How to Get Started as a Stamp Collector

Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States. While stamps may not seem very exciting, once you start to learn about the hobby, you’ll find out that the common household stamp has unexpected depths.  For instance, some of them have a lot of historical value, and are seen as a link to the past that creates a great deal of nostalgia. 

 

Many of the stamps that you’ll find in collections, however, are fairly new.  A simple love of the activity and the colors and pictures on the stamps is why people keep them.  Commemorative stamps are frequently seen in the collections of those who are just starting out, but unless you buy them from a major historical event and keep them for a good fifty years, they are probably not going to be worth very much to you in future (although your great grandchildren will certainly be able to sell them for a pretty penny!)

 

To get started, all you need are stamps.  You don’t need expensive stamps and you don’t need the rarest stamps on Earth.  You can get started by going down to the post office and buying some of the commemorative offerings that the post office stocks.  To preserve them as much as possible, make sure you leave them in their original packaging.  Visit your local art and craft store to buy a mounting book so you can display them properly.

 

Aside from buying stamps at face value, you can also keep an eye out for good specimens in other places. If you find stamps that you want to add to your collection on an envelope, leave them on the envelope.  The stamps may be valuable someday, but the entire envelope will give them more value among collectors.  The post date provides one of the most tangible connections to history for stamp collectors, and this may make the stamp on the envelope even more valuable. 

 

Remember that stamps from other nations are great fun to collect, too.  One way to get them is to look online for a couple of pen pals and to just have them send you a letter in the regular mail.  It’s an easy way to get cheap or free stamps from all over the world!

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