Stamp Collecting!

It looks like you will have plenty to do when you retire, even it is late in life. The beauty and charm of stamp collecting is as you said "it has a bit of history in it" and the more the stamps gets older and rarer with the advent of the internet, the more your stamps gather its priceless value. From what I have learned from my dad when I was just starting with stamp collecting is to read a lot of books on the subject matter so that one can establish the guidelines on how to sort the stamps according to historical value, monetary value and your own valuation on how important it will be to you because of your love for like say history, or flora and fauna, or aviation, etc. Tip, steam is used basically to separate the stamp from the envelope and the way to do it is not to pull the stamp from the paper envelope but pull the paper from the stamp, thereby reducing the chances of tearing the stamp. Hope you have more enjoyable moments when you begin to ponder what to do with your collection. But by all means, do not stop! Enlarge and expand your collection. Who knows, you might stumble on one really valuable stamp that you never dreamed of!

Thanks for the tip on steaming. I have tried to read up on the stamps, have looked through the catalogs but it is just too confusing and frustrating for me. I have found that I don't care so much what the monetary value of the stamps are, I just enjoy looking at them. I do my best to keep them in good condition, but am content to keep them for my own satisfaction, not financial gain. By the way, are you aware of any groups/organizations that exchange stamps? I have lots of duplicates and would be willing to trade with someone else to increase the variety in my collection. Do you know if there are such groups and how I would contact them? Thanks again.

It really provides lots of enjoyment, but it also needs time and dedication to really get the full benefits of this hobby. ONe can learn history from it. Most of the time, snippets of the country's history is portrayed in stamps. Flora and fauna and heroes are always portrayed in stamps of the issuing countries. If one collects stamps, you are recording history in small postage sized prints called stamps.

These items for collection will now even be more valuable as the communication method is shifting to emails, the internet and wi-fi's. The more romantic these little pieces of paper that record great events and gets around the world though thru snail mail. The passage of time will make it even more collectible and rarer. I hope my small collection will be a great treasure someday as these little postage stamps gets rarer and priceless.

yeah, stamps are like windows to far away world u have never seen .............and maybe will never see! they show the world in a different perspective

Nice to hear that there is someone who is really into it in this age of emails and webpages on the net. I used to collect, until I moved to HK and got busy with my profession and started to love photography. When I realized I have in my collection some really rare stamps, I looked for my box and realized I left it in my mother's house. My brother took the stamp collection I inherited from my dad. Now he claims that those stamps are his. Sad to say, I lost it and so I did not continue the collection. I am hoping that my son will take an interest in it. The image of the stamp that I uploaded here is a rare stamp issued by the Philippine government, to honor my uncle, Lt. Jose Pepe Gozar,an aviator hero of my country.

Due to some technical snag the photo of the stamp has not appeared here. I shall see that in the catalogue I have. Good to know that one of your relative has made appearance on a international document. Thank you for giving BR to my response.

That is nice to know. Some specializes in heroes, political figures, historical buildings, events, science, inventions, space, research, native clothes, designs, and even photography. My club is probably the only one in Asia that was featured in a Philippine Stamp commemorating the 75 years of it's existence in the Philippines photographic world. It is the oldest photography club in Asia - The Camera Club of the Philippines - http://cameraclub.ph

Wow, that is really a huge collection. Your collection probably matches if not exceeds my friend's collection who is a German national from Munich, now working in China as a hotel manager. He showed me his collection which is fall a small study. It is poorly organized though because it has been forgotten due to lack of time, but according to him, his collection contains many very expensive, rare, and unusual stamps that could commend high prices in the stamp auctions if he ever sells them. BTW, I have a German stamp issued I think right after World War 2 and the post office price on the stamp says it is .... 1,000,000 Deutschmarks?? Rare??

You remind me of my father who coached me into the art of collecting stamp. He handed me his entire collection which included first day cover. It was a huge collection and covers many countries. It was because I had an uncle who migrated to US in the 1940's and had travelled the world because he was a professional boxer. From his travels came the letters that my dad used to collect. Now my collection is only part of what I had started. My brother had claimed many of it because I left for HK and left my things in our dad's house. When I came back to our dad's house, I found I was missing a lot. Some of them are the wrong issue (that circulated) of our national hero's parting of the hair, and a 1,000,000 Deutsmark stamp.

Oopss sorry for you! But what you did is great. Never give up a great hobby. It will pay someday. Do you know that some people REALLY make money from Stamp Collecting and even makes a full time business from it? I know some big collectors here in my country and I have read and searched Ebay and they have huge web stores that sells and trades stamps. The collectors are of varied professionals and home buddies. They do make a serious business out of it. But research is very important to really find out which are the best stamps to collect or trade and sell. There are many books on the internet and there are also many websites about stamp collecting. Try browsing their webpages and you will be surprised, plus the fact you learn more about other countries via their postage. Have fun!

