How to Collect Stamps
by
H. E. Harris is a
publication that a lot of beginners choose, as it is reasonably priced, easy
to understand and covers the subject thoroughly.
A dealer can help you decide on which accessories you will
need to help care for and store your collection and other collectors you meet
at the stamp shows will pass along advice and tips that they have learned
during their collecting years.
The easiest way to obtain a large quantity of stamps to begin
with is to purchase large stamp packets from a local stamp dealer or hobby
shop. Some of the larger book stores such as Books-A-Million
carry stamp packets and stamp supplies.
Many of the larger mail order stamp dealers offer an
Approval
Service. Approvals are stamps and stamp packets that are mailed directly to
you after you sign up for the service. You pick out just the stamps you want,
send the rest back to the dealer and then pay for only those stamps or stamp
sets you chose.
There are a great many
Stamp
Societies and
Clubs which will
also aid you in your collecting area. They can offer help, advice, and
even insurance for your collection. Most of them also publish a monthly or
quarterly magazine relating to their respective collection specialties.
The largest of these organizations and which encompasses the entire field of
stamp collecting is the American Philatelic Society
(APS). A
list of stamp organizations can be found on the
Philatelic
Associations page.
Most collectors acquire many duplicate stamps over the years.
After keeping and mounting the best of your duplicate issues, the remainder
can be traded with other collectors for issues you still need. Duplicates are
usually kept in Stock Books.
The How To book mentioned earlier will also
explain about caring for your stamp collection. Stamps and stamp products are fragile items that react
unfavorably to light, temperature, humidity, and dust and should be protected
from these and other harmful influences that may destroy their value. In the
next section, Storage and Care, we
will take a closer look at some of the things that can damage your stamps and
how to protect them.
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