Stamp Collecting Specialties

A complete worldwide stamp collection would be absolutely enormous, with thousands of volumes. It would also be incredibly expensive to acquire. Many collectors begin as worldwide stamp collectors, but after a while they they tend to get a bit overwhelmed by it all. Many eventually limit the scope of their collections, but their collections may be "deeper" (more in-depth, including varieties, errors and other interesting items). Some collectors limit themselves to the stamps of particular countries, time periods or topics. Other collectors limit
themselves to collecting specific types of stamps.

Some of the more popular stamp collecting specialties include:

• Particular countries and/or time periods

• Definitive stamps - the most frequently used stamps

• Commemorative stamps - issued to commemorate events, anniversaries etc., on sale for a limited time

• Pictorial stamps - often featuring images of a country's scenery, animals, plants or lifestyle (some pictorials are definitives, others are commemoratives)

• Revenue stamps - issued to pay tax in small amounts. Some early stamps had Postage and Revenue printed on them, to indicate that they were acceptable for both uses
  

• Postal stationery - government-issued postal cards, aerograms, air letter sheets, etc.

• Sheetlets - a format now issued regularly by postal administrations. Instead of issuing stamps in large sheets of 40 or more stamps, smaller sheetlets with 16 or 20 stamps are issued with a large selvage area which may incorporate part of the stamp design or theme
  

• Miniature sheets - very similar to Souvenir sheets, minisheets are a form of sheetlet with a single stamp or a few stamps embedded

• Souvenir sheets - stamps printed in a format that look like a sheet with a large picture. Various parts of the picture are actually stamps can be removed and used as postage
  

• Corner blocks or plate blocks - a block of stamps from one of the four corners of a stamp sheet. Collectors usually collect blocks of four stamps, complete with the selvage area which sometimes bears printing details or plate number(s)
  

• Postage due stamps

• Federal Duck Stamps (stamps for duck hunting licenses, mainly U.S., but Canada and New Zealand also have duck stamps

• First day covers (FDCs) - envelopes with stamps attached and canceled on the first day that the stamp was issued. Most modern FDCs bear designs, called "cachets," related to the theme of the stamp issued
  

• PHQ Cards - pictorial postcards issued by the British Post Office (Royal Mail). Each PHQ card shows an enlarged color reproduction of a commemorative stamp
  

• First Day Ceremony Programs - folders or brochures given out to attendees of the First Day Ceremonies of postage stamps, with historical information on the stamp, a list of speakers, and an attached stamp, canceled on the First Day of Issue
  

• Souvenir pages - first day cancelled stamps on a page describing all design, printing and issuing details
  

• Topical stamps (thematic stamps) - many collectors choose to organize their stamp collection on the theme of the stamps, covers, or postmarks. Popular topical themes are animals, dogs, cats, butterflies, birds, flowers, art, sports, Olympics, maps, Disney, scouting, space, ships, Americana, stamps on stamps, famous people, chess, Chinese new year, and many others

• Cinderellas - stamp-like labels that are not valid for postage

• Counterfeit and forged postage stamps. There are several types of collectible fake postage stamps: 1. postal counterfeits produced by criminals for fraudulent use as postage stamps; often scarcer than the stamps which they were intended to represent in part because counterfeits are subject to government seizure and selling them may be illegal. 2. forgeries of rare stamps. 3. reprints produced by government printing offices or private organizations using the plates used to produce the original stamps. 4. faked stamps are common stamps which have been altered to resemble rare stamps such as forged overprints, forged cancellations, chemical alterations of a stamp's color or altered perforations

• Postmarks or postal markings in general

• Vintage stampless covers - common from the period before postage stamps were first issued to prepay postal charges

Reasons for Stamp Collecting


I've been wondering what causes people to purchase and collect stamps.

As far as I can tell, there are three main types of people who purchase stamps: 1. stamp collectors, who love stamps and are motivated to collect stamps for a variety of reasons; 2. philatelists, who are intellectually motivated and study stamps, their usage, and the methods by which they are printed; and 3. investors, who are motivated by the prospect of making money and don't necessarily fancy stamps.


