Returning To My Stamps After ~15 Years

Hi everyone :) first post here.


I recently (after ~15 years) started to get back into my stamp collection and as technology has progressed I was wondering what everyone is doing to evaluate/study their collections?

When I started, my main collection was of made swiss (Helvetia) stamps and I used to use the Zumstein catalog/book to help me identify my stamps. I am now located in Australia and purchased another catalog ($80 AU later).

I do have a large collection from all over the world and would like to start identifying them. Now my question is should I just keep buying catalogs from various countries or is there a better electronic catalog I can use.

I did try some apps but they seem very slow and not so reliable unless I am missing the good apps.

not saying that I will totally go of books (especially for my main collection). But something to help identify all the odd stamps (which there are still many off) and getting the collection organized.

So what does everyone do nowadays?

Thank you allot for any help and pointing me in the right direction.

If you're collecting world to 1940 then Scott Classic Specialised is the way to go. They're expensive to buy here in Australia though. If you're collecting British Commonwealth to 1952 then you can't go past Stanley Gibbons.

Please tell us what you're focusing on and we can be of more help

nighthawk666
I have accumulated many of the Stanley Gibbons 'one country' catalogues for various areas of my all-world collection, but for everything else I use Stampworld.com on-line catalogue. As long as you have a rough idea of date it won't take long to find what you are looking for. Hope this helps.
Regards
DavidR

Thank you Bobby De La Rue. I just had a quick look at the books and yea, not cheap lol but will have to bit the bullet for the greater good :). At this stage, I collect a bit of everything. I do focus mostly on my swiss collection and I really like my Czech collection (some beautiful stamps there) which I still have to research. Because I live in Australia now I will definitely expand my knowledge and collection to the local stamps but I have collected a good amount of stamps from all over the world and now I am looking smart ways to categorize them set/value/year.

www.stampworld.com is free and useful for basic needs.

When I returned to collecting, steiner albums were a revelation to me (www.stampalbums.com)

Enjoy :-)

As far as Gibbons go, I've bought out of the UK on the wrong side of the exchange rate and can still buy cheaper than ANY dealer in Australia, including shipping.

Hi DavidR,

Thank you, I will defiantly use the site recommended. I cross-checked it with my current book and for the individual stamps, it's pretty good and perfect for the all over the world collection. I didn't seem to list some of the miss prints but that's just with a quick look. So you would recommend the Stanley Gibson books for individual countries for extra info?

Yvert offers a digital, subscription catalogue covering the world, including individual catalogues covering 1840-1940 and 1941-1960. Not used myself, I should stress

https://en.yvert.com/A-219313-subsc...omplete.aspx

Not in English, I presume - but then, nor is Scott.

I would suggest a catalog system that is commonly used in Australia but we know some there use Scott system too. You probably can find plenty of used ones on the market rather than buying a new one. You do not need a new one unless you are interest in recently issued stamps or having the latest catalog price (they do not change that much and catalog prices are not accurate anyway).

Hi angore,

Yes, I think I will be going for a Stanley Gibson catalog for the Australian stamps. I am looking at some secondhand catalogs and might get a good priced 2016 issue to get started. I do understand what you are saying about not needing the latest issue. Back when I properly started to collect Swiss stamps, I used to get a new book every so many years. My latest swiss catalog I have is a 2002 edition and I still use it but it is starting to come apart at the glued sections so I ordered the new 2019 catalog just because its the one I use most and wont have to get a new one for quite a while.

The first batch dried, pressed and ready to get organized. So I decided to start on the misc box that I have been avoiding for a while :) Didn't even put a dent in my misc cutout stamps but the time has come to pick through it. Let's see what goodies I can find.

Already hooked again. don't know why I ever stopped.

Welcome.
One clarification to this thread; stampworld.com is not free. Read their Terms and Conditions (English is not their first language). They are a commercial website selling data and traffic.
Don

Welcome nighthawk

You will find lots of helpful folks here.

Dianne

Welcome, nighthawk! I'm new here too, and am apparently also getting back to my stamps after a very long lay-off.

I am finding these replies helpful as well.

B.G.