Things You'll Need:
- An acid free stamp album with sleeves for you stamps.
- tweezers (or stamp tongs) for picking up stamps
- a shallow soaking dish for soaking stamps to remove them from attached paper.
- stamp hinges for placing your stamps in your album
- stamp envelopes, clear envelopes to store unsorted stamps
- Notebook for recording your stamps and information
- stamp references like "Scott Stamp Pocket Guide".
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Step 1
Getting started. So your interested in stamps. What do you want to collect? 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.
International stamps: you might try to collect a stamp from all the countries of the world. Send letters to embassies or pen pals (great for trading stamps!). 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 (which I do) aviation, flowers, famous people, fish, the number is endless. Christmas, religious, communist, war, peace, UN, children, whales, dinosaurs, etc..
General Post stamps: you can start a collection of US general postage stamps, trying to collect as many of the early and current postage stamps as you can. Be warned this is a huge number of stamps and some of the early stamps cost thousands (but many current stamps are out there to be found for free too!)
Other stamps: Airmail Stamps, Tax Stamps (cards, alcohol and tobacco, United Nations Stamps, etc..
Uncirculated stamps: stamps that have never been put on an envelope, never used and the gum on the back is intact.
Canceled stamps: stamps taken off of letters and packages with a post mark stamped on them. Basically used stamps. Many and most stamps in collections are canceled stamps.
First Day covers: post cards and envelopes with special post markings for the release of special stamps. Like post cards stamped with the Pony Express Stamp, issued and post marked at the Pony Express Office in Missouri on the "First Day" the stamp was issued.
Post Marks: some old and unique post marks are collected. An example would be early personal post marks used by early postmasters. Be aware these are rare, some are more available than others, but tend to be expensive in the hundreds to thousands of dollars each. If purchased they should be from a reputable stamp dealer with a written guarantee of authenticity. -
Step 2
Tips for collecting: 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, then ask for the stamps off of canceled (post marked) letters and packages. People will normally give these to you for free.
Don't pass up stamps you have copies of they are great for trading with others, remember 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 post cards. You would be surprised how many great free (and sometimes rare) stamps are sitting in a junk drawer or in people's attics. Hint: Just make certain before you remove a stamp from an old post card that the card isn't worth more than eh stamp. -
Step 3
Preserving 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 and I recommend that you get them at hobby stores, stamp shows or order them online. They are made not to damage the stamp, many are made of light metal or plastic.
Stamps should be kept in an acid free stamp album. These are not expensive and are made of acid free materials. The stamps are placed in little clear slots in the album allowing viewing and easy removal with your stamp tongs. You can put labels in your stamp book to annotate the catalog number, date obtained and other information. Hint: Never mark directly on a stamp, it diminishes its value to a collector. I keep a notebook of my stamps for reference.
I keep New stamps that have the self sticking backing on them should be stored with the backing still in place.
I also recommend that you get small acid free envelopes for stamps you need to sort, special stamps you want to keep separate and stamps you want to trade.
Stamps are graded on there 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. -
Step 4
Soaking Stamps: Most canceled stamps are on a piece of an envelope or other piece of paper. Remove the stamps from the paper by soaking in clean water. The water should be room temperature, the stamps should soak until they float free of the paper. They can then be removed from the bowl with stamp tongs. Allow them to dry, then they can be placed in your stamp album. This is the proper way to remove stamps without damaging them. Hint: if they are on colored paper, soak the stamp separately from others to prevent dyes from tinting the other stamps.
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Step 5
Stamp Catalogs: I recommend you buy an inexpensive stamp collecting guide. There is lots of information online and at the public library. Scott Stamp Pocket Guide, is really recommended. Your Hobby store, stamp and coin shop and most large bookstores will carry it or order it for you.
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Step 6
Stamp collecting can be a lifelong hobby. It is not influenced readily by new trends, it never goes out of fashion. It is shared by thousands of people around the world. Hundreds of new stamps are created each year. Just keeping up with all the US editions is a large task in itself.
Collect what you want. Enjoy yourself. Join a stamp club, attend a stamp show, go to a stamp and coin shop or just collect what you find.
This is a hobby for the individual or the whole family. Stamp Albums take up little space and can pass from generation to generation. Most important have fun.
