Hello, New To The Hobby.

I just gained interest in stamps a few days ago after looking through some of my father-in-laws collection. I also collect modern US coins (and some classic). I did have a few questions about starting my collection:

Is it better to start small? The stamps I'm feeling most interested in are 1930s-1950s graded XF or higher. I'm not a fan of slabbed stamps (it's hard enough to not bust coins out of the slabs at times) but I do like the idea of them being graded and having the accompanying sheet, at least until I get confident in grading different stamps. This makes most of the stamps I'm interested in around $50-80 each.

Sheets or singles? Again I'm not sure the best way to collect. It seems like sheets are the way to collect current stamps (do you buy 2, 1 to keep and 1 to sell if it happens to gain value?) Why are sheets cheaper than individual stamps that are in really pristine condition? I'm currently looking at Scott #787. So far my 'must have' list has grown to quite a few:

740-749 (US parks themed)
785-794 (Army and Navy themed)
930-933 (Roosevelt)
c13-c15 (the Zeppelin stamps, no wonder they're so sought after, they're beautiful!)
1016 (beautiful red cross stamp)
1017 (National Guard, which I belong to)
900, 905

Since this hobby seems to be very different from coins or cards (not as many sellers on ebay, practically no brick-and-mortar stores in my area) any advice is welcome and appreciated.

What is the best way to store stamps? I bought a SuperSafe sheet album, but I'm not sure that would be great for the graded or more expensive stamps?

Thanks for having me.

Hello James, welcome!

Best way for stamp storage is not flat but upright in an album of some sort. For mint (new with gum) stamps you want plastic mounts or plastic pages like brand Vario or Hagner, or a good stockbook of these type of pages maybe also.

Depends on how you might want to look at them or display them or keep them. Up to you of course.

Get slipcases to keep the dust out and keep away from moisture (causes mold).

Search around on Stamp Community (SCF) here and lots of posts are about different storage and pages and mounts.

Welcome James.
After 50 years I am still learning things about the hobby and I appreciate all new info I gather.
I have been a member much shorter time than Puzzler and many others, but indeed, there are many many forums here that will be helpful to you.

I think it is good to start out small - many of us started as kids trying to collect "the world," which we found out was impossible. There are still many world collectors here, I know, but I think they are helped by years of experience, etc.

The best thing to do is to decide to collect what you like and what you want, not what someone else tells you to do.

Here is a well written blog that explains collecting vs. investing - http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/...on-worth.php

That said, you will probably benefit from a lot of early reading about the basics, either through books or websites. There are some that offer glossaries - have one of those available to you. Here is one - http://www.stamps.net/terms.html.

It is certainly good to learn about stamp grades - damaged and poor to very fine, but when it gets down to extreme number grades, well, I am somewhat prejudiced against the concept of modern (probably post-1935 or so) graded stamps. These stamps were produced in such great quantity, and many were saved, so the concept of some 1958 common issue getting a "grade" of 89 or 98 or 77 just seems silly when many other collectors would have the same common stamp in equal condition in their collection. (I have spoken in some detail about this with a professional grader who focuses mostly on 19th and early 20th-century rarities and uncommon stamps.)

Mostly, remember to collect to have fun and enjoy, but don't "collect" as an investment.

Best of luck!

Greetings jamesta and welcome to this forum. I am also in Charlotte. If acceptable to you, I would be more than happy to email you and meet with you. You will find this forum full of advice, knowledge and fun! National guard - I am Viet Nam era Air Force and also volunteer at the local USO. If you have ever gone through there, maybe we have already met!

Jamesta,

A few suggestions.

1. Invest in a current catalog. The 2011 Scot's Specialised is on sales at Amos Printing at a fair price. Or, get one on-line. Learn about the stamp you want to buy before you buy it. Catalog numbers do change, especially on the early stamps.

2. Stay away from slabs. I got burned on really misidentified stamp and didn't know about it for years until I broke open the slab to put the stamp in my album.

3. Get a good album, tongs, perf gauge, USB microscope - there are lots of good suppliers.

4. Don't spend more than what you can explain to your wife, causes all kinds of problems.

5. Realise that this is a hobby, seldom is it an investment. And as a hobby, it has to be fun.

6. Join a local stamp club. You will learn more from others than from a book. Besides, its most enjoyable discussing stamps with like minded individuals.

7. Determine what area you want to collect, start small and build up. You'll probably change your mind a dozen times, but that's OK.

8. Find a reputable dealer and build a relationship with them.

9. Now you can start buying those stamps.

Welcome to SCF and I hope you will enjoy the hobby as much as I do.

Art

Hooah jamesta and welcome to SCF!

I think you'll find this forum is a great place to learn. One of the first things I encourage you to do is get familiar with the forum's search function. And don't be shy about asking questions and participating in the discussions.

When you complete the 50 posts/two weeks "probation" period and your forum email becomes active, send me your mailing address so I can help you check this one off of your want list.

Steve

jamesta to S.C.F.

All of the advice given above is absolutely correct and valuable, I would like to add my own: "you can't learn to swim by reading about it"...so dive in, jamessta...but best not in the deep end!

The Romans had it right:
"Errando discitur" i.e. "We learn by making mistakes"

Cheers and welcome to the hobby and the forum!

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm going to focus on 20th century US commemoratives and Airmail; rarities are always a favorite of mine, otherwise I'll just go for what I think looks nice.

Thanks for the advice, I'll make sure to get some archival quality storage to start.

Hi Jamesta & welcome to the forum.

You are getting a lot of good answers in here and there is no need for me to repeat them.

Hope you enjoy it in here.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Welcome Jamesta

Welcome I just joined an hour or so ago as well. Vario sheets are they way to go! I also use glassiness for extras.