Hello...... That is almost all the countries that have stamps ! Not many people can say they have something from every country ! Want more stamps ?? Check my discussions for details. Tom

hi bestfriends, Yes collecting used stamps and also brand new stamps. Used stamps are collected for their value over time. Value is gauged by the stamps rarity, design, political or historical value. Collectors all over the world know which stamps are in good demand and are valuable. Avid collectors go to the extent of bidding for rare and important stamps -on the internet or international stamp meets. Some very rare stamps are bought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then there is also collecting of new and unused stamps specially those of "First Day Covers". These are the first batches of stamps issued by the post office before the entire stamp issues are sold to the market. These first batch collections can also fetch high prices on the philatelic market if the issue has a historical background to it. New stamps are the least expensive and has no immediate value. Collectors say that a stamp has a value if has been used because it has travelled and conveyed the message in the envelop. That in itself has a romantic value to it. New stamps only appeals to those that collects nice printed stamps. Yes there is money in stamp collecting. But you have to have the determination and time and patience for your hobby to age and get valuable in time. This applies to this factor because slow mail is now on it's way out giving way to the emails and the internet. Read more about your query in my previous posts on this thread.

Hello bestfriends..... .......and all other collectors here in myLot. I have been collecting for more than 47 years, and I still find it fascinating. I began as a child collecting used stamps because they arrived in the mail just about every day. I continue looking for used stamps because many are difficult to find, which has increased their value. Believe it or not the ten most expensive stamps in the world are all used. In the US the most expensive one has only two known copies, one was given as a gift to the New York City Public Library and the other is owned by a very large stamp company called Mystic, owned by Donald Sundman, in the state of New Hampshire. His copy is valued at 3 million US dollars. I would love to be the person who finds another. The other highest value stamps are from all over the world. There are several stamp newspapers/magazines that I read every week and at least once a month, somewhere in the world, there is an announcement about a fabulous stamp being found or sold. Sometimes there are three or four. Because of the new types of stamps being produced that are self-stick and a type of plastic many people believe that the older paper type stamps will increase in value. Far fewer stamps are being used every day, which makes finding nice used ones very difficult. There is also a value that cannot be measured in dollars. Learning has a great value, and there is much to learn from stamps. World wide stamps can help people learn about geography, famous people, where different foods come from, the dress and customs of different cultures and they show pictures of all countries. For anyone who cannot afford to travel, stamps show you the whole world. There are many different types of printing, inks, paper, gums, watermarks and perforations that make look-alike stamps very different. This is a very short list of the many reasons people all over the world collect stamps and postal history. Please read the discussions of other collectors here to see other opinions. You might find something that interests you enough to make you want to know more. Tom.....nrnotrare

Hi nrnotrare, Looks like you are the professional here on stamp collecting. With that knowledge, a lot of newbies will be consulting you. I am not an authority on stamp collecting as I have very limited knowledge of the history and the art of stamp collecting. I would love to see another thread discussing more serious stuff on how to go about stamp collecting, but this time to make money from it. Surely those who trade stamps will be scouring these threads trying to get a hint on who has one of the largest collections there is in MyLot. Hopefully there will be one.

Hi nrnotrare, Wow, 47 years is a long time for a collector to be at this hobby. You must have amassed a great collection worth looking at. Maybe you should consult an expert to look at your collection and find out if you have been holding to a very rare and expensive stamp. There are some local philatelists that could help you do that. Some requires a consultancy fee to do that but I guess you could find out some that does this for free. Maybe trade with them for his work and advise. The internet has lots of those philately websites that offers trade and barter or even free advise on your collection done mainly just over the internet. You email a copy, then the consultant proofs it and advises you of it's current worth, in terms of rarity and selling price on the world's philatelic traders and societies. My interests waned down when I shifted to photography, but I used to collect based on it's source- Interantional stamps, local stamps. Then on categories, I used to like; - national heroes, - transport, - flowers, fauna, - historic buildings, - butterflies, - airplanes - ships and boats and many other categories that is quite popular.

Hello Aliehs2007.... Check my discussions....I have something you may like. Tom

Hello stutiaquarian........ Want free stamps ?? All I ask is a request sent by regular mail using good condition new stamps on your envelope. If you are interested, email for my address. Happy collecting...... Tom

Hello Mathurin.... Want free stamps ?? All I ask is a request by regular mail using good condition new stamps on your envelope. Send an email for my address. Happy collecting....... Tom

Hello Denmarkguy..... Want more stamps? I have an offer for free stamps to all collectors in mylot. Check my discussions for details. Tom