The five-minute check
Grab a few cards from different parts of the collection, without pulling anything out of albums, and look for these five things. Each "yes" makes it more likely the collection is worth a proper look.
1. Are any of them real photographs?
This is the most important question. A real photo postcard is an actual photograph printed on photo paper with a postcard back. Under a magnifying glass, the image is smooth and continuous, with no printing dots. Many are gray, black and white or sepia, often with a white handwritten caption on the picture. Real photos of identifiable places and people at work are the cards collectors chase hardest. The real photo guide shows how to recognize them.
2. Do they show small, specific places?
A card of a famous building in a big city was printed by the thousands and survives in huge numbers. A card of a village main street, a rural depot or a crossroads general store may have been made in a few dozen copies. Smaller and more specific usually means scarcer.
3. Is something happening in the picture?
People at work, a parade, a flood, a crowd at the station, a crew posed with their equipment, an early car outside a shop. Activity turns a view into a document of its time, and collectors pay for that.
4. How old are they?
Turn a card over. A back with no line down the middle usually means before 1907. A front with a white border suggests about 1915 to 1930. A textured, fabric-like surface is a linen card from about 1930 to the early 1950s. A glossy photographic finish is a chrome card, mostly 1950s onward, and those are usually the least valuable. The dating guide explains each era.
5. Is the front in good shape?
Writing and postmarks on the back are normal and do not hurt. What lowers value is damage to the picture side: heavy creases, torn or missing corners, water stains, mold, tape and glue.
What your answers mean
Mostly glossy chromes and tourist cards from the 1950s on: the collection has modest value. These cards sell in bulk for pennies to a dollar or so each, and very few are wanted individually.
Mostly printed views from before the 1930s, few real photos: the collection has some value, and a careful look may turn up better cards. Early printed holiday cards and topicals can lift it.
Real photos of towns, people and events, or early Halloween cards: the collection may be worth significantly more than it looks, and it deserves an expert look before any decision. Do not let anyone pick through it first.
Why most old postcards are common
Postcards were the everyday messaging of the early twentieth century. At the height of the craze, the Post Office carried hundreds of millions of them a year, and people saved them in albums by the thousand. Popular views were printed in enormous runs, and an enormous number survive. For those cards, supply far outstrips demand, and that is not likely to change.
The cards that are valuable today were the ones made in small numbers, about subjects that mattered locally, and that happened to survive in good condition.
Old postcards that are often overlooked
- Plain gray photographs. They look dull next to bright lithographs, and they are often the most valuable cards in the box.
- Unused blank cards. People assume an unmailed card is less interesting. Collectors are happy with either.
- Advertising cards from local businesses, which were printed in small runs.
- Cards with odd materials: leather, silk, wood, aluminum, or attached feathers and glitter.
- Cards with long, interesting messages about events, disasters or daily life.
A worked example
Imagine two shoeboxes from two different houses, each holding about eight hundred cards.
The first is mostly glossy cards from family vacations in the 1960s and 1970s: national parks, beaches, motels, a few big-city skylines, some unused souvenir sets. There are no real photographs and nothing older than the 1950s. Honestly, that box is worth a modest amount. Some roadside and motel cards might interest collectors, but most of it will sell, if at all, in bulk.
The second looks less impressive at first: lots of faded printed views, a stack of birthday greetings, some stained cards. But tucked among them are forty gray real photo postcards of small towns in Iowa, including a depot with a train in, a creamery crew and a flooded main street, plus a dozen embossed Halloween cards from around 1910. That box could be worth many times the first, and almost all of that value sits in those fifty-odd cards.
That is why the five-minute check focuses on photographs, places, activity and age rather than on how full or colorful the box is. It is also why a collection should be valued whole before anything is removed: in the second box, the cards most people would pick out first are the bright greetings, not the gray photographs that carry the value.
When to get a second opinion
If your five-minute check turned up real photos, small towns or early holiday cards, it is worth having someone who knows postcards look at the whole collection before deciding anything. A buyer's quote is free and tells you what the collection is worth to a buyer; a formal appraisal costs money but gives an independent value for insurance, estate or donation purposes. The appraisal guide explains which you need.
Questions people ask
Are postcards from the early 1900s worth anything?
Many are worth a little; real photos and better holiday cards from those years can be worth much more. See postcards from the early 1900s.
Are old postcards with stamps worth more?
Usually not because of the stamp. Early postcard stamps are almost always common. See used vs unused postcards.
Are linen postcards valuable?
Most are worth a little, but roadside, diner, motel and advertising linens can be worth several dollars or more. See linen postcards.
What is the most valuable kind of postcard?
As a class, real photo postcards of small towns, businesses and events. See the most valuable postcards.
How do I find out what mine are worth?
Get a quote on the whole collection. It is free, takes about ten minutes to request, and comes with a short explanation of what drove the number.
Sources and further reading
- Playle's: how to identify and date real photo postcards
- U.S. Postal Service: rates for stamped cards and postcards since 1873
Ready to sell? Compare where to sell old postcards, or see how to sell old postcards step by step.