Basics of Stamp Collecting
December 18, 2006
1. First and most important in the collecting of Postage Stamps is that it is strictly a hobby. It is not an investment. Do not expect that you can someday sell your hobby at a great profit, because you will not. Therefore, just sit back and enjoy the hobby for what it is, and do not worry about what you might sell it for. It is a great hobby, and when one recognizes it as such, he can get great deal of enjoyment from it.
2. Why do I collect stamps? Each stamp to me is a beautiful painting that reflects the history and natural resources of that country which produced such a stamp. It will also depict the country’s special features, such as national parks, beautiful waterfalls, and very often its famous citizens. They will also give one a picture of the country’s cities, important buildings and structures such as the capitol building, bridges, roads, etc. There was a lot of work and thought that went into creating each and every stamp, and each stamp tells the viewer some kind of story. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine how large a book it would take to write all the details that are described in a set of a country’s stamps. When viewing a collection of a country’s stamps, it is like as if you were on a tour of this country, but instead of being in a bus, you are sitting in a comfortable chair at home.
3. There are many ways for collecting stamps, and there are many types of collectors. As for collectors, there are:
a. Accumulators, who collect every stamp that comes out or has ever came out, just to feel that he has a complete collection of stamps for a particular country.
b. Specialists, who collect special particular types of stamps, usually rare and hard to find types.
c. Topical Collectors, who collect special themes on stamps, such as Christmas stamps, baseball players, coaches, Olympics, etc.
d. First-Day Covers collectors, who collect covers which have stamps that have been cancelled on the First Day of Issue of the stamp.
e. Covers in general, which can range from many forms and types, such as Show Covers which are issued at almost every Stamp Show, registering of naval vessels, First Flight covers of aircraft, etc.
f. And then there are investors, who are really not collectors. They buy a stamp for the prime purpose of reselling it some day at a big profit, which may or may not happen. In order to belong to this group, I would arbitrarily set the price limit on the stamp at $100,000.00 and above. This is about the range that investors invest in rare paintings, artifacts, etc. Anything below this amount, the possibilities for gaining a large profit is very limited.
g. And the list goes on and on.
4. There is a massive amount of publications and periodicals that are produced on stamps and the history of stamps. Some of which are:
a. The Linn’s Stamp, which is the World’s largest Weekly Stamp News and is filled with a world of information about stamps and people who are selling stamps. There had been several Companies who had published a Newsletter about stamps in the past, but most of them have gone out of business.
b. The Stamp Catalogue is a necessary publication to determine the Catalogue Number and Catalogue Value of any postage Stamp. It is also a very useful tool to determine what the Scott number of the stamp is and to what country the stamp belongs. Some stamps are not that obvious from what country it represents. These catalogues have become quite expensive lately, but they can be picked up at a discount, such as at other Stamp Clubs. They are always available at almost any library. Unfortunately, they can not be borrowed from the library.
c. The World Stamp Almanac, which is published by the Linn’s Stamp News, which is full of detailed information about the history of stamps, the U. S. Postal service, the U. S. Stamp Printing, U. S. Postal Rates, U. S. Postal Regulations, etc.
d. The Inverted Jenny, which gives a complete history of the rare and famous upside-down Jenny Aircraft Stamp, and who all has them, which was published by the Amos Press.
e. Linn’s U. S. Stamp Yearbook, which is published by the Linn’s Stamp News every year, and gives a history of every stamp that was issued by the United States Post Office for that year.
f. The Postal Service guide to U. S. Stamps published by the United States Postal Service. This is an excellent source of information on all United States Stamps that were published from the very beginning of postage stamps. It does not cover each stamp in detail as the United States Catalogue does, but is still an excellent reference. It can be obtained from the U. S. Postal Service in the same manner that you order stamps and on the same Order Form.
g. And the list goes on and on.
5. For those who collect United States stamps, an essential publication is the USA Philatelic, which is the Official Source for Stamp Enthusiasts for United States Stamps. It is published by the United States Postal Service about every quarter and gives a complete list of all the stamps that have been published and are still available by the United States Postal Service. The publication is Free, and you can be put on their mailing list by calling their toll-free telephone number 1-800-782-6724. Also included in the publication is an order form for any stamp that you wish to purchase and a complete set of instructions on how to order. There is also included a postage-free envelope for returning your order. The postage and handling fee is only $1.00. There are many stamps that can be obtained from this source which the local Post Office does not stock, such as bulk-rate stamps, official stamps, etc. For a United States stamp collector, this publication is absolutely essential.
