Hoping For Some Guidance

Hello,
I've been searching for info on how to go about starting a stamp collection. I have thousands of old stamps... maybe 5-10 thousand stamps in envelopes and boxes. Mostly international. I would really appreciate someone guiding me on how to start. I'm clueless.
Perhaps a website to guide me or some quick help as to what to do with all these stamps. Some are clean some are on cut out envelopes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Mark
Montclair NJ

I would start out by sorting them by country. You may want to go to your local library and check out some International Stamp Catalogs: they will help you identify your stamps, have a glossary of stamp terms, and other suggestions on how to form your collection. Just see what stamps catch your eye and you have an interest in. Also, search our forum for more info we have provided other new collectors.

If you have any stamps still on intact envelopes (Covers) you may want to leave them as they are until you have learned more about them.

Hi mkhan, welcome!

Ask Phil (a play on the word philately, or the study of stamps) is a good reference site for beginners. Except for the bright red colours they use sometimes. Wear sunglasses.

http://www.askphil.org/

If you have a lot of each stamp then it may be that you have mostly common stamps. Maybe. It is the search for that rare stamp hiding amongst the many that drives us on on some days. But mostly it is the fun of learning and sharing.

You can just collect. A lot do at the start. If the stamps are mostly used or cancelled with postmarks or such then a paper-paged album and little glassine (kind of waxy paper), gummed hinges to mount the stamps onto the pages will usually be fine. (They can be soaked in water to remove them.)

Don't be over-whelmed. Some of us would love to have all those stamps to look through. Just do it a bit at a time, as you can and can handle.

Separate into countries first. Maybe you just want to collect a certain country or a range of years from a certain country. Maybe a topic like ships or animals or cancels from certain places or times. Or everything. Some collect everything.

You do not have to do it a certain way at all. Stamp collecting and philately (sometimes separated) are always dependent on what the individual wants to do. There are some popular areas and they change too depending on where you are or are from in the world or your own interests.

Mostly I find a person's tastes and desires change a bit or broaden out or narrow as the case may be over the years. I mean, you can't know everything, that's why we are here, oops, I don't mean me either.

I was just into collecting a certain type of stamp from one country for years. You do what you can do. Now, though, reading on Stamp Community (SCF) I have found myself drawn to many new areas and interests. When you see how someone else does it, it kind of inspires you and you feel you can't do something until you know something about it ut now you do, same as you are asking right now.

Just think, you have learned something good already! Don't read past a certain point in my longish posts without some coffee or caffeine by your side.

If you don't make mistakes you aren't learning anything.

Welcome aboard, Mark.

In addition to AskPhil, here are a few other sites with information for beginning collectors:

http://www.stamps.org/Education/edu...ducation.htm

http://www.linns.com/Default.aspx (check out the "How To" tab)

And if you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to post them.

Steve

The 'dude is right.

Also, if the your stamps are mint (you said clean so I am assuming that means new with gum) you may want to buy some glassine envelopes (2 inch x 4 inch or smaller or bigger) to sort the stamps our into.

Or stack stock pages, either out of cardboard (cheaper) or plastic with clear plastic strips to hold the stamps so you can see them (I use some of these but they can be costly for a lot of them). I like them as they make it easier to see what you have a a glance.

You may want to get rid of some (sell online ( ebay), trade (stamp club, here, shows), give to Scouts (see stamperdude)) so you are not so overwhelmed, if they are all the same. Or are they???

Some stamps look the same but the wiggly edges (perforations, perfs) are different. The colour is a shade different. The paper is of a different type. The cancel is different.

Condition of the stamp is important too. Rips, tears, thins, creases all devalue the stamp to a certain extent. Centering of the design on the stamp makes it look better. But if you don't have that one yet then the one you have now is a good stamp to have until another better-condition one comes along sometimes.

The stamp catalogues you can buy or see in most libraries (may be in the reference section like my library as the others are always out) show you all the details you ever want to know and then some. They have explanations of all the variations of types of stamps, they have pricing to give you a rough idea of what a stamp is worth relative to other stamps.

But I collected for years and just once in a while looked at a catalogue. You see, it can work a lot of ways. And it's all good.

Soon you will become one with the Stamp. No, who said that? Just ignore that last bit. Silliness. Resistance is futile.

Live long and may your stamp collection prosper.

edit typo

Hi Mark,
Well, you've got a great "collection" already, but I'll bet Puzzler is right, it might seem a bit overwhelming. Good advice to sort into countries for a start, and do a little at a time as you feel like it. Enjoy looking at your stamps, you will soon find that certain things will catch your interest, then the research (and the addiction) begins. Don't spend more than you need to on equipment to start with, don't soak, cut out, or get rid of anything until you know a bit more about what it is, and what your collecting interests are. That's my advice as a newbie collector myself.
Finally, WELCOME, to SCF! You have already done the right thing in becoming a member. Spend time on the forum, ask as many questions as you like (there is no such thing as a dumb question) and post pictures of stamps from your collection, be it for an ID, a question about a postmark, or just because you like it! Most of all, enjoy!