Hello everyone,
I've been lurking for a bit, and decided to join.
I've been collecting stamps off and on since I was a kid. I hadn't touched my collection in at least 15 years until about a week or so ago. My two youngest kids were fighting over a magnifying glass and to settle the issue I said "Wait, I have another one in my stamp stuff." Next thing you know, I'm looking through my old childhood album, wondering why I ever put it away for so long.
Next thing you know, I'm buying stamps on
ebay, picking up a stamp magazine and pocket Scott's catalogue of US stamps at the bookstore, and going to the library to see what I can find about stamps. As a friend of mine recently said (about another hobby we share): "I don't have hobbies, I have obsessions!"
I've always been very much a casual collector. Stamps are not an investment for me, and I don't claim to be very knowledgeable (I'm not the person to ask about perforations and watermarks on 19th century US stamps, for example).
The last time I picked up the hobby I was very interested in US commemorative stamps from about 1950 and earlier. I find that they still hold my interest now, and I might want to start filling in the gaps in my collection and proceed a bit less randomly than before.
I'm trying to decide now if it's silly to keep using the album I got when I was 11, or if I should organize my stamps somewhat differently. I'm thinking my next step is to get an inexpensive stockbook, to organize some of my recent acquisitions for now.
Anyway, I look forward to learning from everyone here. This seems a pretty friendly group, and very accepting of people with varying levels of experience and knowledge.
Posted 02/26/2009 10:01 pm
