Introducing Myself I'm New To The Stamp World!

Hi everyone! I'm Jessica, a new member here and a relatively new stamp collector as well. I'm completely fascinated by the world of stamp collecting and have been slowly building my collection over the years through online auctions, Mystic Stamp, flea markets, and more. I'm particularly drawn to US stamps, especially those with historical significance or a bit of rarity.
Right now, my collection is a bit of a treasure trove waiting to be discovered! With a 10-month-old keeping me busy, I haven't had a chance to properly sort and organize everything. It's a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but I'm excited to dive in when I can. If any of you have tips on how to go through thousands of stamps without a curious baby trying to "help," I'm all ears!
I also have a bunch of stamps that I can't identify. I'm not even sure if some of them are actual stamps! Any guidance on how to figure that out would be amazing.
Lastly, I'm always open to trading! I have way too many duplicates from various countries. Let me know if you're interested in swapping.
Looking forward to connecting with you all and learning more about this wonderful hobby!

Welcome to the forum. Always glad to see new members. You won't be able to swap / trade / or sell before you reach 50 quality posts, so keep them coming.

Also, you said that you have built your collection through different means. Always a good idea. However, be cautious with Mystic Stamp as their prices and quality are not the best. I only bought their catalogs ... never any stamps from them, as I can get the same things off ebay for half the price.

Anyway, keep posting.

Thank you for that information. Very helpful, will definitely keep in mind.

Welcome

Welcome Jessica!

Welcome, Jessica. As hard as it is to narrow your focus, that is my biggest piece of advice for you. After more than 60 years in this hobby I am still trying to do that. But if you can discipline yourself to do so, perhaps follow that road.

Since you like U.S. stamps .. start there. Do your best to organize and figure our what you have and/or want.

As for other countries, borrowing a Scott catalog from the library will help. Pick a foreign country or two you might want to follow at the start and borrow that catalog. The good news is that the worldwide catalogs (volumes 1 to 6, but TWO actual books for each volume for past several years) all include stamp identifiers to help you figure out those foreign stamps.

Also, if you don't have them, get some stock pages (which fit into a 3-ring binder) or stock books to help organize your stamps.

As for the baby - well - ummm - nap and bedtimes are about the only sure thing.

Best of luck and gave fun!

StapinWithJess,

Congratulations Jessica on the ten month old. Mine just turned 40 (years old) with two grandsons. Enjoy every stage of life they go through. It is an adventure for them and you.

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, Jess, There are plenty of kind folks here that can help you with stamp identification and sorting.

There is also a mobile app called StampIdentifier that may help you.

Thank you for all of your kind replies. I appreciate it. As for helping with sorting or identifying, I will definitely hear any ideas that anyone may have about sorting. Right now I am using the stamp identifier app and scanning stamps that I'm not familiar with and hoping it recognizes them, then I am sorting them in small envelopes for now. Then I am planning on using stock pages but my problem is I have THOUSANDS OF STAMPS. Some US stamps I have anywhere from 30-100 of the same stamp. Some are used and some are not but I don't want to throw anything away in case it's that "hidden gem", I've been eagerly waiting to see. No but all of my stamps keep falling out of the stock pages because I overlap them because of the amount I have. I'm not a fan so far of the stock pages, stamps seem to slip out the top or slide over, not sure if that is suppose to happen or what but you would think there was a better method for storing mass amounts of stamps. Also I am hoping to create my own album pages eventually of the US stamps with mounts but not sure what stamps go with what sets yet as I have quite a bit to still sort through. I honestly think I have more foreign stamps than US stamps. Whoops. Any idea if certain foreign stamps are worth more than others or where I can find values for foreign stamps?

Welcome, I think you will find this site helpful and educational.