Your First Stamp Collection

Stamp collecting is fun and it can be rewarding too.  You gain a definite sense of accomplishment when you build a stamp collection, and when your collection gets noticed by other people it makes you feel great. People around the world collect almost everything, including coins, postcards, dolls, toys and even barbed wire, but for some people there is nothing like collecting stamps.

Before you begin a stamp collection you must first decide what kind or type of stamps you want to collect. You can collect any kind of stamps but it might be more fun and rewarding if you focus on collecting a certain type of stamp.  You can choose from a variety of stamp types, countries, years, formats, purpose or condition (mint or used), or you can be a general worldwide stamp collector, including stamps of all types.  But if you want to go the worldwide route, keep in mind that more than 10,000 new stamps are issued every year throughout the world, and a complete collection would be prohibitively expensive.  Collecting the stamps issued by a specific country or on a specific topic is much more realistic, although with any stamp collection there will be stamps that are much too expensive for your budget. 

The easiest stamps to collect are those issued by the country where you live because they are much more accessible.  But you may choose to collect stamps from countries that have some sort of special significance to you. 
You can also collect stamps by topic.  Popular topical stamp collections - sometimes called thematic stamp collections - include stamps featuring birds, ships, trains, airplanes, flowers, space and sports.  But you can pick any topic you want:  one man even collects stamps featuring toilets!  

Stamp collecting is an easy hobby to begin, even if you have no money to spend on it.  Everyone gets mail, often with stamps on it, and you can begin there, because those stamps are free.  You can also ask friends, relatives and acquaintances to save the stamps they receive for your collection.  If you want stamps from another country, try finding a penpal who lives there.  You can exchange letters and stamps at the same time!

If your finances allow you can look for stamps at stamp shops in your area or at online stamp dealers.  Joining a local stamp club will let you learn more about stamps and stamp collections, give you more opportunities to trade stamps and sometimes buy them, too.

Make sure you are properly equipped with basic stamp collecting tools like a stamp album, tongs, hinges or mounts, a perforation gauge, a magnifying glass and a watermark detector.  Never mount your stamps using adhesive tape or glue: they will damage your stamps beyond repair.  Always use stamp tongs to handle your stamps:  no matter how often you wash your hands, there will always be oils which can damage the stamps.  A magnifying glass can help you separate and identify different varieties of stamps that look the same when seen with the naked eye.

No matter what you collect or how you go about it, make sure you enjoy it.  Stamp collecting is, after all, a hobby.