Caring for stamps

Posted At : September 17, 2008 6:05 PM | Posted By : Admin
Related Categories: Stamp Collecting

For people who buy and sell stamps, it is very important to examine the stamps before they pay big bucks for them. They need to ensure that the stamp is not damaged. A stamp could look perfect from the front but there may be 'thinning' of the paper in the back. Also exposure to sun and tough conditions such as excessive heat and or humidity may cause the colors to fade.

Thinning and fading can significantly decrease a stamps value. Use common sense when handling stamps. Don't drink and eat around them and it's recommended to wash hands before each handling. If you store stamps in boxes make sure to open them from time to time to allow the stamps to breathe. They need to be exposed to air, and this is the reason why you should store stamp albums in a vertical position (like books). Avoid laying them flat.
If a stamp is slightly damaged the price will drop down and many collectors will avoid buying it. A slight crease, a hole, a small tear, thinning, a missing angular projection from the perforation and a heavy cancellation mark are considered damages of fault.

Remember- you have to keep a stamp in a perfect condition in order to maintain its value!

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Stamp Albums

Posted At : July 8, 2008 11:04 AM | Posted By : Admin
Related Categories: Stamp Collecting

Ideally, stamps should be kept in an album so they are kept protected for years. Albums can vary in price and sizes. The prices vary from a few dollars to over $5000 for complete world albums. If you have time, you can even save money and make your own album with a simple ring binder and blank pages-it will give you flexibility regarding to the organization of the stamps in it and can be a fun project. Once you got the desired album it's time to affix your valuable stamps to it. In order to affix the stamps correctly and avoid damaging them you will have to use one of two methods: stamp mounts or stamp hinges. The stamp mounts are little plastic pieces that hold the stamps inside them and get attached to the album. The stamp mounts will protect your stamp from damage and are recommended for mint (never used) stamps. The down side is that mounts are not cheap and sometimes it is hard to find the right sizes and you might need to cut them in order to fit your stamps. The other method for keeping stamps secure in albums is to use stamps hinges which are little rectangular pieces of glassine paper that are folded to keep the stamp in. those are recommended for used stamps and are relatively inexpensive. The short side of the hinge gets attached to the back of the stamp (you have to lick it) and the longer side gets attached to the album. Good hinges should be made from acid free paper and should be peelable when dry. Now that you have your album filled with stamps keep it in a safe dry place away from sun and extreme temperatures. This will maintain the value of your precious stamps for years.

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The Stamp Collecting How To Guide

Posted At : June 10, 2008 5:10 PM | Posted By : Admin
Related Categories: Stamp Collecting

How to start?, getting the stamps, cutting them and removing from envelopes.

Stamp collecting is a flexible hobby; you decide how much money and time you want to dedicate. You pick your topics and/or countries and you can learn a lot about different cultures.
Stamp collecting can be very rewarding and educating. It can open gates to other parts of the world and expose you to a whole new world of history, nature, culture and much more.
To get started, you can purchase bulk boxes of stamps from a dealer or a stamp collector selling stamps. Good places to look into are e-Bay, local dealers and online stamp stores. You can even buy bulk stamps by the pound or get them for Free!

Tell everyone you know to save stamps from their mail for you, especially friends and relatives from abroad. Ask anyone you know whose visiting abroad to bring back stamps for you.
You can contact other stamps collectors and swap stamps with them. Also, ask older family members if they kept any old letters or have an old stamp collection they would like to pass on. You will be amazed to find out that stamp collecting was very popular and almost every household had at least one collector.

Now that you have all those stamps, it's best to sort them by topics or countries. You should do this while the stamps are still on the paper because once you take them off the paper they become very delicate and can crease or bend. To remove the stamps from the paper do the following: get a clean shallow bowl and half fill it with lukewarm clean water and soak the stamps in it for 15 minutes. You should be able to peel off the stamp pretty easy at this point. Once the stamp is off the paper soak it again for a minute to clean it. Lay the stamps to dry on paper towel. Once they are dry it's time to place them in a nice album for display.

In our next post we will discuss the display of stamps and affixing them to albums. Check us back soon!

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Glow in The Dark Stamps-New from Hong Kong

Posted At : May 30, 2008 11:45 AM | Posted By : Admin
Related Categories: Stamp News, Stamp Collecting

On June 12, for the first time ever, Hong Kong will issue a set of special stamps featuring jellyfish with a glow in the dark effect. The series includes six different stamps with different denominations of different species of jellyfish. The glow in the dark effect is unique to the stamp world and is sure to create excitement among stamp collectors!

check with your local stamp dealer for availability.

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Stamp Collecting in the Cyber World

Posted At : May 15, 2008 10:50 AM | Posted By : Admin
Related Categories: Stamp Collecting

Stamp collecting began with the issuance of the very first postage stamp issued by Great Britain in 1840 - the famed Penny Black. Today, stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world; In the US alone there are more than 20 million stamp collectors. In the past, collectors had only one way to collect stamps: they collected envelopes, packages and postage material and cut out the stamps, often asking friends and relatives to bring back stamps when visiting abroad- the excitement involved in getting a new unfamiliar stamp from a foreign country was unbeatable.

Today there are many ways to collect stamps, the Internet is a great tool that help bring stamp collectors from all over the world together. Nowadays it is easy to locate dealers, online auctions and stores and it's even easier to connect with other stamp collectors and exchange stamps online.

Although it is a growing challenge to get the new generation to get engaged in stamp collecting, the Internet has been a great tool for the older generation who now have a new resource of information and ease of finding stamps online is also a great benefit. Although some collectors believe that the Internet may kill the hobby I still find tons of web sites dedicated to collectors and think that the benefit outweigh the disadvantage.

Welcome to a new era of stamp collecting the Cyber stamps Era!

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