Have you ever sorted through your mail and seen a beautiful stamp or two and just felt that you should keep it? That’s exactly how most people start off their life-long passion for collecting postage stamps.
Collecting stamps is a hobby that many people find fascinating. To start off on the right foot, some good supplies to pick up are:
- A stamp album
- A magnifying glass
- Paper towels for cleaning up
- Heavy books for pressing
- A glass vessel for soaking stamps
You can usually find these supplies at craft stores and post offices. If all else fails, search the internet!
Step One: Acquire some stamps. You can easily get these from the post office, usually in packs of 500 or 1000. These stamps come from all over the world and cost less than $10.
Another good idea is to locate a dealer or catch a local stamp show.
Even better – ask around! Let your friends and family members know that you’re looking for beautiful and collectible stamps. Surely they’ll be glad to ask around for you if they can’t be of any help.
Inspect mail. Not just your own, but other’s people’s too if you can get your hands on it. Obviously, we don’t want to do anything illegal. We can still benefit from other people’s mail by finding a large company that gets a lot of mail. Ask if you could have the empty envelopes. Or keep an eye out for stray envelopes that post office visitors have left behind.
You can also check the classifieds for stamp collectors to meet up with. Use Craigslist.org to find other collectors that you may be able to trade with and learn from.
Step Two: Sort and organize your stamps. A crucial task when collecting postage stamps is to keep your precious items neat and orderly. This will help to maintain the value of your collection and enhance the beauty of the stamps.
Sort your stamps by what color background paper they have. Many of the stamps you’ll have come from envelopes that may be white or colored. Also separate rubber stamped stamps from those that haven’t been stamped by the postal service.
Step Three: Pretty them up. You want your stamps to look good, right? Well that takes a little bit of work.
First, you should trim the excess paper. Leave 1 to 2 cm margins around the stamps whenever possible. Our goal is to never, ever cut into the perforations that surround the stamps, as it decreases the value of them.
Next, you will need to soak your stamps. It’s critical to soak them and not peel them, as peeling can ruin your stamps in the blink of an eye.
IMPORTANT: Stamps that have been marked with rubber stamp ink should be soaked in water separately, to avoid staining any other stamps.
Fill your glass vessel about half way with clean water. The temperature should be roughly 30 – 35 degrees Celsius. Slip about 10 stamps into the water (as long as they’re not rubber-stamped) and leave them for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes have passed, very gently try to peel the stamp off of the paper backing. If it’s even slightly difficult for you to do, stop and soak the stamp a little longer.
Step Four: Dry your stamps. Place your clean stamps face up on a paper towel. Take another sheet of paper towel and use it to very gently blot the stamps. Your stamps will be especially fragile right now, so the softer your touch, the better.
Next, place your stamps on the plastic page in your stamp album. The blotter sheet should be placed on top of the stamps before closing the book. Many collectors like to stack heavy books or weights on top of their stamps books, to ensure very flat stamps. The drying only takes about 5 hours to complete.
As you can see, collecting postage stamps does take a little bit of effort and dedication. This may be what makes this hobby so worthwhile – the care and love you put into your collection makes it special.