How To Start A Stamp Collection

How do you start a stamp collection? How much should I expect to spend? What stamps should I start collecting? How do you store the stamps?

thanks Conrad

Hello theo22

Stamp collecting sort of just grows on you, it did with me.
and it always starts with the first stamp that you really like.

I remember seeing a very nice colorful stamp on an envelope addressed to my father, I asked him if I can keep it... and before long I had some substantial number of covers.

But at that time I didnt know it was "covers", just called it "envelopes"

best

Hello Conrad....

Welcome to the club....

What you choose to collect and what you choose to spend on your collection is entirely up to you. There are no rules, there is no wrong way to collect.

With that said, there are a number of options available. Many collectors like having a pre-printed album to house their collection, some like the versatility of blank pages so they can arrange things as they wish, some use both.

One of the things you need to consider is.....exactly how interested are you ?.....just curious....somewhat interested....very interested.......absolutely have to collect or your brain will explode from unfulfilled desire ???

Here's a few album options......
http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default...ductID=4HRS6
http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default...uctID=1HRS1A
http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default...uctID=1HRS15

The full list can be seen here......
http://whitmanbooks.com/default.asp...&SubCatOID=4

Here's another ....the Heirloom album system has a "lay flat" design preferred by many and is now a 3 volume set for US.....can seem expensive but would be useful for many, many years.
http://www.mysticstamp.com/product_...roup=&type=M

hagner stock pages....
http://www.tradewindssupplies.com/i...ets/list.htm

vario stock pages....
http://www.tradewindssupplies.com/i...ets/list.htm


One type of stockbook....
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-LINDNER-60-...es_W0QQitemZ280435730902QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414b45a9d6

Most of my stamp collection is in hagners......most of my covers are in vario pages.


Hope this helps.

Only spend what your budget allows. I good rule of thumb is setting a maximum limit and stick to it. Another thing to consider is do you want to collect mint or used stamps. Collect what interests you and however you want. That is the beauty of stamp collecting, anyone can start a collection all it takes is 1 stamp.

NOW you tell me!! 'Dude, where were you 40 years ago?

Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, Conrad. The others have already given you great info and sage advice!

Kim

I had some various stamps a few months ago, but nothing you could seriously consider a "collection," just more of an "accumulation." I finally decided that I wanted to collect Czech stamps (the country that my ancestors are from) and after some questions here, some other research online, watching some ebay auctions, etc. I made a purchase of a partially filled album for about $30. After some trades, some stamps given to me by fine folks here, some other small purchases, and adding the stamps that I already owned, I am well on my way to a fine collection in just a couple of months! It has been a pretty low cost collection to start because Czech stamps are almost all inexpensive items, and has been very fun and educational!

That's just for me...as for what you should do, I would think that would be very personal. Do you want to collect US stamps or another country? As for storage, if it's just one country, definitely I would think an album is a great idea. If it's many countries, maybe just a stockbook for now. How much it will cost could range from absolutely nothing (if you're just getting stamps from incoming mail...ask friends and family to save them for you!) to quite a bit if you select a country or specialty that includes high dollar stamps.

Overall, if you don't pick something you enjoy or have an interest in, you will possibly get bored with it and move on to something else. Until I started collecting Czech stamps, I just owned some random stamps that I kind of liked. Now I have a collection that I actively build on and am proud of and enjoy! It's still very new to me, but even if I move on to something else for months or years, I will be happy to be able to pull the album down off the shelf again periodically and view all of the stamps that I have added to the collection!

Well, Conrad, I will try to give you some practice advice.

In order to collect stamps, you need as a minimum two things: stamps and a place to keep them.

Lets first talk about stamps. And, what you need at a minimum is a field to collect and a source to get them. The field is totally up to you, but most people starting out start either with the country they live in, or a worldwide collection. I would personally suggest you start with the country you live in, which appears to be the US. So, where do you get them? Waiting for the mail to come in the door today isn't going to do a lot of good unless you want to specialize in Forever stamps. One source you can consider are mixtures which are easily obtained, try Linn's Stamp News ads, or peruse ebay. Also consider buying some kiloware that pro ports to cover your area of focus. You needn't spend a lot of money. In fact, this can be done for quite little.

Next a place to keep them. An album. Some good suggestions have been made and I'd counsel you follow these.

You'll need some supplies. Hinges for used stamps and mounts for mint stamps. Tongs to handle them all and probably a catalog.

