Introducing Myself Definitely Lost

I am so lost and don't know where to start or what to do with all these stamps I now have. I was given this stamp collection with hundreds and hundreds of stamps from all over the world. Some already in three ring binders lot are not. I don't know where to start or how to understand the ones that are in the binders. Can anyone just help me. Just show me a little guidence and some of your expertise. I'm just feeling like all this beautiful stuff is hopeless.

Please post images!

Hi countrygirl, and welcome.
One very serious suggestion I have is to contact the Pinnacle stampclub of Arkansas. They are located close to you in Little Rock, and trying to find another collector nearby would really be helpful! You can find the contact info when you google the club,


Peter

Thank you Peter I'm trying to upload these pictures but I'm just having a blonde day I guess. But yes anyone you think would be beneficial is a god send. Soon as I get this figured out I'll send some of what I'm up against.

@Countrygirl7823,

Did you check your images have a size of not more than 300Kb?
If they are larger use below link, manipulate the numbers until they are. The manipulated size shows below "undo edits". Then save. An arrow appears next to the small image in the green field. Click it to download the manipulated picture to your device. Then, you can upload it to your post.

https://www.stampcommunity.org/image-optimizer/

For clarification, you didn't state what your intentions were with this collection - whether to keep it or the sell it or somewhere in between. Thus difficult for us to provide very meaningful advice.

Assuming you wish to keep some or most of it, then as you go through it, your will find some country or topic or other feature which appeals to you. Have fun with that grouping and set the rest aside for a while. Enjoy the special portion you like and don't become a slave to the rest. If you wish to sell it, then that would be completely different advice.

Countrygirl72823,

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences.

My personal bias is a used stamp loses the story of its journey in the postal service when it is removed from the cover it transported to its destination. Collecting postal history adds a whole new aspect to your journey in our hobby.

Wishing you many enjoyable future days in our hobby. Russ

Countrygirl,

Welcome to stamp collecting. Don't be discouraged and be patient and give yourself some time. Stamps are fascinating and will provide hours and hours of pleasure for a lifetime. But it will take a good bit of time and work for a novice to figure things out.

Maybe take a small part of what you have and work on that first. Maybe a particular country. Peter's suggesting to check in with a stamp club is a good one.

Good luck!

Welcome to the forum! There are a lot of good resources here. Looking forward to seeing pieces of your collection.