David Semsrott Stamps

It was pleasant the gentleman was real respectable help me with my stamps even though they wouldn't worth anything he was Curtis see with me and patient so if you got any stamps that you think need to be looked at he's in Kirkwood you got to go around to the back he's in the back of the building behind 11 239 Manchester behind the jewelry store and I guess that's the cake place behind the building have fun

David has always been so great with my kids and helping to quietly develop their interest in stamps. He's not a salesman, but he is a kind and knowledgeable gem. My kind of shop owner! 🙂

Dave is a good guy and a great asset to the stamp collecting community, and operates the last true storefront stamp shop in St. Louis. He offered supplies, literature, and, of course stamps and postal history.

Just a word of advice to folks who may have a collection that was inherited: most likely it is worth very little, and stamp dealers will have little/no interest.

There are stamp shows in St. Louis that are held several times per year. Your best bet would be to visit one of those shows and talk to several dealers and ask if they'd be willing to inspect the collection (don't bring it in with you, leave it in your car). Take pictures of the albums, stock books, cigar boxes, envelopes, etc. that that stamp are in, then take some pictures of pages of stamps from some of the more widely collected countries: U.S., Germany, France, Great Britain, Scandinavia, China, and Japan, for example. This will give the dealer a pretty good idea of what the collection is comprised of, and if there is any "value" to it, and she/he may ask you to bring it in at that point (or, it a local dealer, to set an appointment).

Just because the stamps are old (100 years plus) doesn't mean they are worth much -- billions of stamps have been printed worldwide!

If, as most turn out, that it doesn't have any real monetary value, consider passing it along to a youngster, keeping it for yourself and learning from it, or perhaps donate it to the Scouts (a lot of collections are donated!). If, by chance, you have something of value, be sure to have several dealers take a look at it.

Remember, someone got a lot of "value" in enjoyment out of that collection, probably far, far more that the value of the stamps themselves, it was a way to unwind learn!