Start Stamp Collecting

I love stamps, all kinds of stamps, the ones you find on the mail when you receive it, the ones you find in the post offices, and even the little rubber stamps you can use to decorate nearly anything! I love to collect them all, but my absolute favorite is the postage stamp, the ones you find on your mail when it gets delivered.

You may ask why I enjoy collecting stamps so much, and I’ll tell you. I love to collect stamps because for one, it is very enjoyable to do, and two,  it has given me a lot of opportunities to meet other people and do something different with my time rather than the usual routine of things such as watching movies.

I can’t even tell you which stamp is my favorite because they are all my favorites. Every single one of them, even if some are in really rough shape. Some are more beautiful than others, like the foreign stamps, and others more unique, some even have faces of different presidents, places or even the Queen. There is something that I love about every single one of my stamps and that is the way it should be when having a stamp collection.

You can also show your feelings for someone depending on what kind of stamp you use. Every year for example, a plethora of heart stamps and Valentine’s Day stamps make an appearance so that people can use one to send mail to people who are special in their lives. These kinds of stamps make an excellent addition to your collection. There are also Christmas stamps, Easter Stamps, special ones for anniversaries for certain countries; there are so many different types. Part of the thrill of getting a letter almost every day is seeing what stamp my friend, or a business has used, and to see if it is a stamp that I have never seen before or come across before.

I also love to enter contests for designing new stamps, how amazing would that be to design a stamp, and then add it to your collection? That might just be the ultimate stamp anyone could have in their entire collection, not only for the sake of having one in your collection, but the ability to brag about it to your friends and family. So if you get the opportunity to enter a contest like that, do not be shy, you never know if you might have a winning design tucked up in your mind somewhere.

It is such a thrill when on the hunt for stamps. Wanting to add to your collection can take you anywhere you are willing to go. Don’t be afraid to go into a musty little shop that seems to be trying to hide from society – that store just might have a stamp somewhere in there that you have never seen before. Travel to other countries and see what they have to offer in the way of the stamp, and if you cannot travel, then talk to people who do.

My love for collecting stamps will never go away; it is something that I will continue to pursue no matter where life ends up taking me.

There are people who collect stamps, and then there are people who collect stamps. This hobby is soon to become an investment form. Like coins, rare stamps are becoming more and more popular; those who have it earn a real good amount for them from other enthused people.

Unlike a normal stamp collector, who generally tries to “fill the spaces” in his album, and obtain as many different stamps of the country that he collects as he can afford, the philatelic investor endeavors to find those stamps within his chosen collecting area which will increase in value the most over time. He will always be looking for only a few different issues of a particular country, and will buy multiple copies of those issues.

While it is true that, worldwide, most collectors prefer unused stamps, many will also collect used, and some collect used stamps exclusively. Generally, unused stamps of an issue are worth more than the used stamps, and often, considerably more.

Like all collectibles, the value of a rare stamp is determined by its desirability by other collectors, investors, dealers, or museums. At its most basic level, the factors which determine a particular stamp’s supply or rarity are the number of stamps printed and the number of stamps later used and or destroyed once the stamp is no longer in circulation.

Many times when starting a new stamp collection, it is hard to decide what stamps to collect. Should I collect mint stamps, mint never hinged stamps, used stamps? It truly is up to you and you alone. There are many topics you can collect (such as Disney, Trains, Flowers, Horses) or you may collect single countries (England, France, Russia, Poland, Germany, Zambia, Italy etc.) or areas (such as French Colonies, British Colonies, German Colonies etc.).As you can see the list is endless. However, what it boils down to is this a hobby or an investment.

If this is a hobby, make it fun. Decide what you want to collect, not what other people think you should collect. Don’t be afraid to go looking for stamps, go to the post offices, specialty stores, search online for people selling stamps and go to the library and look for stamp catalogues. You can also subscribe to magazines and newsletters on stamp collecting, and from there you will be able to see ads for different stamps being sold, or where to look for them. You can even find out if there will be any Stamp Trading Shows in your area or an area close by. Those are always a good source for finding new stamps or even for gathering the information you will need to start investing in your newfound hobby. You can also talk to other Stamp Collectors and get information from them, or perhaps even trade with them. One thing you should know as well is that you do not need to spend a whole lot of money doing this if you do not want to. A lot of stamps can be found for free, by getting them as gifts or like mentioned before, finding them on the mail that comes in daily at home. You spend as much as you want to; this is not a hobby that requires a huge amount of money be spent on it, in order for you to enjoy doing it.