Basics of Stamp Collecting

Album Selection Affixing Stamps to Album Caring for Stamps Damaged Stamps Stamp Tongs Stamp Identification Basic Equipment

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Ideally stamps should be affixed to an album. Stamp albums can greatly vary in price from a few dollars (about $5-20) for a beginner's world album to over $5000 for a complete world album. Similarly, if you are specializing only on one country, a complete country album usually costs over $100. And don't forget new stamps are being issued by every country every so often. So you have to keep on buying supplement pages if you want to collect every stamp of either one country or of the world. In short, don't dream of acquiring all the stamps of the world - not even all the stamps of a single country. Stamp collecting then can become an extremely expensive hobby (Hobby of Kings). You can never get all the stamps of a country without buying them. That too is almost impossible even if you had a lot of money to pursue your hobby.

Iraq

Malta

Anyway, coming back to the subject of affixing stamps to the album, you have to first decide on what kind of stamp album you want (or can afford). Shop around. Check the internet sites like American Stamp Dealers Association Online, or Stamp Link, or American Philatelic Society. You will find plenty of links to stamp dealers in these sites. I usually buy my stamp collecting accessories from Subway Stamp Shop. They are big and their prices are discounted. But I am neither advertising for them nor taking any responsibilities for mentioning their name. You do your own shopping.

Consider making your own stamp album too. All you need is a three-ring binder and some blank pages. If you are a serious beginner consider buying acid-free blank pages. They will protect your stamps from harmful effects of acid present in ordinary paper. If you want professional quality album pages and you are computer literate (and have a few extra bucks to spare) consider buying album making software. One such software you will find at AlbumPro.

France

Spain Korea

Making your own album will actually give you more flexibility in terms of organizing your collection as well as in terms of expenditure. If you are willing to spend some extra time in designing your album pages, I would say go for it. Ready made albums have many disadvantages. First of all you may not like the lay out of the pages. Secondly, your album may have 2 pages for one country and 5 pages for another but your collection may need just the opposite kind of space allotment. (This, of course, assumes you are not buying the complete world album with spaces for all stamps of every country.) Expandable albums are better than bound albums because you can add blank or supplement pages as your collection grows or as new stamps are introduced in the market. Deciding on the right kind of album is always difficult but it is very important. After you have started an album, if you change your mind, you may have to transfer all your stamps from one album to the other. That could be a really big project! But take heart. Almost no collector can buy the right album the very first time and almost all collectors have more than one album for one reason or another. You can always find an use for the first album (such as, you can keep your second grade stamps in it) should you discover later that the album you bought is not good enough for your purpose.

Okay, now that you have your album, how do you affix the stamps to the album? You don't paste the stamps directly on to the album pages nor do you use adhesive tapes, like Scotch tape. There are only two accepted ways of doing it unless you have bought the super expensive hingeless album, which is more or less like the photo album with pockets. (These albums have transparent foil pockets of exactly the same size as of individual stamps. You just have to insert the stamps in the pockets with a pair of stamp tongs.) The expensive and time consuming way is to use stamp mounts which are little plastic pieces which hold the stamps inside them and you attach the mounts to your album pages. The plus side of this is the stamps stay completely protected within the plastic holder (mount) thus ensuring their freshness over the years. This is highly recommended for those collectors who collect "mint" (unused, brand new) stamps with undisturbed gum on their back. The minus side is, mounts are pretty expensive and they come in various sizes to fit various sized stamps but still you need to cut them to the exact width of your stamp which is pretty cumbersome. The time honored method is to use stamp hinges which are quite inexpensive (about a dollar per thousand). This is really all you need if you collect used stamps, like I do. Stamp hinges are little rectangular pieces of folded glassine paper gummed on the outside. You lick and stick the shorter side of the hinge to the back of your stamp close to its upper edge. Then you lick the longer side of the hinge and place the stamp on your album page, face up, so that the longer side gets attached to the page. That's all. The stamp literally gets hinged to the album page so that you can lift up the stamp from its lower edge if you need to examine its back for any reason. (Good stamp hinges are peelable when completely dry and they are made of acid-free paper. The gum on them is a special one. A slight touch with the tip of your tongue is all that is needed to activate the gum.)

