There have been literally millions of postcards produced over the decades and most of them are not valuable in a monetary sense. However, there are some which are highly prized by collectors and have become quite valuable. Prices for some of the rarer postcards can go as high as thousands of dollars. Lower prices are much more common. In fact it is not uncommon at all to find one or two cards worth $5 to $50 when flipping through a pile of old postcards. Listed below are some postcards which are worth keeping an eye out for when you are looking through old postcards.
Generally speaking, postcard collectors favor cards that were made during the years of 1898 to 1918. It is the topic of the image or the photographer or artist that establishes the exact value of the card taking into consideration other factors such as condition. Post card collectors are interested in postcards on all subjects.
Fore example, holiday cards are fairly popular. Card for the major holidays such as Easter, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving and Valentines are fairly common. Cards made for holidays like Labor Day, Groundhog Day and Halloween are not as common and therefore more valuable. Some of the most sought after holiday cards are Halloween cards created by Ellen Clapsaddle. Her mechanical Halloween cards have sold for around $1500.
Postcards which have been signed by the artist are also strongly sought after. Popular artists include Rose O'Neil for her Kewpie postcards, Louis Wain for his cats and paper dolls, Alphonse Mucha, Florence Upton, Arpad Basch, and Grace Drayton.
As mentioned earlier, Christmas postcards are fairly common but certain types of Christmas postcards are valuable. Look for unusual depictions such as a black Santa or a Santa wearing a color other than red. A Santa in a purple robe might fetch $200. A Santa in a blue robe with brown fur might be worth $400. While a regular Christmas postcard might not have much value, a hold-to-light postcard might be worth $75 to $100. A hold-to-light postcard is one that has something such as a fireplace or windows that appear to light up when the card is held up to light.
Another type of old postcards to keep an eye out for are real photo cards of actual historical events or small towns. These can become quite expensive since very few of each of these cards were likely printed. Real photo cards that are highly sought after can bring in $5000 or more and even real photo postcards of golfers playing on a famous golf course can be worth $350.
To bring in these top prices, the postcard must of course be in good condition and have no folds or creases. The corners mustn't be dog eared. They should not have stains or water marks and the fronts must be free of writing. Writing on the back of the postcard is okay.
