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Collecting Stamps for Beginners
Introduction Being one of the world’s most famous hobbies with millions of collectors world wide, stamp collecting began with the issue of the first postage stamp, the Penny Black, in Britain in 1840. This stamp collecting “disease” swept through Europe and then spread worldwide. It is estimated that the number of collectors rages up to 20 million in US alone, and 200 millions world wide. Regarded as a very relaxing and rewarding hobby, stamp collecting enhances the general knowledge of the collectors, since many specialize in collecting over specific countries and/or events. Stamps designs are often interesting, varied and beautiful. Furthermore, each collection has its own personal touch, making it different from any other. Getting Started It isn’t complicated or expensive to get started in this hobby. There are a lot of shops that sells collectors stamps and packs of overseas stamps at low prices. For instance, one can get a pack of 1000 mixed stamps for a price as low as 12$. Even though no equipment is needed to be able to collect stamps, the great majority of collectors invest in a few items in order to improve the preservation, display and inspection of their stamps. These items include: a magnifying glass, a stamp album and tweezers-like tongs. After these general considerations, you should start by deciding what type of stamps you wish to collect. For most of new collectors, the starting point is to ask friends and family to save the stamps of their incoming mail, doing it with their own mail as well.
Basically, try to grab and gather every stamp you see. This way, collecting stamps becomes fun yet inexpensive. Collecting Specialties There’s a very wide range of themes you can choose to focus on your collection, such as: birds, countries, ships, planes, plants, animals, events and even celebrities.
Until you decide what kind of stamps you wish to collect, it is often good idea to stick to a general theme, gathering every stamp you can.
However, this may lead beginners to frustration, for the reason that thousands of new stamps are produced world wide, and without a specific topic it may seem endless. Thematic Collecting Thematic collecting is much more interesting as compared to general collecting. It may be general at some extent since you have a wide variety of choices under a specific subject or topic. This way, choosing a topic that particularly fascinates or interests you is an essential aspect of the process. Once you have decided, you should determine the scope of that topic, so you can choose a broader or a limited one. Collecting by Country Opposed to worldwide collecting, many collectors choose to narrow down their collection to a specific country. Similarly to the thematic collecting, this option allows you to have a more limited and manageable collection. Collecting by country can be very interesting, providing a lot of information about that specific country. Moreover, these collectors have the opportunity to find rare postage stamps from that country. Specialized Stamps More avid stamp collectors choose to go for an even more specific and specialized stamp collecting, narrowing their collections to stamps raging from errors, airmail and to proofs. Due to the complexity in identifying these stamps, the collector must have a good knowledge of stamps before adventuring in this kind of collecting. These stamps can be very expensive but can be a good long-term investment. Acquiring Stamps The local post office is a good place to start. They usually have separate philatelic counters. You may even find, probably at some larger post offices, stamp collecting start-up kits that provide an excellent way of starting your collection. The internet is a great place to find more information regarding this hobby as well; you’ll find magazines, stamp clubs, catalogues, and sites promoting stamp deals. You might even meet more experienced stamp collectors that can surely help you on your journey. Author: Ricardo Carapeto |
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