New Collector Looking For Advice (Read Post)

Hello everyone!

I am a few weeks into learning about, and collecting US stamps. I am a long time US coin collector and so I have a general feel for how to research, organize, and handle delicate hobbies.

I am looking to, over time, build a US stamp collection starting with Scott #1, and to work my way through the catalog. However, I am finding issue with a suitable cutoff year/series/Scott number. With coins, I've always liked going into building a set with an exact goal, and for stamps I'd like to come up with a cutoff point. I know that this particular forum I'm posting to is for classic stamps ending at 1940, but I've found that some of them retain a "classic" look as late as the mid-1960s, at which point things got.. weird.

With that being said, do you find yourself stopping at a certain year or specific stamp in your collection? I'm open to any recommendations.

Sorry in advance if this has been posted before, I tried similar searches but I didn't find any satisfactory results.

http://goscf.com/t/84259&whichpage=1

You might read what we have to say about your question..............please read :-)


Peter

I also collected coins. There is no such year better than the other to stop. Yiu said you were going to stop in 1940. That is a good year but I do think maybe a little longer as the stamps from 1940 forward are very cheap. So find an good album then what ever year it stops you can stop. I personally think may be 2000 is a better year. You can build a complete set to 2023 with all the stamps being mint never hinged for less than half the cost of a 20 dollar gold peace. For as much as you would buy that is cheap. Then you would learn how to buy stamps. There is no gray sheet for stamps. So look at the catalogue price and you can buy mint never hinged stamp from 1940 to present mostly for face value or a little more for their time to pick it put for you. You will find stamps just as rewarding as coins but not as expensive. Then you will find it harder to fine better grades stamps per 1900. Then you will spend some money for 1847 to 1900 to build your set. I think you will find honest dealers every where but as in coins they are the bad ones to watch for. I have bought thousands of dollars of stamps sight unseen just over the phone and to this day been very pleased. Oh you want have to put up the the fight over like who's slab is better and pay out the butt for NGC or PCGS. Have fun learn and enjoy while building the best collection you can. Yiu will also find you will get all the help you need to learn about stamps right here oh get the magazine Lynn's stamps it is the Coin World for stamps.

Do not start with #1 and work your way forward. Start with cheaper stuff and do some learning before you start forking over real money or you will make big mistakes.

Welcome to SCF!

My advice is to start with a series that you find interesting and appeals to you. I started with the Columbian commemoratives and the 1922-1925 definitive issue, then branched out from there. There isn't a wrong way to collect. You can choose mint never hinged, unused, used, etc., or any combination. You can choose to specialize in one area or collect everything. If you have questions along the way (and you will), there are many seasoned experts here to help.

Scott

I should note that I only want a "cutoff date" so that I can work my way back through the Scott catalog down to #1, and as eyeonwall recommended, start with the cheaper and more modern stuff and work my way into buying the more expensive stuff once I have experience. That's how I did it with coin collecting also.

Learning about and paying money to own are two different activities which should be done in that order. Starting with the cheaper stamps is a good way to pick up materiel and not suffer a financial blow after one of these selected incidents:

That said here is a good place to start to see what a #1 and #2 can be: http://goscf.com/t/74487&whichpage=1 . There is some very pretty material shown.

Edit: To space Smilies.

1947 is a nice 100-year breakpoint. Depending on your age, your birth year might be a natural cutoff. "I only collect stamps that are older than me."

I agree with this.

Another thing you'll want to figure out is what level of quality and condition you are willing to live with. Must everything be mint never hinged and very fine (or even better) in terms of centering? That's an easy standard to maintain in the 1940s, but it gets very expensive the farther back in time you go.

Of note: A big discount is available for previously hinged stamps, and they look the same in an album. You may want some time to figure this out for yourself. Starting in the 20th century with lower price points might help you here.