Collecting stamps is a hobby millions around the world enjoy for both fun and profit. It’s easy to do, an enjoyable and inexpensive form of art collecting, and a fun way to make a little money if you get into buying and selling collectible stamps. Here are the basics you need to know to get started collecting stamps for fun and profit.

The Story of Stamp Collecting

After years of postal systems looking for a more efficient way to collect payments for mail services, Great Britain began issuing the first prepaid adhesive postage stamps in 1840. The first postage stamp featured a picture of Queen Victoria, and became known as “The Penny Black.”

By 1860 stamps had spread to most parts of the world, including the United States, and so had stamp collecting. Collectors began accumulating stamps almost immediately. An Englishman named Mount Brown published the first stamp catalog in 1864.

Many early stamp collectors were children and teenagers. As these pioneering collectors grew up, some of them began to collect stamps more seriously and approach it more systematically. Collectors established stamp collecting values.  Stamps with smaller print runs were harder to find than others, commanding more demand and higher prices. Groups of collectors began trading and selling rare stamps, and clubs and organizations formed.

Today there are an estimated 200 million stamp collectors around the world, including 25 million in the United States. Most countries have their own national stamp collecting organizations, and many other social groups have their own stamp collecting clubs. The largest nonprofit stamp collecting organization in the world is the American Philatelic Society (APS), with over 35,000 members in 110 countries. (The word “philately” refers to the study of stamps, which is closely related to stamp collecting, though not exactly the same.)

Getting Started Collecting Stamps

Getting started collecting stamps is simple. You just need some basic stamp collecting supplies along with some starter stamps to begin building your collection. Beginner collectors are often advised to start by collecting inexpensive stamps representing the major countries of the world, to give them a feel for what’s out there. As your collection grows you can specialize in specific types of stamps, acquire collectible stamps, and trade and sell your stamps.

Basic Stamp Collecting Equipment

Collecting stamps doesn’t require much equipment, but there are a few essentials and other desirable items:

• A stamp album, to store your stamps.
• A method of attaching your stamps to your album. Some albums called stockbooks contain clear plastic pockets you can drop your stamps into. Other albums require added mounts. Mounts can be hinged or hingeless. Hingeless mounts are often used for more expensive stamps.
• Stamp tongs, to safely handle your stamps without altering their shape, tearing them, soiling them, or affecting their adhesive properties.
• A magnifying glass, so you can get a closer look at the details of your stamps.
• A stamp catalog can help you learn details about your stamps and their market value
• A stamp collecting tool set is very useful

You can buy this type of equipment from stamp collecting suppliers or from retail stores that carry stamp collecting kits, such as hobby stores, toy stores, or museum gift shops. Some stamp catalogs are available online.

Storing Your Stamp Collection

You should have a safe place to store your stamp collection. It should be dark, to avoid exposing your stamps to damage from light. It should also be cool and dry, to protect your stamps from moisture damage.

Acquiring Stamps

Many stamp collectors begin their collections by inheriting stamps from relatives or asking relatives to give them used stamps. Stamps can be bought and traded online, at local stamp shops, and at stamp collecting shows, often called “bourses.” Stamp starter collections are also sold at the same types of retail stores that sell stamp collecting kits.

Building a Basic Collection

A good way to start building a basic collection is to collect about 1,000 to 2,000 stamps representing the countries around the world. The quickest way to do this is to buy a starter kit. You can also easily acquire recent stamps from your own country by salvaging them from your own mail, relatives, and office mail. You can acquire additional stamps by going to stamp shops and clubs, and by trading with pen pals in other countries. You can often get free stamps from stamp companies, but be sure to read the fine print, because they will often try to get you to agree to receive additional stamps you must buy or return at your own cost, like a book club.

Picking Specialties

As your stamp collection grows, you may find yourself drawn towards certain types of special stamps. Popular stamp specialties include:

• Stamps from particular countries
• Stamps from particular time periods
• Regular issue stamps, called “definitive stamps“
• Special issue commemorative stamps
• Other special issue stamps, like airmail stamps, postage due stamps, or revenue stamps
• Topically themed stamps, featuring themes such as Presidents, flowers, birds, or ships
• Federal Duck Stamps issued for duck hunting licenses
• Postal stationery
• Postal sheets
• Envelopes and pages associated with first day cancelled stamps, such as first day covers (FDCs) and souvenir pages
• Postcards with the stamp on the same side as the picture, called “maximum cards“
• Stamp-like labels invalid for postage, called “Cinderella stamps“
• Other postmarks or postal markings

When you begin specializing in one of these areas, you will begin to feel the passion of stamp collecting, as you hunt to fill the gaps in your collection and enjoy the satisfaction of reaching your goals. Stamp collectors get bit by the same collector’s bug common to art collectors, coin collectors, car collectors, baseball card collectors, comic book collectors, and other collectors who share the thrill of seeking and finding a rare acquisition.

Buying and Selling Rare and Collectible Stamps

How enthusiastic do stamp collectors get? In 1996 a rare version of an early Swedish stamp sold for the equivalent of $2.3 million, setting the world record for the auction price of a single postage stamp. Obviously this is the exception rather than the rule, but it illustrates how rare stamps can command high prices on the collector’s market. And even if you can’t expect to become a millionaire selling stamps, you can still turn a respectable profit by buying and selling stamps that are in high demand.

Some stamps are in demand because they are rare. Others are in demand because they feature a popular topic or a topic of interest to a fan base.

You can learn what stamps are currently in demand by studying lists of what dealers are buying. You can then turn a profit by buying trendy stamps from other dealers at lower prices before they learn of current trends, and reselling them after prices go up. You can then sell to dealers advertising high prices for the stamps you have, or by using online auction services like eBay. In this way collecting stamps can be profitable as well as fun.

Worthy Stamp Collecting Resources
My Philately | Social Networking for Stamp Collectors
Philatelic Database
Stamp Collecting Forum: an active stamp collectors forum

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