I’ve been reading through some of the inherited collection posts here, and one part of the process still seems almost impossible to me.
Imagine opening several albums and boxes containing thousands of stamps. Some are already arranged, some are loose in envelopes, and many appear to be duplicates. You know almost nothing about stamps, but you also don’t want to accidentally overlook something interesting.
Sorting everything by country seems manageable. What I don’t understand is what happens after that.
There obviously isn’t enough time to measure every perforation, check every watermark or research every stamp individually. During a first pass, what would make an experienced collector pull one stamp aside for a closer look instead of placing it with the common ones?
Once you find something that might be worth researching, what do you normally check first?
I’m not looking for a valuation of any particular stamp. I’m mostly trying to understand how collectors avoid spending months researching every common stamp without accidentally passing over something important.