THE BASIC OF STAMP COLLECTING

FLOATING STAMPS

If you have special or valuable stamps in your collection, you can go ahead and used the method of floating. This process takes a lot longer.
1. Lay your stamps carefully on the water surface so they float
2, Leave the stamps floating for 20 to 30 minutes. The stamps stays dry but the paper underneath soaks up water and dampens the glue.
3. Lift the stamps out of the water one at a time. Place a stamp picture-side-down on your hand and carefully peel off the backing paper
4. Place the stamps picture-side-down on a clean, dry dish towel or a piece of thick paper towel to dry.

Getting organized and being prepared are very important part of stamp collecting. It helps you to know what you have, what you need to get and how you are going to work with them. As a beginner, you need to accumulate stamps from family, friends, joining stamp clubs, stamp trading and you might need to check the stamp auctions. I am saying this with the impression that you are not going to invest so much money to buy and collect new mint stamps, and this is going to be one of your options.

When you have all the stamps, begin by making a preliminary sorting. It is fun to sort, you will be able to see different drawings and designs of stamps that you might not seen them in your collecting years. Separate the stamps on paper from the ones off paper. Then we will concentrate on working with the stamps on paper.

SOAKING STAMPS

1. Remove any stamps, which are attached to brightly colored paper. Such papers tend to run that could cause a stain to your other stamps and diminish their value to a collector.
2. Prepare two small bowl - one for warm and one for cold water, a pair of tongs and washcloth.
3. Place a dozen or two stamps facing down in the bowl of warm water. Please do not use hot water since some stamps are printed in soluble ink and hot water could cause them to fade. After a few minutes, the stamps will begin to separate from the paper. The stamps will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the paper will float. Use the tongs to remove the stamps and transfer them to the cold water while discarding the paper. These will remove the extra glue that left on the stamps. Use the tongs again to pick up the stamps and place them down on the washcloth. For stamps that are still sticking on the paper, give them more time to soak by also moving them around in the water. Please never try to peel a stamp from the paper, as it will cause thinning. Rinse the gum thoroughly from the back of the stamps since it will cause the stamps to curl when drying. After all the stamps are taken out, you can start the same process with the rest of the stamps. Just to make sure that you are changing the water when it turns yellow.
4. In drying, you can go ahead and leave the stamps to dry overnight. All the dried stamps should be pressed down in between the pages of a heavy book until they lie flat. In about a day, the stamps should be ready for more sorting and putting them away in your album or stock book of your choice.

More sorting are to be done when you have all the stamps off paper. First, sort them by country and work on the country that you prefer to collect first. Example, separate the US stamps and set aside all the foreign issues to work on later. Remove the damaged stamps or you can keep them and keep note of replacing them, as they will only cheapen your collection if they are retained in your album.

Some albums like Scott have pictures of the stamps where you can follow in putting your stamps away. If you are making your own album like 3 ring binders or using the Free Album Pages that I have on this link, it would be helpful to sort the stamps by separating the Airmail, special delivery and postage due on different pile. Then you have the commemorative and definitive to work on first.

TYPES OF STAMPS

Part of the fun of collecting is getting acquainted with the different types of stamps.
1. Definitive stamps - are stamps that can be used for regular mail or any other service. They are usually small and printed on a large quantities.
2. Commemoratives - it commemorates people, places and special events. They are usually bigger and printed on small quantities.
3. Airmail stamps - the design of airmail stamps usually has wings or an airplane and some other sysmbol of flying. This stamps are identified for airpost service to speed the dispatching of mail to the airport.
4. Special delivery - these stamps show payment of the fee for the special service of having the letter taken from the receiving post office staright to its destination by a postal messenger ahead of the regular delivering postman.
5. Postage due - they are used for collecting money from the addressee on unpaid or underpaid mail. They are also used to collect customs duties on mail sent from abroad.
6. Postal stationary - these include postcards, aerogrammes, and envelopes with stamps printed on them and often has a pictorial designs that commemorate a special event or feature the country of issue.

Take the commemorative and separate them by face value. They are easy to spot as they are usually larger and fancier than the definitive issues. Put all the five together, all of the fours, all of the threes, and so on. The lowest values should be placed in the pile starting at the left since they probably are the oldest stamps. And do the same thing with the definitive issues. If there are duplicates stamps, just put them all together until you are taking one of the nicest stamp to be placed in your album. The rest of the duplicates can be stored in the stock book or you can make you own filing system by using a shoebox and file them by Scott catalog number on every year of issues. Do the same thing with the rest of the airmail, special delivery and postage due.

ACCESSORIES

Tweezers - stamps are fragile and can easily be damaged if you pick them up with your fingers. And also since our skin is slightly acidic, prolonged contact may cause the paper to deteriorate. The tiny perforations around the edge of the stamp bend easily. Tweezers will allow the stamp collectors to handle the stamps without fear of damage.
Magnifying glass - allows you to examine the fine detail of a stamp's design, detect errors and varieties, and sometimes identify methods of printing.
Hinges - these are small, gummed pieces of transparent paper made for mounting the stamps on the album pages.
Protective mounts - are used for displaying mint stamps, whose value might be reduced by hinging them. The stamp is slipped between two pieces of plastic that have been welded together on one or two sides.
Color Guide - is made up of a number of cards of different color shades, attached at one end so that they open out like a fan. Lay the color guide over or near the stamp, matching the different colors until you find the right one.
Perforation Gauge - this is used to measure the number of perforation on every 2 cm of stamp edge.
Stockbooks - these come in many sizes and have strips on each page. The stamps are held safely behind the strips until they are needed. They are also a good place to store your duplicates and swaps.
Albums - you can make your own album pages like the 3 ring binder or there are so many albums available of your choices through a stamp store or on-line store.. You can also print these FREE album pages. For a mint sheet, I advise to use the 3 ring sheet plastic holder to preserve the beauty of the stamps.
Catalogs - this gives details on why and when stamps were issued. In US, we are using the Scott catalog. It shows you what other stamps you need for your collection and gives you an indication of what they will cost. Different country used different stamps catalogs. In US - Scott, Great Britain - Stanley Gibbons, Germany - Michel, and France - Yvert et Tellier. Thematic subjects such as birds, railroads, and ships also have their own catalogs and are published at regular intervals, and some have supplements to keep the listings up to date.

You will also come across many unfamiliar terms in stamp books, magazines and catalogues. Next page, please click here for the STAMP TERMS.

There are still many more accessories but for beginners, we don't need to buy all of them.

Now you are ready to put away your stamps. You can design your own page, or get an album and make decisions whether you are going to collect by country or by topic. And if you decide to collect by topics, they are called topical collection or thematic collection. The popular ones are birds, animals, ships, flowers, disneys, and etc. You can also visit my Disney World of Stamps, Aquarium of Stamps, Garden of stamps, Birds, Flowers, Zoo of stamps, Dogs, Cats, Toyland of stamps and see different kinds of stamps in my collection. This is it for now, till then.

Good luck! And happy collecting..............