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Guide to Buying Vintage Holiday and Greeting Postcards
Collecting Vintage Holidays and Greetings Postcards can be fun and rewarding. The antique cards are beautiful and historical. Postcard collecting, is currently the third largest collectable hobby in the world. There are many things to look for when collecting Postcards.
Rating System
When buying or selling postcards, everyone wants to know the condition of the postcard. This rating system is used for older or antique postcards.
- M - Mint : A perfect card just as it comes from the printing press. No marks, bends, or creases. No writing or postmarks. A clean and fresh card. Seldom seen.
- NM - Near Mint : Like Mint but very light aging or very slight discoloration from being in an album for many years. Not as sharp or crisp.
- EX - Excellent : Like mint in appearance with no bends or creases, or rounded or blunt corners. May be postally used or unused and with writing and postmark only on the address side. A clean, fresh card on the picture side.
- VG - Very Good : Corners may be a bit blunt or rounded. Almost undetectable crease or bend that does not detract from overall appearance of the picture side. May have writing or postally used on address side.
- G - Good : Corners may be noticeably blunt or rounded with noticeably slight bends or creases. May be postally used or have writing on the address side.
- FR - Fair : Card is intact. Excess soil, stains, creases, writing, or cancellation may affect picture. Could be a scarce card that is difficult to find in any condition.
Auction Abbreviations
- Und/B-Undivided Back 1901-1907
- DB-Divided Back 1907-1915
- WB-White Border 1916-1930
- L-Linen era 1930-1945
- C-Chromes 1945 to 1970s
- Cont. sz - 4"x6" chromes 1970s up
- b/w-black and white
- cof-cancel on face
- crs-crease
- cnr-corner
- emb-embossed
- lt-light
- m/t-margin tear
- o/w-otherwise
- p/ or pub - publisher
- pm-postmarked
- RP-Real Photo
- s/ or sgn - artist signed
- s/m-stamp missing
- u-used
- unu-unused
- wob-writing on back
- wof-writing on face
- a number within parenthesis indicates quantity of cards in lot.
Preservation of Postcards
Dealers use plastic sleeves and album pages. Collectors should not, unless they are sleeves or pages of archival quality. A dealer's stock is constantly changing and cards are seldom in contact with this Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) storage system for long.
Postcard Sizes
- Continental size: 4x6 inches (15 cm x 10.5 cm) Many of the new cards you purchase today are of this size.
- Regular (or Standard) size: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 (9 cm x 14 cm) Many of the older cards are of this size.
- Oversized: Anything larger than a continental size. Mostly 5x7 inches, but some can be found in larger sizes. Although this size of cards is popular with postcard companies and tourists, many collectors do not want them because they are more expensive, not easily filed, cost more to mail, and harder to trade with others. The advantage is of course the more detailed view of the scenes shown on the cards.
- Modern size: These are about 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches. They are often classified as a smaller type of oversized card.