Building A Worthwhile Stamp Collection Is No Piece Of Cake

I am really glad that this thread wasn't deleted. So much to comment here! True, world stamp collecting can be no picnic as your collection grows larger space becomes a factor.

I love the different ideas about collecting the world. I've found that whether you're a guy spending 25 cents at a time or Bill Gates, one always wants to spend more on stamps than what is in their budget! Of course if I was a stamp dealer a smile would be on my face if Bill gates walked in my shop.

The more you know about stamps, the greater the chance you will find bargains. At our local club auction a penny black was offered for $20 dollars that appeared to have a corner missing. I was the only bidder. It turned out that the corner was only folded over lightly and bent back easily (1840 paper must be a little tougher than modern paper) I can't tell that the corner was ever folded. It's hard to pass up a Penny Black for only $20.

One of the largest dealers that comes to our Minnesota Expo is A-Z stamps and they bring over 100 102 red boxes to shows. They take up a lot of space. I do see the value of collecting that way though. Very handy for storing duplicates.

I use hinges almost exclusively even for mint stamps. I limit myself to the old Dennsion whenever possible. I've seen more mint stamps damaged by mounts than were protected by them when I strip collections. The gum either gets glassy or too much moisture was used to apply the mount. Also most of the time for older stamps folks mount stamps that were once hinged!

Tip to those who use mounts. Only apply moisture to the top half of the mount. Someday someone will want to see the back of that stamp.

I also love the photos of people's collections. That custom index card way is an interesting idea.

When I see the guys with the hundred boxes of 102 cards..i wonder two things...how much of his money is tied up in them...and what will his heirs get for them when he is gone !! I have spent a fair amount of money on stamps in the past 40 years..they are my fun..but if you asked me where in my albums and cover albums that amount of money is I could not show you...i suppose you could count my stamps as a tiny part of my estate ...but I can not spend the stamps

Quote from in the myth..




I have been an isolated collector all my life until I joined SCF and that all changed. But I still can get no help with my shades. So my growth in this area of KGVs is very stunted.

I can work out some shades through dates on stamps and the obvious shade differences.
I have tried for over 8 years to get some where with my 1d red shades but I know very little about the 422 shades recorded in the 20's I think.

I am all over Canada and the USA through postal auctions looking for rare KGV's and some other stuff. My nice budget that built up over 15 months is gone with just a one stamp buy. It is a very rare shade, it is the rarest shade in rarest shade group of 1d red shades released. A nice one for the collection that has certificate by the "man".

I am still waiting for it to arrive. After this week I will be getting a bit nervous. I can get my money back but I will never see a stamp like that ever again.

It is a very rare shade, it is the rarest shade in rarest shade group of 1d red shades released. A nice one for the collection that has certificate by the "man".

I guess it's an Eosin,when it turns up

WAIT -A-MINUTE ..........ARE YOU TWO GUYS PULLING OUR LEGS ......."422 SHADES RECORDED IN THE 20'S" .......now I and many others understand if a stamp is printed over a period of years ,like some of the French stamps that were printed over thirty years time period with 5 or 6 seperate printings you can have shade difference due to new ink or printing methods like wet paper or drying methods . But you can't think that there was a change of ink types or color 422 times ,what were they doing buying new ink every other day or twice a week and printing a few hundred sheets and then changeing the ink ,....NOT LIKELY .......i think someone thinking of that famous phrase "better living thru chemistry" somebody is playing around .I can understand 10 shades of red but 422 shades ?

The beauty about worldwide collecting is that it really doesn't have to cost too much at all. There are so many thousands of inexpensive stamps it would take a long time to get to the point when all the min cat ones could be found. One can purchase used albums and used 102 cards. I think all collectors have a stash of used 102 cards.

Australias 1d red KGV's were printed basically from 1914 to 1920.

The period of time in the WWl Germany supplied the red ink. Australia run out of red ink so they used all sorts of ink colours to find a red type of colour for the 1d reds. This lead to the printing of 422 different shades. The standard letter rate stamps had to be red back then.

There are 55 shades of penny reds in my book (maybe the specialist cat has more)

To be more precise there are 55 shade groups that are listed. Giving us some 422 shades. Do a search and you will find an what I say is totally correct. 500 million of these stamps were printed per year back then. The Australian 1d red is the most collected stamp in the world.

Edit my Specialist Cat has 47 standard shade groups.

KGV-----you got me ,I can't figure out how a printer can make 422 shades of any one color on a stamp .

Plus 8 shades in Large Multi WMK = 55

There is only one thing harder to do than believe about how many 1d red KGVs there are and that is trying to name 422 shades.

UV longwave lights are the only way it is possible for me and I use a bank of lights of about 6ft long. These lights show up how many shade that there are in a shade group. Basically a life time of collecting is to short a time to complete a collection of these stamps.

Thanks Al.

A chart Rod posted a while ago on SCF from another gentleman with some shades (ahade groups) of the KGV red. I am just a beginner so have not delved into the many shades yet.

ok ----you got me ,I see twenty or twenty five shades but thats a far cry from 422. Don't you guys think a little hot water and then add soap in some dishes and another dish add a little peroxide and what ever chemicals you have around the house to different dishs to soak the stamp .Then add a little or a lot of sunshine ,then a combination of different experiments of light sources on the wet ink and WHA-LA .....a new shade .
I have to belive you can manufacture those color shades .