Old Postcard Values: How to Spot Valuable Cards

Are old postcards worth money?

Warwick & Warwick, a specialist auction house, says in its guide to valuing old postcards that demand, condition and rarity often have the greatest influence on value. The same guide stresses that value is not determined by age, and that much of an ordinary collection is worth very little.

Warwick writes from the British market and its examples are undated, so read it as a guide to reasoning, not a price list. And a story about one remarkable card says nothing about another card that merely shares its subject. Judge each card on its own.

What to inspect on each card

Run every card through this checklist, in good light with a magnifier.

• How it was made. Real photograph or press printed image? The next section explains the difference.
• What it shows. Is it a named place with people, vehicles or shopfronts, or a generic view?
• Who drew it. Look for an artist signature or credit on illustrated cards.
• The address side. Note the postmark, the stamp and where the card was mailed from.
• Condition. Check corners, creases, pinholes, stains, album marks and any writing or heavy cancellation on the picture side.

Warwick lists condition grades from Mint and Near Mint through Excellent, Very Good, Good and Fair down to Poor. It warns that descriptions such as "average" or "good for its age" usually signal fair condition or worse. Paper wears in its own ways, as our guide to collecting US paper money explains for banknotes.

Real photo cards versus printed cards

Warwick separates view cards into two kinds. Real photographic cards were printed directly from the negative, often by local photographers in small numbers, which makes them scarce. Printed cards came off a press and lack that photographic definition. Under magnification, their printing screen shows as a pattern of dots. Warwick describes printed views as more common and generally worth less.

Dots under a loupe point to press printing, but their absence does not, on its own, prove a card is a real photograph. Use the magnifier to sort, not to authenticate.

Either way, the image matters. Collectors who build a record of one town want to see its streets as they once were: a tram on the main road, a train at the local station, the village inn. Warwick notes that the more detailed and animated a card is, the more a collector will want it.

Artists, subjects and postmarks

Other collectors gather cards by subject. For illustrated subjects the artist is an important factor. Warwick points to Louis Wain, whose cat designs are widely collected, and to art nouveau work by Alphonse Mucha and Raphael Kirchner, provided condition is good. It adds that condition matters more for subject cards, because that market is smaller and more sensitive to wear.

A famous name is a reason to look closer, not a value in itself. Popular designs can be reprinted, so buyers judge the specific printing you hold.

Stamps rarely carry the value. Warwick explains that postcard mail was prolific and its stamps were printed in vast quantities, so most remain common. Postmarks are different. An unusual one occasionally matters, and on cards from places where little mail was sent, the postal markings can outweigh the picture. Judging that takes someone who knows both postcards and stamps.

So a used card is not automatically a lesser card. Leave stamps and messages alone, and do not clean, trim or repair a card to improve its look.

How to compare sold examples

An estimate is only as good as its comparisons. For any card that passed the checklist:

1. Describe the card precisely. Place or subject, artist, real photo or printed, any named publisher, the postmark and an honest condition grade.
2. Use sold prices, not asking prices. An asking price is what a seller hopes for. A sold price is what a buyer paid, and only that is evidence.
3. Use a tool that reports real sales. eBay's Product research covers the last three years of eBay sales and shows the actual sold price, even when a Best Offer was accepted. It is open to sellers with Seller Hub access. Ordinary completed listings reach back only 90 days.
4. Search narrowly, then widen. Product research generally counts a sale only when it matches your keywords exactly, so try variants. Exclude a word with a minus sign, and filter by date range, condition and listing format. Illustrative searches might be real photo postcard Main Street [your town] or Louis Wain postcard -reprint.
5. Keep only true matches. Compare like with like: the same view or design, the same kind of card and similar condition. A printed version of your real photo view, or a creased copy of your clean one, is not a match.
6. Read the whole price. An auction hammer price is the winning bid. The buyer's total is usually higher once a buyer's premium is added, so check which figure a result shows. Note shipping too.
7. Weigh the pattern. Several matching sales tell you far more than one outlier.

Keep valuation and selling costs apart. Comparable sales estimate what a buyer may pay. What you keep after fees, commission and shipping will be less, so a card with some value may not be worth selling on its own.

Storing old postcards safely

The Library of Congress publishes guidance on caring for works on paper. It is written for flat paper generally, not postcards, but the basics apply.

• Handle cards with clean hands on a clean surface, away from food and drink.
• Never use tape, glue, rubber bands or paper clips on them. Keep inventory notes on a separate sheet rather than marking the cards.
• Store them somewhere cool, relatively dry and stable, not in an attic, a basement or near a radiator or vent.
• Keep light exposure low, and avoid direct or intense light.
• Use supportive enclosures, such as folders and boxes free of acid and lignin.

The Library notes that polyester sleeves can work when stiff enough to support the item, but polyester builds a static charge that can lift powdery media and flaking paint. For a card with a flaking or powdery surface, a supportive folder is safer. Store acidic paper separately so its acids do not migrate, and take real damage to a paper conservator rather than attempting a repair.

Selling a postcard collection

Start by sorting. Cards with clear evidence of demand may justify individual photographs and descriptions. Common cards are often easier to offer together, grouped by place or subject. No matching sales does not mean a card is common or worthless. Set unusual cards aside for a specialist opinion before including them in a bulk lot.

If something looks unusual, such as a detailed local real photo view, a card by a sought artist or an odd postmark, get a specialist opinion before you sell. Choose a dealer or auction house that knows both postcards and stamps, and ask in advance how they charge and what commission applies. Greatest Collectibles does not appraise cards and cannot say what a particular card is worth. Nothing here predicts future prices or promises a return.

Sources

• Warwick & Warwick, How to value old postcards.
• eBay Help, Product research.
• Library of Congress Preservation, Care, Handling, and Storage of Works on Paper.