What Stamps Do You Collect And Why?

I am a new collector and have been reading here that many people specialize their collection focus in many different ways. I am going to start out with my home country and worldwide and see what jumps out at me.

I am wondering what other people collect and what made you decide to collect that area? When did you decide what to collect? Right away, or after a period of time? Are there easier countries to collect from?

For some reason Iceland and Newfoundland also seem to be calling to me, but are these realistic choices for someone starting out?

US - because I live here and availability
Canada to 1982 - again easy availability and interesting stamp history (Provinces/BNA/modern independence)
Berlin - loved the city when I visited a few yrs ago and again a very interesting history. Plus it has nice bookends for beginning and ending dates.

Hi knuppster59. Do you collect Newfoundland too? If so, how have you found that for acquiring stamps?

I collect worldwide, but I'm most interested in France and its colonies. I read a fair amount of French literature and history, so the stamps dovetail with that, and the designs and engraving, particularly after WWII, are fantastic. I have blind spots - I find US stamps dull, and I'm not very interested in the Far East. Iceland is fairly manageable, although there are some pricey early and mid-period stamps. I was lucky enough to pick up a fairly big Scandinavian range at auction a few years ago, so I got most of the basics. Newfoundland would also be manageable, but I suspect that there are some expensive items there. Whatever you decide now, you'll probably change your mind!

Hi GeoffHa. The jury is also out for me on US stamps. It is close by, which makes me consider it, but I find the designs for stamps of other countries more compelling.

I was thinking of Iceland and then read up a little on it on a website/blog by another member here - http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.ca...Iceland.html - and they have some incredible stamps.

I am a big history buff, so I think that is going to make it tough! I am sure I will change my mind.

Congrats on the Scandinavian auction find;-)

My interest in stamps is based on two things. First, I find it fascinating how, through a stamp collection, you acquire something tangible from literally every part of the world. Just name a place and you will find that stamps have been issued for use in that place. Second, I am fascinated by the way in which stamps reflect the history of the issuing countries. How principalities turn into kingdoms, then republics. How colonies gain self government and next become independent states.

Over the past 25 years I have been building a collection in which I aim to have a number of stamps from every country in the world. And, per country, a number of stamps for every form of government the country has had and of the stamps the country has issued in a special historical context.

I publish research on the above that you can check out on http://www.stampworldhistory.com/

oceanguy,

am collecting worldwide since I have a pretty big collection, one I started at age 12 and my father's who favored my Country, Canada, The Vatican, mostly. We bought a few collections in the 60s - am still at it. The British Colonies interest me the most as well as US-Canada. I realize doing inventory takes time which makes the hobby a lifetime project. Do not buy stamps at this time since I have so many. Everything is in my Computer software, and that helps me localize where the stamps are as I have many Albums. Value etc. is updated every 2 years. I can print reports, access ebay through my software for searches of particular stamps. Am an APS member as well.
I used to own the Seaway inverted Canada stamp 387a (which was kept at the Bank in a security box). Enjoy the hobby !

.......p.s. nice Website, Gerben ! I have 573 stamps from your great Country

You also have a great website/blog too SWH! I actually already had it bookmarked and had checked out a few countries of interest. The history aspect of stamp collecting draws me in too. How one stamp has a story that can draw you down a rabbit hole of interconnected stories that transport you to a different time, place and culture is incredible and quite enjoyable for me. Your passion for history certainly comes across on your site and it sounds like you have a great collection!

Hi Renden. May I ask what the software you are using is? It sounds like a pretty incredible and powerful tool! It must be a great pleasure to have such a collection. I do find the whole colonial period quite fascinating. You sound so organized, which is an example I hope to follow. What have you found to be most effective in growing your collection? Buying other collections?

oceanguy,

I do not, at this moment, collect Newfoundland.

I have always collected world-wide since I was a kid. Then I collected anything and everything, but since coming back into hobby several years ago, I have narrowed my focus a bit and now collect WW 1840-1940. I find that there are usually some (or many) stamps from any country that I like so I've never been able to bring myself to focus on a single (or few) countries. I also don't actually collect U.S. stamps.

I have a few areas on interest. Mainly, it's British Commonwealth King George VI (1936-52) and also the first 10 years or so of Queen Elizabeth (1953-62). I'd recommend it as an area to get into (covers Canada too, of course). I've got an album like this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BR-COMMON...AOSw8oFXz~32

Also admire certain stamps from the Middle East - Persia, for example have made some lovely intricate and colourful stamps.

