How foreign cards end up in American albums
Emigrant correspondence. Millions of immigrants arrived in the United States during the golden age of the postcard, and their families back home sent cards: greetings, views of the home village, photographs of relatives. Those cards were saved in family albums alongside American cards.
Travel souvenirs. Americans who traveled abroad bought and mailed cards from European cities, ships and resorts.
Postcard exchanges. In the early 1900s, collectors exchanged cards with strangers in other countries through clubs and published lists, and some albums contain cards from all over the world.
Military service. Soldiers in both world wars sent cards home from Europe and elsewhere, including the embroidered silks of World War I. See military postcards.
Which foreign cards collectors want
- Real photo postcards of small towns and villages, often more valuable to collectors in that country than common city views.
- Early cards with undivided backs or early postmarks.
- Interesting stamps and postmarks, including those from countries or territories that no longer exist.
- Topicals: transportation, occupations, events, expositions and holidays.
- Fine greeting cards, including the richly printed cards of Germany and other European printing centers. See German-printed postcards.
Common foreign cards
Views of famous European landmarks, major cities and tourist sites were printed in very large numbers and are common. Modern foreign chromes from travel in the 1950s onward are worth little individually.
Where foreign cards sell best
The strongest demand for a card is usually in its own country. A real photo of a small French village is worth more to a French collector than to most Americans. European collectors are active on marketplaces such as Delcampe. For an American seller with a mostly American collection, though, foreign cards are best kept with the rest and valued as part of the whole.
Language and handwriting
Foreign cards often carry messages in other languages, sometimes in old scripts that are hard to read today. Families occasionally have these translated as part of genealogy research. If the cards matter to your family history, photograph or scan the messages before deciding what to do with the collection.
Foreign cards in my quotes
My focus is American postcards, which is where demand is strongest among the collectors I sell to. Foreign cards mixed into an American collection are welcome and included in the quote; I count them as a group and look closely at any real photos and unusual items.
Canada and Mexico
Cards from Canada and Mexico appear often in American collections, from travel across the borders and from families with ties on both sides. Canadian real photo views of small towns and Mexican cards from the early 1900s, especially real photos, have collector followings, mostly in their own countries. Like other foreign cards, they are welcome in an American collection and counted with the rest.
Ships and ocean liners
Cards of ocean liners, often bought or mailed aboard ship, are a popular topic of their own, collected by maritime enthusiasts regardless of nationality. Cards issued by the shipping lines themselves, and those with shipboard postmarks, are of particular interest.
Questions people ask
Are old French postcards worth anything?
Common city views are modest in value; real photos of villages, early cards and topicals are more collectible, mainly among French collectors.
Are old English postcards valuable?
Similar rules apply: most views are common, while real photos, early cards and certain publishers and comic cards have followings.
Are old German postcards worth anything?
German-printed greetings and some views are collectible; see the German-printed guide.
Do you buy foreign postcards?
As part of an American collection, yes. Collections that are entirely foreign are better sold in their country of origin.
Are foreign stamps on postcards valuable?
Usually not by themselves, but some are; leave them on the card and mention them.
Postcards and immigration history
For families descended from immigrants, cards from the old country can be extraordinary documents: a photograph of a grandparent's village, a church where ancestors married, a message from a sibling left behind. Genealogists sometimes use them to identify home towns that were otherwise lost. Even when such cards have modest market value, they may be worth far more to the family, which is why it is worth looking through them carefully before a collection changes hands.
Early international exchange
During the postcard craze, clubs and magazines published lists of collectors who wanted to exchange cards with people in other countries. Enthusiasts sent cards of their own towns abroad and received foreign views in return. Albums built through these exchanges can contain cards from dozens of countries, each with its own stamps and postmarks, and they show how international the hobby was more than a century ago.
Photographing foreign cards for a quote
One photo of the foreign cards fanned out, plus close-ups of any real photos and a couple of backs with stamps and postmarks, is plenty.
Should I separate the foreign cards from the American ones before getting a quote? No. Describe the collection as a whole and mention roughly how many foreign cards there are; the quote covers everything together.
Are cards from countries that no longer exist more valuable? Stamps and postmarks from vanished countries and territories can interest postal history collectors, though the picture still matters most.
Can foreign postcards help with genealogy? Yes. Messages, postmarks and views of home towns can point researchers to the places their families came from.
Sources and further reading
Ready to sell? Compare where to sell old postcards, or see how to sell old postcards step by step.