Stamp Collecting with GS

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Stamp Collecting for Beginners

Homemades

But no one needs to buy an album like these. There are plenty of alternatives, especially now that many people have computer programs like PowerPoint or Word. Many stamp collectors now design their own album pages and print them on their own printer.

I can't cover that part of albums here in depth, but a stamp collector thinking of displaying her special collection should think about making her own album. Remember there are no rules covering stamp albums, as long as they do not harm the stamps themselves.

I have several homemade albums and one was just a stamp dealer's blank approval book that I made into an album for my specialized collection of Finnish definitives.

I bought a empty stamp dealers approval book from a stamp supply house because I wanted to be able to add as many stamps as I could but I wasn't sure how many spaces or pages I would need for my stamps when I started.

Now my little collection has grown quite a lot, and the little approval book gave it room to grow. I wasn't concerned about how it looked just so I would have space to add stamps and places to write notes and catalog numbers where I pleased.

You can start your own homemade album with a school composition notebook, one of those notebooks with sturdy cardboard covers with the ruled pages sewn into them.

You could put one stamp on a page or 12. It's your collection. You could put a stamp showing Apollo 11 flying to the moon and write a story about the first man to walk on the moon on the page. Use your imagination.

Hinges

Now, the only way to attach a stamp to an album page is with a stamp hinge or a stamp mount. Hinges are small pieces of glassine that are coated with a specially made glue that's safe for stamp collections. The little glassine hinge is folded over at the top and attaches to the stamp and the other part attaches to the album page.

Mounts are actually plastic pockets that you slip the stamp into and then attach the mount to the album page.

Hinges are perfect for used stamps. Mounts are perfect for mint stamps that have gum on the backs, but they are more expensive than hinges.

A 1000 hinges cost somewhere around $2.00. A package of 20 mounts might cost $2.00 depending on the size of the mount for different size stamps need different size mounts. With hinges, one size fits all.

If you have a lot of mint stamps with the gum on the back and you don't have any mounts, you should just put those mint stamps aside in a glassine until you can afford the mounts you need.

Getting Stamps

After you start collecting stamps, you'll need to get more stamps for your collection, and this is one of the things that makes stamp collecting one of the best hobbies in the world.

You can trade stamps with other stamp collectors. Trading stamps with other stamp collectors is one of the best ways to grow your stamp collection and make friends.

You can buy stamps from stamp dealers. Each dealer will have their own way of selling or trading, so ask a lot of questions first and only deal with those people you feel comfortable with.

You can buy new stamps from the post office. Just go up to the counter of the local post office when there isn't a long line and tell them you want to buy some stamps for your collection. In many small town post offices, you can ask the clerk if they have any extra stamp posters, like the ones you see in the post office lobby showing the new stamps, and ask for one.

You can get the used stamps from the envelopes that come in your mail. It's one of the easiest ways to collect stamps, and always ask people to send you cards when they go on vacation.

You can ask friends and family to save the stamps on their mail for you. If someone you know works in a large company maybe they can bring home discarded envelopes from co-workers or the mailroom.

Stamp Collecting links to some helpful sites:
» eBay Ending Today
» Stamp Buyers Guide
» Find Stamp Values Online

On the Web

After you've picked up a basic working knowledge of stamp collecting, you should start thinking about meeting other stamp collectors. There are stamp clubs in many towns around the US and Canada, though they may be hard to find. Local papers often don't carry stamp collecting news. You can ask your local postmaster, or you can go online and see if you can find them that way.

But whenever two or more stamp collectors get together, you've got a stamp club, and we have a chat room stamp club that meets right here Sundays and Wednesdays. You're welcome to drop in and say hi. We also have a discussion forum bulletin board where you can ask questions about stamp collecting.

Stamp collecting is the hobby of a life time that embraces young and old, rich and poor, and you'll find that almost every stamp collector is always ready and willing to help out another stamp collector.

You can start stamp collecting tomorrow when the mailman comes.

Stamp Collecting links to some helpful sites:
» Clubs - Canada
» Clubs - Europe
» Clubs - International
» Clubs - United Kingdom
» Clubs - United States