early 1900′s… |