Stamp collecting, or philately, is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. In the US, it has been estimated that over 20 million Americans are now avid stamp collectors.

The first focus, for newbies, is the stamps themselves, don’t worry too much about date, quality, just begin to collect! Sometimes it can take a while for stamp collectors to figure out what type of stamps they want to focus on collecting, this will come with time.

Refer to your stamp catalogue

For those who need more information about stamps, that’s just about everyone then, and want the value of the stamps they are collecting, they should get themselves some stamp catalogues. These catalogues are the bibles of the stamp world.. A stamp catalogue contains valuable information on stamps such as cost, background, history, identification, and they can also alert you to the existence of known forgeries for a particular stamp. Stamp catalogues are categorized by time period, country, etc. These catalogues can be purchased in stamp shops, stamp shows, and online stores, like ours.

Profit by selling stamps

If you collect duplicate stamps, or stamps you do not want, you could always sell these to stamp collectors or dealers. Since stamp collecting is a serious hobby for most people, chances are that there will always be someone who would be interested in acquiring your unwanted stamps. Shop around, and get used to dealing with other collectors, never accept the first price, the shrewder you become as a stamp dealer, the better your collection will become, as a result.

Handle all stamps with care
Stamps should be kept in a safe, dry place, such as an album, container, pressed inside clean notebooks etc.

Remember that stamps that are in excellent condition are always more valuable that used stamps. The price of a 100 dollar rare stamp, in mint condition, may only be pennies for a badly damaged piece.

Get stamps from friends, family, and stamp clubs

A great way to get stamps for free is to tell your friends and family about your new hobby. Many people have stamps from old envelopes that contain all kinds of stamps, some relatives may be ex collectors, and have part completed stamp albums. This is also a great way to get your hands on international stamps. Trading stamps with fellow stamp collectors is also a great way to get new stamps.

If you become really enthusiastic about stamp collecting, you should join a stamp collector’s organization, or club. This is a great way to meet other stamp collectors, and keep up to date with the latest news and events in stamp collecting.

Collecting stamps is a wonderful hobby that anyone can get started on today. Individuals can start on their collection by going through their old letters and unearthing stamps that they already have in their possession. Afterwards, they can go to their local hobby shop to get their first bucket of stamps!

The most important thing, which a stamp collector should aware of.
Choice of the workshop for stamp collecting. For the choice of your chosen area, I can give you no advice. When you select an area, it is important that you feel comfortable and you also feel at home with the type of collection.

It is important that you choose a collection, that excites you, the topic really interests you, and you don’t want to go off in search of something really new.
Additional reasons for the choice of a certain collection can be:
To broaden existing collections, your knowlege of the field as well as favorable acquisition possibilities.

A possible increase in value should not be the principal purpose of a collection, however under certain conditions this can become a great boost to anyones collection. This is as much expertise and experience as well as luck, the beginner should restrain themselves here.

For a complete collection of countries stamps, include the traditional mainstream and special stamps, various stamping and letters hand marked or franked. Particularly with country collections you should decide whether to go for post office, hand stamped or machine franked marks.

Franked stamps have the advantage that they are usually cheaper, often also from the collecting letters aspect, the collection of letters itself holds more meaning than loosely marked stamps. There are complete, received letters, maps and other fun pieces of post office stationery.

For this reason you should never cut the stamps from older letters, without first researching their rarity. Younger collectors should be able to get great pleasure from peeking into a bygone era from the old mail.

Into the catalogue.
Arrange your collection chronologically by release dates, complete with descriptions, theme your pages. I would not advise anyone to have an uncirculated and a used collection of stamps, this would spiral the costs involved and also result in many duplicates. You could start off with loose letters and advance on to starting your own stamp book.

Stamp Collecting, has been enjoyed by generations for over a hundred years. Many collections have started out by receiving a simple gift from a friend or relative, others have started by unearthing a pile of dusty old letters, complete with vintage postage stamps. Once the interest is roused, the collection just grows and grows.

Philately, the English teachers term for the collection and study of postage stamps is known to be one of the most popular hobbies in the world. If horse racing is the sport of Kings, then collecting stamps is surely the hobby of Kings. Royalty, throughout the years have been one of the greatest collectors, and have amassed massive collections, worth millions of dollars. and why not, they have their faces on the stamps don’t they.

Here’s a little known fact, in some countries, stamps are legal tender, this means that they can be used as currency, so you could go to the local store and pay in postage stamps, but you can still expect a strange look, because it’s certainly not commonplace.

