Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Decide what to collect, and how you will specialize. At first you may want to collect everything. The beauty of stamp collecting is that there is no wrong answer. But there are areas of interest you may want to build a collection around.
Collect the best examples that you can find and afford. Look for well centered stamps that are undamaged, with good graphics, and that are not faded. If you have no money for collecting, ask for the stamps off of canceled (postmarked) letters and packages. People will normally give these to you for free.
Preserve your Stamps. All stamps are made of some type of printed material. Usually this is paper. Paper decays due to acids in the paper itself, the oils and chemicals on your hands and fingers, direct sunlight and temperature. Because of this and the fact that most stamps have glue on their backs they must be handled properly to preserve their beauty, historical importance and value.
Stamps should be handled with stamp tongs or tweezers whenever possible. These should be wide at the tweezer' s tip; get them at hobby stores, stamp shows or online.
Stamps should be kept in an acid free stamp album. Never mark directly on a stamp; it diminishes its value to a collector.
New stamps that have the self-sticking backing on them should be stored with the backing still in place.
Stamps are graded on condition (unused, used, damage to the stamp, damage to the glue, damage to perforations and rarity). Treat all good stamps as if they are rare.
Buy an inexpensive stamp collecting guide; also check libraries and online.
Join a stamp club, attend a stamp show, go to a stamp and coin shop or just collect what you find. Stamp collecting can be a lifelong hobby. Hundreds of new stamps are created each year.
International stamps: You might try to collect a stamp from each country of the world. Send letters to embassies or pen pals, or ask soldiers you and your family know to bring some back from overseas.
Topical stamps: These are collected more by what is on the stamp than where they come from. You might collect blimps and balloons, aviation, flowers, famous people or fish, Christmas, religious, Communist, war, peace, United Nations, children, whales or dinosaurs.
Uncirculated stamps: These are stamps that have never been put on an envelope, never used and the gums on the back is intact.
Canceled stamps: These are stamps taken off of letters and packages with a postmark stamped on them; basically used stamps. Most stamps in collections are canceled stamps.
First Day covers: These are postcards and envelopes with special post markings for the release of special stamps.
Postmarks: Some old and unusual postmarks are collected. An example would be early personal postmarks used by early postmasters. These are rare and tend to be expensive. Buy from a reputable stamp dealer with a written guarantee of authenticity.
Don't pass up stamps you have copies of; they are great for trading. Common stamps today will be desirable for other collectors years from now.
Let friends and relatives know that you are collecting stamps and want old envelopes and postcards.