USSR Cape Verde

Portugal

Why on earth would anybody want to lift a stamp from its bottom edge to examine its back? Well, people who buy and sell stamps, do that all the time. Before they pay you big bucks for that rare stamp, they would want to make sure the stamp is not damaged in any way. The face of the stamp may look good but there may be 'thinning' of paper on the back. That will greatly reduce the value of the stamp. That is why it is important to take care of the stamps and protect them from any kind of damage including sun damage. Never leave your stamps on direct sunlight for prolonged period of time. The color of the stamp may fade.

I would like to mention here that my kitchen table is the place where I work with my stamps. But I wipe the table surface with a damp cloth and dry it completely before I lay my stamps on it. I also always wash and dry my hands before I begin working with my stamps. I do not eat, drink or smoke anywhere near my stamps. Stamps are delicate things and you have to protect them from any probable causes of damage. Always use your common sense. For example, if you have small children or pets keep them away from your stamps. Do not lay out your stamps in a breezy area. Keep your stamps in a cool, dry place. Excessive heat and humidity are harmful for stamps. If you are saving your stamps in closed boxes, open the boxes from time to time so that stamps are exposed to air. Stamps need to breathe. For the same reason, stamp albums should not be stored in a flat position. They should stand vertically (like books on a book shelf) and they should be opened up from time to time.

Ireland

Great Britain

A lot of collectors do not collect damaged stamps at all. Admittedly, the value of a stamp is greatly reduced if the stamp is even slightly damaged. A slight crease, a hole, a small tear, thinning on the back, heavy cancellation mark, a missing angular projection from the perforation, etc. are all considered damages or faults. The question is do you keep such a stamp or throw it away? As far as I am concerned, I keep such stamps if that is the only copy I have. I discard that as soon as I get a better copy of the exact same stamp.

A pair of stamp tongs is a useful tool for stamp collectors. It is easier to pick up an off-paper stamp with the help of stamp tongs. But some stamp experts over-emphasize the importance of using them. Be warned without a little practice you are likely to make a hole through the stamp while trying to lift a stamp with a pair of stamp tongs. It is true that tweezers used for grooming and stamp tongs are not the same thing though they look a lot like identical twins. If you must use a tool to handle stamps, buy a pair of stamp tongs. They are specifically made for the purpose.

Brazil

Israel

I shall not recommend using stamp tongs while handling wet stamps. Wet stamps are much more delicate than the dry stamps. I think one will do more harm to the stamps than good using the tongs in a stamp bath. I have been collecting stamps for fifty years. I mostly use my fingers to handle stamps and I have hardly ever damaged any stamp by not using stamp tongs.

I use common sense. I wash and dry my hands before handling stamps. Yes, I know all about natural skin oils that might leave my finger prints on stamps. But the stamp I am holding now had been held before, without a pair of stamp tongs, by many people. Remember we are dealing with used stamps here. I can understand the importance of using stamp tongs when handling "mint" stamps with gum on the back or really valuable stamps. Glossy photographs pick up finger prints more easily than stamps do, but I am yet to see a pair of "photo tongs" in the market. Photos should ideally be held by their edges. So should stamps be.

Singapore

Denmark

So my advise to the beginners is: Do buy a pair of stamp tongs (if for nothing else, to look like a professional). They are cheap after all, about $3 for the ordinary ones. The shorter ones with a spade shaped tip is best for the beginners. But first practice using them with useless stamps or with plain paper cut in the shape and size of stamps. You will find that when you have some off-paper stamps laid flat on the work surface, it is easier to pick them up with stamp tongs. But you will have to use your fingers when soaking stamps or when sticking stamps to the album using stamp hinges.

For a world stamp collector identification of stamps is very important and it is not always very easy, particularly for a beginner. I have included some discussions on this topic in the next section (Beyond Basics Page 1) which, I am sure, will help out a beginner. I would just like to mention here that a beginner is better off buying a book on this subject (which will cost around $12) for ready reference though there are sites in the internet that deals with stamp identification in details.

Cyprus

If you have read all of the above, by now you know pretty well what basic stamp collecting equipment you will need as a beginner. To recapitulate, you will need:

Some stamps (To get started) Some glassine envelopes Some hinges A pair of scissors A magnifier (3X is usually sufficient) A pair of stamp tongs (Yes, why not?) A drying book A stockbook An album A book on stamp identification An atlas (If you want to know where on earth is this country)

To read more about stamp collecting basics, click here.

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