Most people who collect the stamps of a particular country have some connection to that country. For example, many people who collect United States stamps do so because that is where they live, and the events and people depicted on US stamps strike a chord with them.

But there are as many different reasons to collect postage stamps as there are different types of stamp collections. Someone in the navy may enjoy finding topical stamps with various types of ships and boats depicted upon them. Or a world traveler may collect stamps from the countries visited along the way, or from locations he or she has been to. A stamp collector can accumulate or collect whatever stamps are interesting, for whatever reasons. There are no rules in stamp collecting, just enjoyment.

Unused Stamps - Do You Want to Collect Mint Never Hinged, or Mint Hinged?

Some people collect postally used stamps, and we applaud them for doing so. Finding high-quality used stamps to include in a stamp collection can be much more challenging - and therefore rewarding - than locating the same stamp in unused, mint condition. And although there are some notable exceptions, most postally used stamps are less expensive than their mint counterparts. The difference in prices allows the typical stamp collector to include many more used stamps in his or her collection than would be possible with unused stamps.

That's why the folks at The Stamp People chose to offer for sale a large number of postally used stamps in addition to mint stamps. Doing so allows them to help that many more people build their stamp collections.

But enough of that - this post is intended to discuss the relative merits of collecting mint never hinged (unmounted) stamps versus mint hinged stamps.

Often, although not always, there's a significant difference in price between a mint never hinged stamp and its hinged counterpart. Both types - hinged and unhinged mint (unused) stamps - have their original gum. But when a mint stamp has been affixed to a stamp album page by a hinge, its gum is disturbed to one degree or another.

When removed, some high quality hinges leave only an extremely light mark on the gum that can be difficult to see unless the stamp is held at an angle or "against" the light. Other hinges, when removed, leave a much more significant mark or even part of the hinge itself remains attached to the stamp (known as a "hinge remnant").

In contrast, mint never hinged stamps, by definition, have never had a hinge attached to them and so there cannot be any hinge marks or hinge remnants.

But how important is this?

Well, the value of a mint never hinged stamp may be only 5 cents more than a hinged copy, or it might be hundreds of dollars more. It all depends on the rarity and condition of the specific stamp.

So whether a mint stamp has been hinged or not can have a very significant affect on its value. But consider these facts:

• although it may be worth much more (or maybe not), a mint never hinged stamp will also cost more to buy. It increases the value of your stamp collection more than a hinged stamp would, but it also costs more to add to your collection. Would you rather have more stamps in your collection (as you could with the more inexpensive hinged stamps or used stamps) or fewer but more valuable stamps? Only you can answer that question - your collection is whatever you want to make of it.

• do you want to "buy gum?" By that we mean, you will probably pay a significantly higher price for mint never hinged stamps, even though the only difference between them and the same stamps when hinged is those little marks on the gum. How important is that to you? Do you often look at the backs of your stamps? (we think not, once they're mounted in your stamp album) Again, only you can answer that question - it's your stamp collection and you're the one who gets to decide what's important and what's not.

• Early (vintage) mint never hinged stamps carry a sometimes huge price increase over their hinged counterparts. The reason? Stamp mounts didn't exist back then. If a stamp was going to be mounted on an album page, it had to be done with a hinge. That's all there was (although some people used stamp selvedge for the same purpose, it leaves an even worse gum disturbance than stamp hinges). And because most collected stamps were, and are, mounted on stamp album pages, there just aren't that many unhinged vintage stamps around. They're much harder to find, and they're much, much more expensive than a hinged stamp. So if you insist on only mint never hinged stamps in your collection, you may have some difficulties finding older stamps - and you'll probably have some serious money involved.
  

Upcoming Subjects That We'll Be Discussing In The Next Few Days:

1. Postally Used Stamp Collections - More Popular Than Ever, or Falling Into Disfavor?

We've recently read that the number of stamp collectors who focus on postally used stamps is decreasing. We beg to differ. In fact, we disagree quite strongly.

2. Type of Stamp Collections.

Stamp collectors can make their collections be anything they wish. Are you a country collector, a worldwide stamp collector, or a topical or thematic stamp collector? Do you limit your collection to a particular range of dates? Do you only collect mint never hinged stamps, or do you prefer postally used examples?