6. And now a brief review of the tools of the trade that are essential for anyone who collects stamps.
a. Tongs, the most essential tool for collecting stamps. One should never pick up a stamp with one’s fingers, for fear of damaging the stamp. Tongs differ from tweezers, where tweezers have serrations under the pinching portion of the tool which would injure the stamp if it were to be used like a tongs.
b. Perforation Gage, which is an essential tool for measuring the spacing of perforations on stamps. Perforations vary widely in the spacing, and each stamp that has a different perforation than another otherwise identical stamp, usually has a different Scott Number. The perforation 10 means that there are 10 holes that appear in a space of 2 centimeters, often referred to 20 millimeters in the United States. Perforation gages come in a variety of types and sizes.
c. Watermarking fluid. This is a fluid that is used for determining the watermarks on stamps. It is done by laying the stamp in a tray and covering the stamp with a few drops of the watermarking fluid. This procedure is necessary usually for older stamps, such as before the 1940’s. Newer stamps, which may also be watermarked, it is usually not necessary to determine what the watermark is, because it is made only in one variety.
d. Magnifying glass is almost an essential tool that is needed for examining stamps. In many of the older stamps, much of the details that distinguish one stamp from another can not be determined by the naked eye. A 5-power glass will usually do, but a 10-power glass is sometimes necessary.
e. Mounts are not essential for one to mount their stamps in an album. The most popular way to mount stamps in the past was by means of hinges. But since the No-Hinge craze, mounts have become popular. The mounts also make the stamp look much nicer in the album. However, if one collects only cancel stamps, hinges will do just fine. Mounts come in two different types, black mounts and clear mounts. The clear mounts will look like there is no mount at all on the page, while the black mount will accentuate the boundary and perforations of the stamp.
f. Albums are necessary if one wants to keep their stamps in a place that is out of a shoe box, and which can be stored safely and be looked at with ease. There are several companies that produce albums for stamps. Scott is the most popular, but is the most expensive. White Ace is the next most popular. The Scott Album is the only Album which has the Scott Numbers on each individual stamp position. The Scott Company will not allow anyone else to use their number system, except the United States Postal Service.
g. Stock sheets are a convenient method for storing stamps that you do not have placed in your album. They come in a variety of types and sizes.
7. They are many ways in which one can collect stamps or stamp products. Just a few of the ways are as follows:
a. Placing one’s stamps in a Stamp Album. This is Scott’s British Caribbean Islands Album from 1937 to 1966. Please do not touch the stamps. Just Look. I have them placed in the Album on black mounts, which makes the presentation very professional looking.
b. First-Day Covers can be collected in many ways. I prefer to have them in an Album so one can look at them and examine them closely. This hobby was quite popular at one time, but it has recently deteriorated, primarily because at the massive amount of stamps that are produced and the expense to not only buy the stamp but purchase the albums to hold them. There are several companies which can furnish First-Day covers on a continuous basis, which saves one a great deal of time trying to keep track of what stamps have come out.
c. Souvenir Sheets which are published by the United States Postal Service is a very nice way to not only collect a First-Day cover but also a history of why the stamp was made and what it represents. The Souvenir Sheets were started in 1972. It also indicates when the Issue Date was, the First-Day city, the designer, and many other things.
d. The American Commemorative Panels which is also published by the United States Postal Service and represents a beautiful presentation of each commemorative stamp made by the United States Postal Service. The commemorative panels where started in 1972. Each stamp is represent by a mint block of the stamp along with a history of the stamp.
e. The American Commemorative Stamp Club is also published by the United States Postal Service and represents a collection of mint commemorative stamps. The difference between this collection and the American Commemorative Panels is that you have to put the stamps in the album. The Postal Service furnishes both the stamps and the mounts as well as the pages. It also has a historical presentation for each stamp. The American Commemorative Stamp Club was started in about 1985.