Postage stamps are extremely common collectibles. They are common enough, even in the age of electronic communication, and easily accessible for anyone to be able to start in this hobby. The beauty of postage stamps is that you do not have to know anything about them to start collecting. Many enthusiasts create their collections based only on the topic of the picture shown on the stamp. However, certain value is often associated with postage stamps based on certain features beyond the topic.
Here is the big thing to consider: it’s ok to take your time with all of this. If you inherited a collection, whoever created it likely took years or decades to do it. If you are just starting out and you just recently bought your first set of stamps, it’s going to be a while before you really know what you are doing. It’s ok to not know where you are going with this. That’s what makes it a hobby. Enjoy the steps along the way, even if you don’t know where you’ll end up. You don’t have to put a lot of money into this and you don’t even have to do any research at all. You can enjoy to stamps without ever learning where they are from and when they were issued.
That’s the most important piece of advice I can give you, take this hobby and let it be something that you enjoy. I was so overwhelmed when I got my collection. I didn’t know any terminology. I didn’t know what the deal was with different types of paper, colors, variations, perforations, cinderellas, etc. I entered online groups and forums only to realize that I was so uninformed that I felt like a kindergartener in college. I was so turned off the whole world of collecting that I had to take a step back. It took me more than six months to go back and start working with the stamps again. In that time I realized that I did not have to justify what I was doing. I didn’t have to know everything there was to know about each stamp. I still don’t know a lot about them but I am learning. I am learning more slowly now, though. I learn as needed. And I am enjoying it a lot more now. The pressure to prove myself as a collector is gone and it makes me enjoy the stamps more.
But it is important to have a starting point. So let’s talk about how to organize a collection, where to find information about postage stamps, and who to reach out to if you want expert advice.
Organizing a Collection
A common way to organize a collection is to catalog it based on the country of origin. This is sometimes easier said than done as it can be difficult to identify the stamps you have if your native language is not the one used on the postage stamp. There are many tools that collectors use to help them organize their collections and there are various catalogs and cataloging systems that are used around the world. Depending on where your stamp is from, you might need to refer to a catalog from that country or region.
Before you spend money on a specific catalog or a phone app, it is worth noting that most stamps can be identified by doing a simple online search. You can start by simply typing into the search engine the information you can identify and doing an image search. There are apps that allow you to search by uploading the images as well, but if you don’t want to deal with ads or spend money. Some of the modern stamps will likely be easier. Stamps that are from early 1900 and before can be difficult without an expert’s help. The stamps often look very similar to an untrained eye and without the proper tools. It was common for a stamp to be issued in multiple years with only slight variations to perforations or paper. Sometimes the only difference is a design detail that changed between two issues.
There are some important questions you probably want to ask yourself along the way. Do you want to learn about stamps and enjoy making your own collection? Are you wanting to find out what to do with an inherited collection? Do you want to know the value of the box of stamps you bought at a yard sale? Depending on your answers, there will be different resources that can help you.
Philatelic Resources
If you just need a quick and simple definition of most commonly used terms in philately, check out this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Philatelic_terminology
The American Philatelic Society has great resources for learning the basics about postage stamps and about postal history: https://stamps.org/learn
The National Postal Museum is the place to go for educators looking for an interesting addition to their curriculum: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/
This site is actually used for people to catalog their collection, but I also use it to just figure out what stamps I have and learn a little about them: https://colnect.com/en/stamps
If you want to catalog your collection, you can use online resources such as the site above, you can use one of the basic Microsoft Office programs (Excel or Access), or you can invest in software specifically created for cataloging purposes. I’ve been using https://ezstamp.com/ for several years now and it’s been great for my US collection. It us based on the Scott cataloging system which is one of the most widely used systems for US stamps. If you are looking at world collections, you may need to use another system.
