Welcome To The World Of Stamp Collecting
Stamp Collecting or philately as it is sometimes called is the pursuit of collecting, arranging and studying postage stamps, stamped envelopes sometimes known as covers and other items used in various Countries all over the World at different times to effect prepayment for letters or packets through the Post .It is a pastime that attracts not only adults but children alike. Philately is the study of postage stamps and or postal issues and their production Those who collect and study postage stamps and or postal issues are known as Philatelists while those who collect postage stamps as souvenirs are known as Stamp Collectors.
There are four basic ways of collecting postage stamps.
1. General Collection – collecting postage stamps or possibly postal issues of all countries and periods. saving all items that may come your way.
2. Country collecting – collecting the postage stamps of one particular or few countries, sometimes specialising in particular period or time.
3. Thematic/Topical collecting – collecting stamps of all countries that have a certain design, subject. for example, flora and fauna, sports,birds animals, transport etc
4. Stamp accumulation – the acceptance of any stamp that comes the accumulator’s way regardless of country, time period or subject, the accumulator is not a general collector. he is a stamp accumulator,
A new collector may not be sure of what kind of stamps to collect. it is however advisable that one should acquire and study as many different stamps as one can because the experience gained will help to grasp the fundamentals of the subject.Later on one can decide to concentrate on a single country’s issues or of a group of countries.
Basically, stamps are of three types namely..
1. Definitive – the everyday stamps.
2. Commemorative – Larger-sized stamps issued to mark a particular anniversary or event.
3. Specials – Larger-sized stamps issued to depict the life of a Country, bits animals, buildings,scenery etc.
To start a stamp collection,one will need a packet or collection of stamps. the stamp packet you will get from a Stamp Dealer. a collection of stamps may be sourced from friends, family members etc. the beginner will also need an album, stock book, tweezers/stamp tongs and possibly hinges. Most of these accessories are usually contained in a “starter pack’ for beginners.
You should become very familiar with the use of your tweezers/stamp tongs.Get used to handling your stamps with your tweezers/stamp tongs. Most fingers have some grease and moisture on them which could spoil your stamps if picked ordinarily by hands. HAVE FUN COLLECTING.
About the Author
moses zaccheaus – a writer, author, publisher, philatelic, numismatic teacher and internet marketer -
http://moseszee.webs.com/apps/blog
http://moseszee.blogspot.com
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3 Birds Clearly Hand Stamped Stamp Set with Block