Where Do You Draw The Line And Stop Collecting New US Issues?

Recently, I've expanded my U.S. commemoratives collection to 1989. Looking forward, it looks like the number of issues exploded during the 1990s. I'm considering stopping at year 2000 as there was another explosion in the number of stamps issued in the new Millennium.

Don't get me wrong, I love stamps and collecting them. I see the multitude of new stamp issues and formats as a way for the government to fleece collectors who have supported them virtually from the beginning of the issuance of stamps. I have absolutely no interest in spending several hundred dollars on new issues each year that may never increase in value or only be worth face value (or less) 50 or 100 years from now. I'd much rather spend my time and money on acquiring finely engraved older stamps that are missing from my collection than the newer cartoonish clip art stamps being issued these days.

Where do you draw the line? What factors did you consider when making your decision? After drawing the line, did you allow yourself to let your collection creep forward a few more years? What are your thoughts?


Scott

1932

I stopped at 2000, but I'm now adding a just ones I like.

....and the albums to hold them cost even more than the stamps!!!

I have 4 albums to cover all Airmail w/some BOB, Regulars and Commemoratives through 1940. I believe it takes 9 or 10 more album to get through 2010!!!

I set a goal to have everything from 1847 through year 2000. I ended up with that plus a large portion through 2010, purchasing most of 1980 onwards from others who just "gave up" :-)

1928

Have inherited later issues, but have never actively collected them.

My US collection stops at 1985. Some time ago I printed up pages thru 1989 but do not actively pursue the stamps, if I run into something I toss it in there. Italy and Germany I stop in the mid 1970's. I have a few tupperware bins and envelopes that have US stamps thru the present but haven't decided if I'll ever do anything with.

For me, the end date is 1971, because that's the end date of the Harris Liberty album that my (at the time) girlfriend's sister found in the trash. (It went downhill from there. The collecting, I mean.)

For me, a single album is a very nice way to limit a collection. I've added contextual material on the facing pages, including the occasional later cancellation or other material that shows up in collections, but that's about it. For a while I collected postal stationery entires and postal cards, as two separate groups, but I realized that they just didn't fit in with the album and bring me the same joy.

I could have, as easily, gone with a later date, definitely through the 1980s and possibly in the the 1990s, if that was the scope of the original album, but I am happy with what I have. Too recent means far too many stamps and too expensive at that.

My end date for active collecting is 1990 for three reasons:

1. 150 years of stamps (1840 - 1990) is plenty for me.

2. One country I collect is Germany and the unification in 1990 seemed like a good place to stop.

3. I have few self-adhesive issues to deal with.

I collect only post-1990 stamps that interest me.

I like the serendipity. For GB, there's a fairly straightforward demarcation line with arrival of decimal currency in 1970. I also cut off what passes for my New Zealand and Australia collection with the arrival of currency-for-people-who-can't-do-arithmetic in the mid-'60s. I had to choose a date for Canada to allow for more than half-a-dozen stamps so I used the introduction of the maple syrup flag. For ex-colonies, I use independence or 1970, whichever's earlier.

I stopped at 2000. The reason is that I bought at auction an extremely clean 1847-2000 collection on Scott National pages, and the prior custodian had well filled it from 1930-2000. And it filled five SN large binders with slip cases. I decided to focus on the 19th century and not spend on pages or binders beyond the prior owner's good work.

I stopped at 1992 driven in part by the cost of album supplements and mounts vs the value of the stamps, and because many of the issues were simply a turn off for me. I stopped Waterfowl Stamps in 2015 as medical issues had me hang up my duck calls and decoys (I'd buy two of the Federals each year, one for hunting and one for collecting, although both would end up in albums) and because rising prices got a bit crazy.

That said, every year there are several issues that I really like (Golden Spike, Halloween, and most recently, the 'Winter Scenes,' for example) that I now house in a stock book reserved for such exceptions to my 'stop in 1992 rule.' The same with duck stamps, especially since the $'s go towards wetlands conservation.

I don't have a hard stop but I really don't collect much in the 2000's. I also don't collect anything printed by foreign printers as I consider them foreign regardless of what the USPS says.

I don't appreciate some of the subjects in "recent" issues. One example is Janis Joplin. Not someone that should be a role model in my opinion. Never should have been put on a stamp and shows me that there is nothing but money driving it. The USPS knows people will buy them and save some because they put a skank on the stamp... so heck why not. Lets have a series for degenerates, how about mass murders too. USPS used to be selective when selecting subjects now it's who's face can sell stamps.

There are enough holes in my collection that need work pre1992-2000.

US, stopped at 1992; just got to be too many varieties and sheets that I think were made more for commercial purposes. Worldwide, as a general rule I stop at 1970; the rationale there that post 1970 stamps also started to get commercial and stopped being aesthetically pleasing, at least from my perspective.

Scott: my original US stopped about 1965-66, since my now dispersed world wide collection was based on Parts I through V of the Scott Big Blue International album (1840-1965). I still have that US collection as a secondary interest.

The US collection inherited from the late father of a good friend ended about 2006. Beyond that, I've kept some I like, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and similar. I'll be adding the Star Wars Droids issue when it comes out. Steve

p.s. to JConey: Janis Joplin was honored for her contribution to music, not her lifestyle. Following your thoughts, baseball great Babe Ruth would never have made it onto a stamp.

In the middle of 1993 I decided to stop at the end of the year.

- I didn't like the number of issues
- I didn't like the subject matter
- I didn't like the designs
- I didn't like the printing quality

4 strikes and you're out.

I can't help but notice that the USPS issued about the same number of stamps between 1994-2020 (27 years) as they did between 1847-1993 (147 years).