Stamp Collecting Tips

As time goes on, and my stamp collection grows, I learn things that I wish I'd known earlier in my collecting days. I am not a highly sophisticated stamp collector, nor am I an avid philatelic investor. I collect mostly worldwide stamps, postally used, with an eye to fill in the classics before the newer material. I don't aspire to being a collector who can afford or has the interest in studying all the varieties and postal history of some particularly rare issue. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not my cup of tea.

What I will put into these pages are hints, tips, recommendations, and basic "stuff I've learned" from collecting stamps over the years. It's here to be helpful to the philatelic community at large where it can be, and in some cases, to provide me with reference information that I frequently reuse. YMMV. You should gather as much information as you can before you commit yourself to a specific course of action. This is particularly true when you are getting into areas of what to collect, how to maintain your collection, or how to handle valuable items. I am always looking for feedback and/or additional information for these pages.

Disclaimer: Everything stated on these pages are the opinions of the author. Past performance of philatelic products or the philatelic market are no indication of future behavior. You should consult with your philatelic planning professional before making significant investments in the philatelic market. Use all information presented at your own discretion and at your own risk. All writings on these pages are also subject to my WWW disclaimer.

There are two sections here: my own tips, and other tips and beginner philatelist pages. If you know of online resources that I don't have here, or if you have written your own web pages of tips and tricks, let me know and I'll link it in here, as time permits.

My Own Philatelic Tips

Soaking Stamps from Paper. - A detailled description of how I soak stamps from envelopes. I've done large amounts of kiloware in the past, and I'm currently liquidating a few albums that require soaking off old hinges. I'll talk about what has worked for me over the years.
What is this Collection Worth?. - This seems to be the question that brings the most correspondence to me. Many people find that they have inherited or acquired a stamp collection (or have one in an estate to settle). People always wonder whether what they have is valuable, and how to sell it off. This page, probably never to be completely finished, might provide some clues.
A Compendium of Stamp Catalogs . - Another slow work in progress. There are many different catalogs out there, for the general collector, and specialized by country or philatelic interest.
Notes About Stamps from Denmark. - There is nothing here that will intrigue a scholar or specialist of Danish philately. Most of this is data that I like to have handy when I'm trying to sort out Danish definitives.

Other Tips and Beginner Philatelic Pages

A.J.'s Encylopedia of Stamps and Philatelic Links - A nice collection of thoughts and links about the stamp collecting basics. Worth setting aside some time to read and digest and then bookmark it for later reference.
Junior Philatelist's - Set up as a home page for the beginning philatelist of all ages. While the motivation may be to sell stamps to newbies, the result is a page with some good information and a bulletin board for new collectors to get going.
SCV Stamps: Beginner's Corner.
Online Stamp Identifiers - A list of web sites that can help to identify mysterious issues.

Contact Me With Info/Feedback

All information is optional. Of course, if you don't provide your return E-mail address, I won't be able to write back to you.

This page was last modified on Monday, 22-Sep-2003 05:33:55 EDT.

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