I also have an album of just Hungary - after I discovered the designer Legrady Sandor, I bought someone's collection and re-organised it to my own liking.

I can see how it might be hard to narrow one's self down to a few countries chris2015! So far the only thing I do not have much interest in is the new 'sticker' stamps. There are some cool topicals, like the haunted Canada series, but I have read they are tricky to remove from paper.

Ringo - that is a beautiful album, and what looks like a beautiful group of stamps. Being Canadian there is familiarity to the stamps of the commonwealth and does seem like an easy way in to specializing in an area with some shared history with my home country.

I am not familiar with Legrady Sandor, but his work seems interesting on the basis of a quick google search. Thanks for mentioning him, always great to learn new things!

I have a "generalized" worldwide collection and a "specialized" German-area collection. I'm attracted to the German area because of the history as well as the fact that I'm of German heritage. The repeated unification and fragmentation of Germany - from a collection of states to an empire to a humbled, hobbled and fragmented Republic, back to an empire (Third Reich) and back to fragmentation and reunification during the Cold War era - is a fascinating part of history to me. I love the idea that I can actually have a small, tangible part of that history. Prior to German unification in 1990, there were always at least 3 different German postal administrations issuing stamps, sometimes many more. It's an area right up there with, say British or French commonwealth in terms of complexity and history. It's really the only part of my collection where I'm actively working towards completion.

I collect general worldwide simply because there are too many stamps out there that I like and I don't want to limit myself to just one country or area. Just picking a random country, I really don't care if I ever complete Mongolia or even reach some significant percentage thereof. But neither will I turn up my nose at their stamps (if they're stamps I like) just because I don't collect that country. For this part of my collection, I kind of just buy whatever catches my eye and what I happen to get a good deal on. I also collect WW because my German collection is getting to the point where the stamps I need are harder to find and more expensive, so my acquisitions are getting more infrequent. Collecting the world means I'll likely never (ever) run out of affordable collecting options.

When I found myself with a lot of time and somewhat less money on my hands, I bought a few country collections, sent off for a lot of those "$100 catalog value for $10" ads that pepper the back pages of Linn's, got a few mixtures and shoeboxes, and started playing with them. Some of them intrigued me more than others. I don't have any special affinity for Latin American culture, but I got a good starter collection of Colombia and was intrigued by the history I saw documented on the stamps. As an example, one stamp commemorated a scientist named Francisco José de Caldas, so I looked him up (even found a biography of him) and learned that he did a lot of the same kind of work that Alexander von Humboldt was doing but was caught up in the Colombian War of Independence, died young, and never got anywhere near the international renown that von Humboldt did. Besides learning about a really cool naturalist, I learned something about what Colombia went through during and after its struggle for independence. I also liked many of the designs and engraving that I found even on common, ordinary Colombian stamps. So I started collecting Colombia.

One eccentric lot had a lot of common Nigerian stamps that had postmarks from places I'd absolutely never heard of in my life, so I started going after Nigerian stamps, which are really a lot of fun. A fairly well-filled but totally beat album of Bulgaria - printed on newsprint! - got me started on that place, largely because I got caught up in decoding some of the political and nationalistic themes I saw (that and many of their 1930s stamps had a warped Art Deco look that appealed to me), so Bulgaria is the one country with a non-Roman alphabet that I follow.

Basically, I piled up a lot of cheap stamps, let them talk to me, and followed the most fascinating stories I heard.

I started out with U.S. then Canada, Germany, Ecuador, Italy. aircraft on stamps topical and collected each until I was left with only the difficult to find and expensive stamps. I then turned to used world-wide and have enjoyed filling blank spots ever since.

One of the things I discovered along the way was the need to have a continuing supply of different stamps to maintain interest. World-wide collecting offers that supply. There is always something new to see and add to the collection.

A downside to world-wide is the lack of completion, but that is overcome somewhat by the flow of new stamps to catalog and heightened selectivity. Regarding the latter, I generally limit my collecting the pre-1960 issues and focus on definitive series. I make my own computer generated album pages, so I am free to include or exclude whatever stamps I choose.

Always something new to see and spaces to be filled when collecting world-wide. To add variety to my collection, I also collect selected covers as well.

Don