Mentors Needed

Hi all
I need mentors to help me learn more about stamps from mainland China, Egypt, and Russia. I tried going through APS and noone responded to Mrs Moody's request . Hope someone can help .
Thanks all,
William

First thing I'd recommend is to check your local Stamp club.

Hi William,

I can't help on China or Russia, but I collect Egypt up to 1960. And there are lots of knowledgeable people on here that I am sure will be happy to help you. First thing would be to get decent catalogues. You don't need the expensive current editions so look for some good 2 to 3 year old issues. I use Balian's Stamps of Egypt volume 1 which is worth looking out for and covers from first issues up to 1997. Volume 2 not really worth buying. The Nile Post is very good but hellishly expensive if you can find a copy. Meanwhile, this site is an excellent resource and there is a free Egyptian on line catalogue based on Balian among all the other excellent reference material.

http://www.stampdomain.com/country/.../index.shtml

Enjoy
Terry

Where did that gun control survey come from ??

It's an ad- I have that and one for "Tate Branch Auto Group" now.

William I wish you all the best..stamp collecting is such a varied and individual hobby..if you are lucky and can find a stamp club in your area get into the mix and take what knowledge you can from the members..on the countries you mentioned you should be able to find specialized books on them..the APS has an excellent reference library you can borrow books from !

WILLIAM----All three countries each can take a life time of study and any of the three can clean out your bank account .Please give some idea of were you want to go with your collection ,then people here can offer better advice .

Well I would like a basic collection of each and then figure out an area of each country to work on as a specialized collection. Does that help?

Hi William,

For me, the best stamps are the earlier classic issues and these tend to be the more costly to collect. My advice is to spend some time acquiring a basic knowledge of the areas you want to collect. Watch the items you are interested in and see what the real values are as opposed to the catalogue values. Don't spend any money on expensive albums and pages until you have a clear idea of what, and how, you want to collect. A few good stock books will do to begin with. Those with white card pages are ideal as you can make pencil notes below the stamps as you acquire them. On particular stamp issues there are very knowledgeable people on here who will help you with specific and detailed information. Two things are certain, stamp collecting is a most enjoyable thing to do, and though bargains do come up it can be very expensive.

Welcome
Terry

William: more good places to get help are the specialized stamp collector societies for Russia and China. I'm not quickly aware of a specialty society for Egypt, but there probably is one. I suspect Terence would know. Enjoy. Steve

Russia: www.rossica.org

China: www.chinastampsociety.org

Hi Climber Steve,

Have already posted a link for Egypt cat and info resources in my first reply to William. Worth a look. By way, my son is a Steve and was into climbing once. Getting married scuppered that though.

Terry

PS. Thanks for the links you posted for William. I have a load of China stuff I haven't a clue on. Will have a look tomorrow. TC.

Thanks. I missed that link or mis-read it (for Egypt).

Regarding climbing, I live in the intermountain West region of the US. Hiking & mountaineering is a good outdoor hobby; philately a good indoor hobby; they complement each other nicely.

I also have pages; about 15; of overprinted & surcharged China stamps from the 1930s to 1940s in a collection I bought back in the 2000s. I don't have a clue either. Here's a web site for an American dealer who specializes in China & Asia. He has China catalogs available, as I'm sure the C.S.S. also has. I have bought from him, and also sold stuff through him.

www.MichaelRogersInc.com