Stamp Collecting

Stamps. You put them on a letter you want to mail, or a bill you need to pay. Once in a while, if it is a birthday or Valentine`s Day card, you will request a special picture on the stamp, a cake or a heart, perhaps. However, to some, stamps are more than just mere postage.

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In 1837 Sir Rowland Hill, after having completed exhaustive studies of the postal service then in effect, made public his revolutionary idea, the stamp. This was, reduced to its simplest expression, merely the fact that it cost no more to deliver a letter a hundred miles than it did to deliver one a few city blocks.

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Stamp collecting doesnt have to be an expensive hobby. You can enjoy collecting stamps with limited financial resources. Here are 10 really low-cost ways to start stamp collecting.

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Collecting stamps is a hobby that interests kids and adults alike all over the world. You can begin a stamp collection easily enough; just start collecting interesting and unusual stamps that you find. When you start out, you may want to begin by spending as little money as possible, just enough to get your feet wet and begin to build a collection.

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Out of all the hobbies you may enter, stamp collecting not only allows you to have fun, but also provides you with a looking glass into the past, present, as well as future.

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Early stamp history:- Stamps were beginning to make an impact on how postal charges on letters was paid. Mauritius was the next country to issue adhesive postal stamps.

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An introductory guide to the usefulness and uniqueness of stamps you can put your own photo on.

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Stamp collecting is an old and very popular hobby. It is estimated that the number of stamp collectors runs into millions the world over.

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Stamp collecting has been one of the most popular pastimes since they were first published. With more than 20 million collectors of stamp alone in the United States, the collecting of stamp is certainly an activity well beloved.As more and more people take up stamp collecting in the United States, the experts believed that the number would continue to grow now that various tools and instruments have been developed making them easier to manage.

The experts affirm that the collecting of stamps is simpler and more pleasant if you have the correct tools to help identifying, evaluating, handling and organizing your stamps.

The genuine collectors of stamps have various tools for the collecting of stamps which help to classify giving them lots of enjoyment. With the arrival of the Internet, there are software programs, which were technically conceived to facilitate the collectors of stamp while organizing, evaluating and supervising their stamp collection.

For some who do not have the technical expertise there are other tools that can help them in the same way.

Consequently, if you are new to the collecting of stamps, and would like to get to know how to keep and organize your stamps in a convenient way you should obtain a stamp album. Stamp albums are one of the best tools for keeping your stamps safe and controlled as well as being cost effective.

Albums are not just simply built to host your stamp collections but can be an attractive addition to your bookshelf and in fact some collectors actually collect the stamp albums themselves. It is because the majority of the stamp albums these days are artistically designed to meet the taste of the collectors of stamps like you.Below is a list of some of the advantages of the stamp collecting albums. Check and see for yourself if albums are really for you.

1. Absolute Protection. While collectibles like coins which are exceedingly more robust than stamps, Stamps are very flimsy and easily damaged and need lots more protection against this damage, dust and even light.. Damage to stamps is also very susceptible to unintentional damage by others.For this reason alone a stamp album is essential for keeping your stamps in a safe and protected way.
2. Better Handling. Albums provide for easier handling of your stamp collection. It is because these albums contain ways in which to keep or hold of the stamps. In the main, albums have two ways of handling your stamps this can be by either mounting with hinges or using special enclosed mounts that provide even better protection.With enclosed mounts the stamps are easily viewed as the mounts are made of clear plastic with a dark background. These mounts come in several sizes to accommodate the different sizes of stamps. The mounts have an adhesive backing for affixing to your stamp album page. The stamp is then simply inserted into the mounting frame. This type of mounting is more expensive than using hinges but offers by far better protection from the elements.Stamp hinges are simply clear tabs with gum on one side.. They are folded and one half of the gummed side attached to the stamp and the other to the stamp album page. The gum is of a kind that is not a permanent adhesion and is easily peeled of the stamp or page. It is important that you use good quality hinges. Hinges should only be used for used stamps and not unused (mint) stamps.There are some albums that have plastic strips on the pages that stamps can be inserted. These do not offer the protection of the plastic mounts and I believe the stamps are not as secure.
3. Cost effective. Stamp albums are generally a cheaper method of protecting and holding your stamps than other tools. This is one reason that they are by far the most used method of protecting and holding your stamps certainly for those just starting.In conclusion if ways of protecting stamps had not been developed the growth of stamp collecting would have been severely inhibited.

