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How to Identify a Foreign Postage Stamp

Stamp collectors often face the conundrum of having to categorize a stamp with dubious origins. Of course every collector will look for the obvious: the name of the country marked on the front or back of the stamp. However, sometimes country names change or aren't printed so obviously. For this, you may need a stamp catalog, a watermarking tray or an expert to look it over.

Things You'll Need

Stamp catalog
Watermarking tray

Instructions

- 1
  Check for a country name somewhere on the stamp. It may appear in another language. If so, look up the name in its original language to find an appropriate translation.
- 2
  Look for notable national symbols or language cues. These will help narrow the possibilities of which countries the stamp may have come from.
- 3
  Look up possible clues using keywords, symbols and country lists in a stamp catalog. Search online catalogs exist in case your print versions don't point you in the right direction.
- 4
  Use a watermark tray to reveal otherwise invisible text or symbols, and repeat above steps using the new marks as clues.

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