An outsider may wonder why people would want to lovingly care for, and collect small pieces of paper with pictures on at all. We cherish our stamps, and treat them with dignity, we carefully house them, so they may stay, as new for as long as possible. The outsider may not see the intrinsic value of stamp collecting, or the financial value of the hobby, but most just love the art because they find enjoyment and fun from it.

Where else can you find something the weight of a penny black, with the same value? I’ve thought, but I still haven’t found the answer, moon dust perhaps, probably Saturn dust.

Designs of stamps have great appeal to stamp collectors, some have hidden meanings and cryptic messages, the majority are marking some form of event in history, along with some info on a person of significance, this makes them tiny time capsules too.

A quick look at a well prepared collection is like peering down a time tunnel, you are instantly whisked back to the time and place of the event, and you really get the look and feel of the era.

Tips on stamp collecting for beginners:

1. You can start off by collecting generally. You may get new cover sets for birthdays and the like. As time progresses, you will be drawn towards your favorite theme, and can begin to concentrate specialising in this field.

2. Always be on the look out for packs, when you travel, try to find collections rather than single items.

3. Be very careful when soaking your stamps, this will be covered in detail later.

So the message for young collectors is, start out small, choose a theme, or topic, and enjoy your hobby.

The world is full of counterfeiters, you need to know an original stamp from a fake one.

Postal stamps are one of the worlds most collected items. Be warned, they are also considered to be the most faked, and counterfeited items. Wherever there is extreme value in a tiny peice of paper, the fakers will surely be nearby.

These basic tips and advice are to help you to identify which is fake and which is not.

Gummed or re-gummed, take a closer look. Firstly, what does it mean when a stamp has been regummed?

A regummed stamp no longer contains the original gum on its gum face. The value can be considerably affected by regumming, and the forgers are good.

A gum is original when the gum is produced at the time of printing, from the United States postal authority or any other official postal authority such as Great Britain or Canada. When a forger has applied their own gum blend to the stamp’s back is the time when the stamp is considered as officially regummed.

Why is regumming done?

Regumming is done to stamps to make their condition appear better and enhanced, thereby increasing the stamps value. Fraud occurs when a particular collector buys a stamp, as an original piece, was informed that the stamp has an original gum, but really buys a re-gummed one.

How to know which is which?

Simple like for like comparisons are the best way to spot regummed fakes.

Note the followin, a regummed stamp usually has a lumpy and matt appearance with tiny irregularities in the thickness of the gum, most noticable when it reflected in the light. But, there are stamps that have been regummed that appear to have a surface that is glossy. Chemical analysis will identify the fakes.

A stamp that contains a watermark can be easily seen on a stamp that has been regummed.
The stamp that was originally gummed may have had watermark that could only be seen when the stamp is dipped in a tray of watermarking fluid for watermark identification. With the absence of this fluid, the watermark in an original gum could also be seen when the stamp is held up to bright light.

Observe, try to spot if the watermark seems to have been impressed into the gum, if you find non conformities, be suspicious.

Another great tip to spot that a stamp that has been regummed is that a regummed imposter can curl if it is placed with its face on the palm of your hand, this is from the gums chemical reaction to the heat and vapours from your skin. An original stamp will not do that.
One sure sign that a stamp has been regummed is to check around the perforated edges, if the perforation feels sharp, it most likely has been regummed. Originals usually have a soft feel, and aged stamps very rarely have sharp edges.

Good forgers loosen the tips of the perforations to enhance the softness of the edges, these boys know all the tricks.

Expert identification can be achieved by use of a powerful magnifying glass, or even a microscope.

Gum that resides upon the edges of a perforation is a sure fire fake, the perforation process is carried out after the gumming when the issue was first printed, the gum can not reach the edges unless re-gumming has occurred.

The master forger will go to great lengths to fake a re-gumming, and will attempt to clean the edges of the perf, but some residue will usually be found.

Reperforated stamps.

Reperforated stamps are more prevalent than most collectors think. The process entails individuals re cutting the edges, in order to give a cleaner look to the stamp, thereby increasing its value, the process also cleans out any spilt gum.

Stamps that were perforated officially have holes that are shaped in oval form and are cut less cleanly than perforations done privately. When viewed through a microscope, the perforations that are originally performed have little fluffs of paper that gather around the holes.

