subject: What Type Of Postcards Are Highly Valuable? [print this page] What Type Of Postcards Are Highly Valuable?
When you start getting involved with postcards and collecting postcards, it's inevitable that sooner or later you'll get thinking about which type of postcard will be the most collectible, and also which will be the most valuable.
Out of all the postcards around today (including historic postcards), you'll find that only a few unique cards are seen as desirable by collectors, and it'll be those ones that are highly prized and go for top dollar. (Potentially a few thousand dollars).
The great thing is that you can come across a postcard like this amongst ordinary cards - if you know what you're looking for. Even if you don't find the 'ideal' postcard, you can still pick up quality cards worth up to $50 or more.
But which postcards to look for?
As a general rule, the classic postcard era of 1898 to 1918 tends to hold the most highly prized and collected postcards. The value of those postcards lies in the topics (a wide variety of subjects are OK), the postcard image or the artist who created the image or card. Of course the quality of the postcard has to be factored in too.
Other styles of highly collectible postcards include general holiday cards so keep your eyes peeled for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day postcards. (Highly desired was a mechanical Halloween card with moving parts. Collectors love this sort of uniqueness!)
Other things to look for are artist-signed postcards and cards that jump out at you as being different to all the rest. For example, if you can find a Christmas postcard with Santa dressed in blue or black robes then you could be holding a treasure in your hands.
Other styles to look for include real photo postcards of small towns, locations or actual events. These can often be highly prized (may go up to the $5000 mark) as there may only have been a limited number of these views printed.
Like we mentioned, the postcard must be in good condition (no creases or folds, no discoloration etc) in order to hold its value. If the card hasn't been written on, even better. So keep searching, you never know what treasures might be waiting for you around the next corner!
