Hello My Name Is Ralph And Am New Here.

Hi, I'm Ralph, New to this forum. Welcome to the other people who, like me, are also new here. I am a retired senior from central Florida. I am an amateur collector who, although I collect from all over the world, concentrate mostly on stamps from Spain, GB and the USA. I started collecting when I was a teenager but took a break when I went to college. After more than 30 years I got sick with Lupus and my doctor recommended philately because it keeps my stress low and helps me relax a lot and I started collecting again. I think I am learning a lot from this hobby and I want to learn more since philately is a universe and each person has different interests.I know I'm going to need help from the other members and if I can help I'll be here.

Welcome to the forum Ralph! Like yourself I collect worldwide, but have decent GB and other country collections. Lots of helpful people here.
Regards
DavidR

Ralph, Welcome to the forum. Enjoy yourself and feel free to ask questions. There are many sharp folks here willing to share their knowledge.

Thank you very much for the welcome DavidR and Centerstage98. I think I'm going to have a good time here with all of you. I hope to learn a lot and help you in the little that I know.
Regards
Ralph

Ralph,

Enjoy having fun with stamps! That is the name of this game. Wonderful you are carrying on your father's collection. You are the next steward of a family treasure you can pass on to future generations. Its value as a family heirloom wil always surpass it monetary value.

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

Welcome, Ralph.
Quite a few members returned to collecting after a hiatus. Feel welcome to post a scan or two of the stamps that got your collecting juices flowing again!

Hello again, thanks a lot hoosierboy and jleb1979 for the welcome. I am definitely going to enjoy this place a lot and I know that I will be able to ask my questions without any problem. Later I will post couple of photos of what I collect. On many occasions I have thought that the used stamps should have more value because they traveled long distances and were the ones that gave many people the opportunity to communicate when it was only the only way to do so. . They were part of history. I have both, mint stamps and used stamps.
thanks
Ralph

Welcome to the forum Ralph. I think you find it very members here very willing to help you.

Thank you Uknjay, I am sure that here I will have good friends who will give me good tips to improve my collection. Nice day for everyone.

Welcome Ralph! I lived in Tampa for 34 years but just this week I relocated to Nashville, TN.

Hello and thanks Shermae. I lived 30 years in Miami and the last year we moved to Palm Bay, Is a big difference but am more relax here. Beautiful day