Remain diligent, and you will be able to keep a collection of originals, but, bear in mind, that even the most careful stamp collectors, still end up with fakes sometimes.

Stamp collecting, also known as philately by the pros, is an informative and educational past time. Stamp collectors remove, and save postage stamps from letters, especially those from far away lands. The prized collectibles are old stamps that represent a window in the history of time, like the nineteenth century stamps that started it all off.

Stamp enthusiasts are found worldwide, and many Royal families are avid collectors. Stamping scrabooks and glassine sleeves filled with stamps are fascinating to look through. Many of the stamps collected are extremely valuable as well.

Starting a collection is not hard, the materials needed for starting your stamp collection include a stamp album and special mounting tapes called hinges. Specialist tools you may require are a pair of tongs or tweezers for carefully lifting delicate old stamps and a magnifying glass for intricate inspections.

The beginner philatelist can start with the postage stamps that come attached to the everyday mail. The best way to remove a stamp is by waving the envelope gently over steam for a minute or so, the envelope will turn damp, allowing you to lift the stamp from the water with the tongs.Gently place the damp stamp on absorbent paper. When dry, place a heavy book on top of the stamp to flatten it. Place the dried and flattened stamp in the album by using one of the hinges, or store it in one of the tiny glassine envelopes unique to stamp collecting.

As a hobby, stamp collecting requires precision and neatness, the value of your collection depends greatly upon the way the stamps are stored and archived. Some collectors specialize in collecting currently available commemoratives, this can work in your favor, as a complete set grows in value. Commemoratives are those, one of a kind, special stamps that are released by the post office for a limited time. They can celebrate special people or events.

Most nations print commemorative stamps to mark events in history, like first flights. US stamps have featured people, wild life, artists, antiques, and many other themes. There is a contest, held annually in which American school children compete to draw the best picture of a wild duck. The winner has their duck design put into the history books by becoming a postage stamp design.

A great way for any person to build a collection of foreign stamps is to find pen pals, or email pals, in foreign countries. There are always willing participants that are eager to swap stamps with you. You may also be able to get free starter introductory collections of foreign stamps from companies in order to get stamp collecting customers on their mailing lists. These collections are usually themed, and may have a follow up suite at a discounted price.

Stamp collecting has always been an educational past time. Were you looking for a new hobby or past time, stamp collecting might be for you, so have fun and gaze into the history of postage stamps.

Stamp Collecting, has been enjoyed by generations for over a hundred years. Many collections have started out by receiving a simple gift from a friend or relative, others have started by unearthing a pile of dusty old letters, complete with vintage postage stamps. Once the interest is roused, the collection just grows and grows.

Philately, the English teachers term for the collection and study of postage stamps is known to be one of the most popular hobbies in the world. If horse racing is the sport of Kings, then collecting stamps is surely the hobby of Kings. Royalty, throughout the years have been one of the greatest collectors, and have amassed massive collections, worth millions of dollars. and why not, they have their faces on the stamps don’t they.

Here’s a little known fact, in some countries, stamps are legal tender, this means that they can be used as currency, so you could go to the local store and pay in postage stamps, but you can still expect a strange look, because it’s certainly not commonplace.

An outsider may wonder why people would want to lovingly care for, and collect small pieces of paper with pictures on at all. We cherish our stamps, and treat them with dignity, we carefully house them, so they may stay, as new for as long as possible. The outsider may not see the intrinsic value of stamp collecting, or the financial value of the hobby, but most just love the art because they find enjoyment and fun from it.

Where else can you find something the weight of a penny black, with the same value? I’ve thought, but I still haven’t found the answer, moon dust perhaps, probably Saturn dust.

Designs of stamps have great appeal to stamp collectors, some have hidden meanings and cryptic messages, the majority are marking some form of event in history, along with some info on a person of significance, this makes them tiny time capsules too.

A quick look at a well prepared collection is like peering down a time tunnel, you are instantly whisked back to the time and place of the event, and you really get the look and feel of the era.

Tips on stamp collecting for beginners:

1. You can start off by collecting generally. You may get new cover sets for birthdays and the like. As time progresses, you will be drawn towards your favorite theme, and can begin to concentrate specialising in this field.

2. Always be on the look out for packs, when you travel, try to find collections rather than single items.

3. Be very careful when soaking your stamps, this will be covered in detail later.

So the message for young collectors is, start out small, choose a theme, or topic, and enjoy your hobby.