Collecting US Stamps

Hi all,

I currently concentrate on collecting UK stamps but after reading all the interesting posts on this forum would like to start a US collection.

What would be the best way to begin ie is there an era/set of stamps that are relatively easy to source which will not break the bank (leading to divorce ) but will provide a good starting point for a collection.

Thanks in advance for any assistance provided - I am always amazed at the knowledge that members of this forum constantly demonstrate.

Kind Regards,

Steve

"US Collection" covers a lot of territory and you have not provided any details on what specific areas may be of interest. Pretty much anything issued after the year 1934 to the present can be obtained for face value or less, if you want to collect mint. There are a handful of exceptions. If you want to collect used then nearly every stamp (99%) will be only pennies.

Once you want to collect stamps from the year 1934 and earlier it begins to get expensive.

Thanks for the reply Germania - I think I will take your advice and initially start with post 1934 stamps.

what is a good catalogue which will help identify the stamps/collections/sets etc.

While it's (kind of) garbage for everything else, Scott is the Bible for USA stamps.

Nuc5 - my experience of selling US stamps on ebay uk is that they're a drug on the market. You should be able to assemble a reasonable collection cheaply.

You should be able to assemble the entirety of 1934-2021 for about 1000 GBP, give or take.

I agree that 1934 is a good starting point, and specifically the national parks issue. You can move forward or backward in time from there. A Scott US Specialized catalog is a must for a US collectors.

You aren't going to get the Presidential set for face or below.

Nuc5....I'm in the states, and I collect US and GB. I'd be happy to send you a bunch of US stamps to get you going in exchange for some GB stamps. I have a stockpile of used and unused stamps I can pick from (the used stamps are unsorted. I'd just grab a handful and package them up). Send me a message if you're interested.

Hi Dave,

That would be great I have a lot of machins and early king George etc

Nuc5 -----The first thing is to buy a couple of mixture lots and a few small collections type lots . Look at everything and start getting a education . You need to learn what is out there and what it sells for .

Spend your first two years organising your stuff and learning . As you develope a idea ,you will be attrached to certain areas of collecting ,those can be your main interest

Nuc - if you're comfy with rough and ready and cheap and cheerful, I have a few lots opening on ebay tomorrow afternoon

I think it's an excellent idea to start an American Stamp Collection. There are very few true US collectors that post on this website for the enjoyment of stamp collecting. Most are people with PHD's trying to impress other PHD's. US stamps are a lot of fun to collect. Most of the posts berate US stamps unless its before a certain year.

I berate every country's stamps unless they're before a certain year.

I'm perfectly happy with pre-1847 US stamps.

Give me a break.