Hi Folks!
My name is Ralph and I live in London, England with my wife Sue. I started collecting stamps as a schoolboy when I was given a small World stamp album as a Christmas gift. After setting out with the intention of collecting every stamp ever issued, I soon realised that my small stamp album was not large enough, and this was in the days that the SG Simplified was one volume!
Since then my collecting has been honed down to GB and mostly pre-decimal used. Sue is also a keen collector and has a collection of Italian, again used. However in recent years She has spent more time on the GB collection. My particular interest has always been the four Kings and especially George V. I am no expert but enjoy reading and learning about my chosen period.
Although the internet has done a lot for specialist interest hobbies, I am not a great fan of purchasing via the web. It seems to me if you have deep enough pockets, you can buy anything you want just by carrying out an internet search taking what I consider the fun out of the hunt. Having said that I have been tempted from time to time
By being fussy we can keep the interest going. We much prefer attending stamp fairs, auctions and (when I can find one) a stamp shop, where we can hunt for the nicely centred, perfect perfs and lightly cancelled copies. Recently I have
inherited my late father's enormous collection of all world, GB mint commemoratives and FDCs. This collection will take a long time to sort and there are several stock books full of mint stamps that have been purchased as they were issued for the past 40 years. His collection was more about quantity with little or no order but he enjoyed it!
I was a member of another Stamp forum but soon found that they seemed more interested in the number of posts you made rather than talking about stamps. This place looks much more like what I am looking for - A place to discuss, and share stamp knowledge with like minded people.
Other than collecting stamps, we are keen Meccano enthusiasts and attend meetings and shows around the country on a regular basis. It is interesting just how many Meccano people are also stamp collectors. If you are interested I can tell you more about our Meccano adventures - just ask!
So, there it is I have told you a bit about myself and my stamp collecting. I am now off to have a look around as see what is going on.
Ralph
Posted 10/26/2011 1:44 pm
Ralph! (That's my Middle name) I agree that in my opinion this has to the greatest stamp forum on the net! Glad you found us and everyone here is most eager to help you answer any stamp related questions you might have. We also love pictures & scans! ope you stick around awhile and can't wait to see your collection! -Jay
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