Home >> Collecting >> Stamp Collecting

Stamp Collecting Tools

As a hobby, philately or stamp collecting, has been around since the mid-1840s when the first postage stamps were issued by Great Britain and the United States. To protect their stamps, as well as to determine often subtle variations in color and perforation, stamp collectors employ a number of tools, such as tongs, magnifiers, and special gauges.

Tongs
- In order to protects stamps from dirt and skin oils, stamp collectors use tongs to hold a stamp while examining it. Stamp tongs are a special type of tweezers with smoothly rounded ends which will not tear or pierce a stamp. Tongs are available a hobby shops and from stamp dealers. You should not use ordinary household tweezers as a substitute.
Magnifiers
- Stamp collectors also use magnifiers when examining the design details on stamps. They might use a simple handheld magnifying glass, or a lighted magnified mounted on a stand.
Color Guides
- The stamps are printed using many different colors of inks. A color guide shows examples of every know stamp color. They are particularly handy for novice or beginning collectors who may have difficulty deciding if a stamp&'s ink is "carmine," "rose," or "carmine-rose." Like tongs and magnifiers, color guides can be purchased from most stamp dealers.
Perforation Gauges
- During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. Postal Office produced several stamp issues with identical designs, but different size perforations, the little holes punched in between stamps to facilitate separating them. A perforation gauge is used to determine the size of the holes. An example of stamps with identical designs but with different perforations, are Scott #C12, the 5-cent winged globe airmail stamp issued in 1930, and Scott #C16, the 5-cent winged globe airmail issued in 1931. The stamps are identical in size and color, only their perforation sizes are different.
Watermark Detector
- In order to prevent stamp forgery, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing issued some stamps with watermarks. These markings are embedded into wet stamp paper prior to printing and are invisible to the naked eye. By immersing a stamp in a special tray filled with watermark detection fluid, these markings become visible. The tray and fluid are collectively known as a watermark detector. The watermark detection fluid is highly volatile and will not damage a stamp or cause the inks to dissolve and run.

Stamp Collecting