Here’s an easy way to find a stamp’s value without using a catalog by searching online. Just follow these simple steps and search the stamps at an auction online.

When Issued?

The first step is to narrow down the identity of your stamp so that you can search for it more efficiently.

Read the inscriptions on your stamp. They often say when they were issued and help to identify the stamp.

All stamps of the 19th century were engraved; printed from etched printing plates. The design is a series of solid lines of color, similar to the central portraits on American paper money.

If you think your stamp is from the 19th century, go to an American listing on :: Online Stamp Catalogs.

Non-engraved stamps are from the 20th century and these have the same appearance as pictures in glossy magazines. They are often in full-color.

Commemorative or Definitive

Nearly all stamps that commemorate a specific event were issued in the 20th century, and commemoratives are nearly double the size of the ordinary postage stamps. The first US commemoratives were issued in 1892 to celebrate Columbus’ arrival in the Americas.

Definitives are generally printed over and over again in large quantities throughout the years as needed, while commemoratives go through one printing of a certain quantity.

Search Online Stamp Auctions

Once you have narrowed down the search for your stamp, go online to a large auction site like eBay to search for comparable stamps offered at auction. Note that this process can work for first day covers, postal cards and other philatelic items.

There are many online auction houses, but the largest is eBay so that’s the place to start. However, you can use a similar strategy on just about every auction service.

Search Without a Catalog #

Let’s suppose that you have an American stamp you want to know the value of, here’s how to get started. Go to :: eBay: Recently Completed Stamp Auctions.

From here choose the closest possible category to your stamp. Is it unused or used, 19th or 20th century?

“Unused” (or mint) refers to stamps that have not been used in the mail or canceled. Most times they still have their original gum (og) on the back. “Used” refers to any canceled stamp that has been used on a letter or card.

Say, you have an unused stamp that you think is from the 19th century, click “United States : 19th Century:Unused.” You’ll get 1500 or more listings, so you must use the “Search” box to find what you’re looking for.

Many sellers use catalog numbers plus a few words to describe their offerings in the title. If, for example, your stamp is a three-cent stamp, put “3c” in the search box, no quotes and, if you know who is pictured on the stamp, put the name in too. Hint: many 19th century stamps picture George Washington or Ben Franklin.

Select “Search only in United States : 19th Century:Unused” and “Search titles and descriptions.” Then click “Search.”

Then compare your stamp to those in the search results that are listed with pictures, and hopefully you’ll find a copy of your stamp. Most of the stamps will also be listed with a catalog number, for example, “U.S. Stamps - # 26 3c Washington Mint LH.”

Search Again

Take this catalog number and put it in the search box and re-run your search, but be sure to run the search from the same stamp category page you ran your first search from and not the search results page. Just click your browser’s back button.

When I searched for “washington 3c” I got 2 results. When I searched for “26,” I got ten.

Check Closed Stamp Auctions

These stamps are currently at auction. To see what stamps similar to yours have already sold for on the auction service, stay on the current results page, un-select “Search titles and descriptions (to find more items!)” and click “Search Completed Items” right next to it.

You’ll get closed auction results. Unfortunately, many of the stamps’ scans may not still be available a few weeks after an auction closes, but you’ll have final dollar amounts to check.

Non-USA Stamps

This online search method works for all stamps, but if you can’t identify your stamp check out this page :: Stamp Identifier.

Condition and Grading

A stamp’s condition determines the value. The better the condition the more valuable the stamp, and any injury to the stamp after it left the printing plant is considered a fault. Stains, tears, creases, scrapes, pinholes and toning are all faults that lessen the stamp’s value, some considerably.

Grading is a way to describe how neatly centered the stamp design is on the paper. A stamp is usually valued with a grade of just “very fine” VF, which means the stamp is just off-center, either top-to-bottom or side-to-side.

A stamp with four equal-sized margins between the design and the edges is considered to be “extremely fine” EF, a grade higher than VF. To learn about grading and condition read :: Stamp Grading and Condition .