Stamp Catalogs - Essential Stamp Collecting Tools


Other than stamp tongs, stamp catalogs are probably a stamp collector's most essential tool. Catalogs help collectors identify their stamps and also give information on their value. And most stamp catalogs list and describe the stamp varieties and stamp errors that some stamp collectors take such pleasure in looking for.

Many different stamp catalogs are published throughout the world. Some are general catalogs, published in a set of several volumes, that cover the stamps of the world. Other stamp catalogs address the stamps of a single country. Naturally those catalogs generally provide more detailed information about that country's stamps than do the general catalogs.

There are many similarities among the general, worldwide stamp catalogs, although they may use different numbering systems and some are printed in different languages. What separates one from another is the level of detail provided, along with smaller considerations such as paper quality, color vs. black & white images, the type of binding (spiral-bound catalogs that lay flat are nice!), etc.

Many American stamp collectors rely on Scott catalogs and the Scott Specialized Catalog of U.S. Stamps & Covers is considered by most Americans to be the gold standard for catalogs describing US stamps. But there are many other catalog publishers.

Stanley Gibbons is the widely recognized expert for publishing catalogs of British and British Commonwealth stamps, although their catalogs cover the stamps of the entire world. Yvert et Tellier, Michel, Minkus, and H.E. Harris are other notable catalog publishers. And some postal authorities, including the U.S.P.S., also print stamp catalogs that identify and describe the stamps they issue.