Welcome… stamp collecting has been called “the hobby of kings and the king of hobbies.” If you’re interested in learning a bit about stamp collecting for beginners, a good place to start is with this thought.
You collect whatever stamps you want. Stamp collecting for beginners starts off as whatever you want.
If you want to collect blue-colored stamps from countries of the northern hemisphere, that’s great. If you want to collect Hong Kong stamps issued under the reign of Queen Victoria, fine.
Some people collect stamps from Norway because of their family heritage.
Some people collect stamps from France because they have visited the country and want to get to know it better. Some people collect stamps which have pictures of cats because they are cat lovers.
You define the boundaries of your collection, and you expand or shrink these boundaries whenever you wish. You collect the stamps that interest you, you protect them as best you can, display them how you want and you learn all that you care to learn about these stamps.
So what’s the best way to get started with stamp collecting when you’re new? How much money should you spend? Where do you find stamps to buy? How should you store and display your stamps?
A great place to get information on stamp collecting is from the American Philatelic Society, which serves more than 50,000 members.
Their site has all sorts of information. One of the things you will learn is that there is no formal structure, no firm laws about how to collect.
We collect stamps for all sorts of different reasons. And we share a common bond. We are fascinated with these little bits of paper that come our way from all over the world.
Postage stamps have been around since 1840, and stamp collecting has been around almost as long.
If you are new to stamp collecting, you are embarking on a hobby that can challenge, intrigue, and comfort you for decades, if not for the rest of your life. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to collect stamps for quite a few years welcome you, and hope you enjoy stamp collecting as much as we have.
