A Window on ... Stamp Collecting Getting Organised

	Why Organise? At this point you will have started your stamp collection and own the basic equipment and materials: Stamps Stamp Album Stamp Hinges Magnifying glass Stamp tweezers When you look through your stamps, hopefully you will find that there are many different designs and colours. If you have bought some stamps from a hobby or a stamp shop you will probably have a collection of stamps from around the world. Most young collectors start by collecting any stamps from anywhere. A first stamp album can help you sort this collection because it is usually arranged by countries. Each page has the name of the country at the top with a large squared grid underneath. Sometime there is more than one country per page. Most starter albums give you some information about the country, such as where the country is, the date its first stamp was issued and the currency used. An atlas will help you find the countries. The squared grid is to help you display your stamps accurately, using the lines. Design your page carefully by arranging the stamps where you want them to go before fixing them to the page. Try to make your display look interesting. If you want to add notes such as the date you bought the stamp, leave enough space but keep any writing to a minimum. When you are happy with your design, use the stamp hinges to fix each stamp to the page, handling the stamps carefully with tweezers. Keep any unused stamps in packets to protect them. See Getting started for further information.
	Country Collections General collections soon grow and you will quickly fill the pages of a starter album. You may find you have a lot of stamps from one country and none or only a few from some others. This might be a good time to decide how and what you want to collect. One way to do this is by collecting stamps from just one country. These are displayed in 'open' stamps albums. 'Open' albums are more expensive but they are designed in such a way that you can add extra pages if you want to. Ring-binder albums are a good example. A stamp shop can show you the types available. Open albums still have pages of grids to help you display your stamps but there are no headings. You design the pages you want and add the heading notes. You may choose to display your individual country stamps according to types and themes. As you look through the stamps of one country, you will find that some are historical, some mark special events while others depict important people or flowers or birds. Most countries issue commemorative stamps for special occasions so there is a wide variety of stamps available for you to start planning what you want. Remember each country also has its selection of rare stamps. By collecting stamps in this way you will learn a great deal about an individual country.
	Collections with a Theme This is an interesting way to collect stamps and some of the fascinating displays that you see at an exhibition are displayed in this way. Themed collections contain stamps from any country. The most common themes to collect are birds, flowers, transport, space and animals. Other themes include special events, for example the Olympics or festivals such as Christmas stamps but really the choice is yours and will depend on the stamps in your collection. There may be a particular stamp or groups of stamps that fascinate you to start you off on your search for more. This type of collection is arranged in the same way as individual country collections. Look at the different types of stamp albums available in your local dealers before you decide how to display your stamps.
Index About Stamps Getting Started Sources of Information FAQs
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Last modified on: Tuesday, July 1, 1997.