A stamp will appreciate in value when the demand for it exceeds the supply. The stamp collecting community realizes this fact and makes adjustments accordingly. This process happens for some stamps that are traded regularly

One of the most frequently asked question by new collectors about a stamp is, “What is my stamp worth?.” Not an easy question to answer. Of course any given stamp is worth its face value, and every stamp catalog does list a minimum value for all stamps.

If you plan on collecting a particular country’s stamps, you will be seeking out stamps that are indentified as being issued by that country. If you are collecting stamps as a particular topic, then you are seeking stamps that have as part of their design, a recognizable depiction of a person, place

When you were a child you may have traded and swapped bubble gum cards, sports cards, marbles, or any number of items that interested you. You can carry this childhood experience into your hobby of stamp collecting. Of course swapping stamps does require a bit more formality than what you probably e

Working with a stamp dealer is not the same as going down to your local hardware store to buy a screwdriver. A good stamp dealer will take an interest in what you are collecting.

While you may start out collecting single copies of stamps to get your stamp collection started, the time may come when you will want to collect multiples of a given stamp. In the case of stamp multiples, you do not want to separate them to retrieve a single stamp for your collection. We will cover

When you think of a “postage stamp,” you will probably think of that little piece of paper you stick on the corner of an envelope that you intend to put into the mail.

The U.S Postal Service takes total responsibility for all postage stamp designs. However the government does not review or accept unsolicited artwork or other types of designs. One reason for this, would be the sheer number of submissions that they would likely receive if they did review unsolicite

Even if you receive a lot of mail regularly from a country you intend to collect stamps from and you have relatives or friends in said country, you probably won’t be able to amass the variety of stamps you want to collect. You are going to need a more organized method of acquiring stamps.

Collecting stamps as a hobby dates back to the nineteenth century. Prior to 1847, a person receiving mail would pay the postage, not the person sending it. In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamp was issued expressly to prepay the postage. Up to 1851, stamp usage signified prepayment; otherwise the re