Opinions On Essential Catalogs

I'm looking for everyones opinion on the essential catalogs a stamp collector must have. My guess is that there are one or two essential stamp catalogs that every collector must own or have access to.

So, tell me what you think. Thanks ya'll.

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

To answer your question more information is needed. What do you collect? If you collect US then the Scott US Specialized is important. If you collect worldwide 19th century then the Scott Classic catalogue would be useful, etc.

I have both US and world stamps. US stamps range from the 19th and 20th century as do the world stamps. My goal is to arrange what I have and identify as much as possible.

wtcrowe nails it. Hard to provide an answer without knowing what you collect.

And as you expand your collecting interests, one or two may not be enough (though one or two may be enough if you are just getting started). I have extremely narrowly focused collection interests, yet I have several different kinds of catalogues. My stamp interest is in US airmail and aviation topical stamps, so the Scott US Specialized catalog that wtcrowe mention is great for that. But I also collect FDC's (First Day Covers) and so have several catalogues (the Mellone catalogues for various decades, and pictoral catalog for "firsts" of different cachet makers) for that. Then there are specialized catalogues for specific cachet makers, like Crosby or Dorothy Knapp. I also have an interest in WWII patriotic covers relating to airmail or some aviation topical interests, and Sherman's "United States Patriotic Covers of World War II" is absolutely essential for that. Oh, and for airmail plate blocks I have Durand's catalog of plate block numbers (it is not just for airmail). And then there are various airmail covers for which the multi volume American Air Mail Catalog is essential.

And those are just my interests. Others will have other interests, and were they to share them you'd probably see them referring to other kinds of specialized catalogues.

Just for starters...

Edit: you replied to wtcrowe while I was composing and posting. Since you mentioned "world" I'll let others address what would be useful there. For the US the two that wtcrowe mentioned would be a good place to start.

Looks like you would need a world wide catalog. Like the Scott catalog. You could try to find and older one on ebay, borrow one from your library or go with http://stampworld.com .
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Peter.

A set of Scott catalogues, as others have said, is a great starting place.

As you start to focus on an area, finding literature which goes with it is every bit as important as the catalogs and stamps themselves. I collect U.S. only and over the years have put together a nice library of several hundred books and even more journals dealing with what I collect. I can't tell you how much having this information has handy has been or how much more enjoyable collecting has become with the knowledge gained from these books and journals.

Don't ever look on books, periodicals and catalogs as something which is barely necessary; it's essential to really understanding what you are collecting!

If you are looking for Scott Catalogs I have had great success buying from Betterworldbooks.com. They receive 1 - 3 year old copies from libraries and have excellent prices as long as you do not mind the library tags on the binders.

It really depends on what you collect. Scott catalogs are great. The US specialized is essential if you collect US, the Durland plate number cat if you collect plate blocks, there is a wonderful Perfin catalog (looseleaf) by John M Randall, Richard Frajola published a useful catalog of the stamps of Siam.... I could go on. A library is something that can grow and grow depending on your waxing and waning interests.

If you collect US, the Brookman catalog can also be useful. The printed version is available in a spiral bound which is very easy to use. Their US price is list is also available in PDF online.

Angore is right - and Library copies are usually in terrific shape.

As others have said, what catalogs are "essential" depends on what you collect. In my case, I collect US, so the Scott US specialized is essential. I also collect US Precancels (Bureaus and T&T), which makes the PSS Bureau catalog and Town & Type catalog essential. I use Steiner pages for my WW collection, hence the Scott WW catalogs are essential.

I agree with the comments above. And would second ddaann's comment: public library's where I have been usually have the current and at least on previous year. For most US collectors Scott's U.S. Specialized is the baseline.

It really depends on what you're into beyond that. Herbert's plate single catalog, the Precancel Societies catalog of Bureau and town/type catalogs, USPS puts out a catalog that may be useful to some small extent, there are plate number coil catalogs, postage meter catalogs, perfins, masonic...etc.

Not really used like a catalog as listed above but I also occasionally find good info in auction catalogs such as those from Regency Superior and Siegal.