From here, you start and follow your heart as your interests develop.

khj,
40 years ago, I wasn't even born. LOL

Conrad,
Check your local area for Stamp dealers, philatelic clubs, and Hobby supply stores for resources. You local post office or library are good places to ask about other stamp collectors in the area. They are also a good source for stamps and reference books.

Great, thanks for making me feel old again.

I'll take solace in the fact that you represent another generation of stamp collectors after mine. That, to me, is encouraging!

k

It looks like you are getting valueable information/direction on starting a collection but, I understand being stuck on what to collect. The unive3rse of the hobby is so broad it's hard to pick a subject or narrow it. I like to think about the advice given to beginning or aspiring writers. "Write about what you know." Look at what you like in the rest of world for inspiration and think how you might relate that to stamp collecting. I collect elephants so a collection of elephants on stamps was a perfect fit. A Member of our club is a model railroader and to share his wife's stamp hobby he is collecting trains on stamps. If you are interested in something concerning your heritage or ethnicity that could get you into a geographic area or specific country. Remember at all times that you are collecting for you and not what or how others think you should proceed.

to the family.

I recommend that you start your stamp collection by not buying anything.

I recommend that you educate yourself first. You can do that by hanging out here on the SCF, and by looking at some of the plethora of websites on the Internet.

Check out some of the stamp collecting organizations like the APS, ATA, etc. You can Google for these and anything else and get thousands of hits. Most of them, especially the APS, have educational and "How to start" areas.

Look at some of the dealer sites and browse through some of the auction sites (eBay, StampWants or StampOffers) to get an idea of what is being bought and sold.

Buy a book on stamp collecting from Amazon or a similar site. You'll learn a lot before you start spending money - and maybe wasting money.

Ask a lot of questions. Don't make the same costly mistakes most of us have made. For example, don't mount your stamps with Scotch tape; don't leave mint stamps out in a very humid environment; don't cut open an envelope with scissors unless you're certain you're not destroying the contents; and on and on!

Also a topical collection could be a good way to start. Do you have any other hobbies? Example, do you do model cars, planes, trains? If so you could collect them on stamps as well.

Do you like sports, or one sport, music, art, or anything else. The topics are almost endless.

Then from one topic you can break it down even farther. Just collect steam trains, or vintage cars, roses, Mozart, or owls.

It's hard to keep at it, if you aren't really passionate about the subject or country you are collecting. So think of something that really holds your interest and go from there.

Oh, there are also lots of reference books, and online groups for almost every collecting interest that you can think of.

You just had to drag me into this, didn't you Greg?

k

Hi there Conrad,
You have a great abundance of information above here. I'll throw in my two cents as a newbie collector myself.

My local bookstore offers stamp bags by the thousand for about £10 GBP / $16.25 USD. I picked up three of these while they were on a "buy two get the third free" promotion. I didn't know at the time but I spent a bit more than what's typically seen for mixed world lots that size. My town hosts a quarterly stamp fair and had I visited there first I may have ended up spending about 25% less (or getting 25% more). I'm not unhappy with my purchase, though.

I don't have a permanent storage solution as I'm about to make a big transatlantic move. If I went the album or stockbook route right now it would end up taking too much space in my suitcase. For the time being my stamps haven't really left their original packaging, but I'll eventually open them up and organize each bag by country and store my finds in glassine envelopes within a shoebox. Once I'm in a better spot I'll be able to get the stamps out of the glassine envelopes and into a more formal album. I'm experimenting with the idea of using reinforced graphing paper for students inside of a typical three ring binder. For that to be a safe solution, as in something that won't discolour my stamps over time, I'd have to test the paper for acidity and try to find a neutral product. I may also have to leave a one page buffer at the front and back of the binder to keep the plastic mould of the binder away from my stamps. I also had some great advice on this forum to stand my albums upright regardless of the storage solution used. The weight of several albums stacked on top of one another may end up crushing whatever happens to be on the bottom, and any gum remnants may end up fixing a stamp to a page.

Have a good time wherever the hobby ends up taking you.

Not you this time Kim. I was actually . . . uh . . . talking about my own executive assistant for stamp collection acquisitions and archiving. He is such an idiot. (I won't mention that he is me!)

Greg, my executive assistant cut through a $100+ Great Britain stamp that was still in the glassine in the envelope, just to get the minimum catalog stamp used on the envelope. Ended up with 3 stamps and 2 glassines, not all of them whole.

I fired my executive assistant, but he wouldn't leave...