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Stamp Collecting: Beginners

thedigitalphilatelist 26/12/2020

Stamp collecting can be entertaining, informative, relaxing or creative. How you collect, what you collect and when you collect is totally up to you. Each collection is personal, and a reflection of your own tastes, likes and preferences.

There is no right way to collecting.

Where to start?

Sometimes it is hard to know where to begin but the best place to start is just collecting any stamps you can. This could be through mail you receive, friends or family, penpals or postcrossing, your local postal service, a stamp dealer or an inherited collection.  As you start accumulating stamps, you will begin to learn what peaks your interest.

A lot of beginners start out with a general world wide collection, a single country collection or a topical (thematic) collection.

Beginner Tips

Some old stamp collecting practices may no longer considered appropriate.

For example, in earlier times, collectors would soak stamps off envelopes to put in their collection. These days, you are better retaining the stamp on the envelope as it holds more value for the history of the item such as the addressee, postmark or other features like illustrated covers.

Another example is stamp mounts. Stamps were often mounted into albums using a small paper hinge into albums. These days, most collectors will use mounts (like Prinz), stock books or hangers.

If you are starting out, try and retain the stamps in the condition you find them. As your knowledge grows, you may start looking at these items differently.

Beginner’s Checklist

If you are starting out, there are only two essential items you should obtain to get you started:

  • Storage to store your stamps. Avoid cheap albums that may contain a lot of acid. Lighthouse and Prinz are two high quality manufacturers of storage items specifically for stamps.
  • Tweezers to handle your stamps.
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