Posts Tagged ‘philately’

Carl Einar Pelander was noted for his expertise on Scandinavian stamps and received a Fieandt Memorial medal in 1960 from the Finnish Philatelic Society for doing an original research on the stamps of Finland and for promoting Finnish philately.

Philip Ward Jr. was a world famous stamp dealer, known for buying and selling collectors stamps, including the rarest stamps which are classic issues of the world. He had an exceptional collection of match and medicine stamps and his widely known collection was the U.S. Revenues, which had the only complete set of inverted centers. He was the first person to recognize the importance of first day covers and then created the many of the rarest and earliest.

William Woodbury Hicks was a renowned specialist and founder of the Three cent 1851-1857 Unit of the American Philatelic Society. He built the largest and most complete collection of U.S railroad cancels from the 1830s to 1861.

Harry Weiss was an editor of the Weekly Philatelic Gossip in the 1930s and the most prominent philatelic columnist of his time. His column comprised stories on hobbies, new stamps, and hot tips. He organized the Midwest Philatelic Laboratory in 1946, which had technical equipments and offered a wide range of services for stamp collectors. Services include, stamp appraisals, expertization, mounting and even suggested ways for the successful outlook of collections.

George Ward Linn is a known stamp collector, journalist, dealer who own the George W. Linn Company and famous for his “Linn’s Weekly Stamp News”. Some of his stamp specimens have been among the rarest and most valuable among the philatelists. He traveled the world in search for old, rare and obsolete issues of stamps, even the ones with much historic interest.

Louise Boyd Dale is considered to be the most distinguished stamp collector in America. She was the first woman to be appointed as judge for an international philatelic exhibition. She became the first American woman to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelist and was also appointed to the jury of the London International Stamp exhibition.

Ad Indusophon, a known lady philatelist from Siam; was the wife of the late Prakaipet Indhusophon, a popular international philatelist of the 1970s to 1980s. Her greatest achievements in the field of philately include; the building of a foundation in Thailand to promote philately among youth; her “Cape of Good Hope Triangulars” stamps collection, won the International Grand Prix at Toronto in 1996; when her work was recognized and was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in Hereford last July 2001.

Anatoly Karpov was a former world chess champion, who is known for his stamp collection on chess and Olympic Games dated from the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896 to the Olympic Games in Amsterdam of 1928.

Cyril Harmer was the chairman and managing director of the “Hamers Auction House” from 1967 to 1976. He assembled what was without a doubt the finest collection of the Airmails of Newfoundland, “the Newfoundland overprinted stamps”. This collection was sold last February 26, 2002 for a total of £803,000.00.

Dr. Arthur Woo was known for his unique postage stamp collections of Classic Birds. Some of which are, the Western Australia Swan, the Guatemala Quetzel, the Colombia Andean Condor, and the USA 1869 Eagle.

Hiroyuki Kanai was postage stamp collector known for possessing 6 of the Greatest Mauritius stamp collection out of the 27 and it is the greatest number ever to be owned by one person in the world. The highly valuable Mauritius collection was printed in September 1847, under the instructions of the Governor of Mauritius’ wife, Lady Gomm, who wanted stamps for the invitations to her fancy dress ball. He received numerous awards in the field of philately but he is most proud of the award received in the National Grand Prix for his Finland Collection in Helsinki 1988.

Pichai Buranasombati was a top Great Britain postage stamp collector who formed great stamp collections such as “Straits Settlements” which won the National Grand Prix in Singapore 1995, “Burma” winner of the National Grand Prix in Indepex 1997, “Classic Siam”, which won a large gold medal at Bangkok 1993, and “Siam: middle period”, which won a large gold in Singapore 1995.

Stamps on eBay are hot properties today. In actuality, they are gaining appreciation by more and more people who learn to make use of the present technology in participating in stamp auctions that the leading marketing hub online, Ebay.com, holds every now and then to supply the cravings of the world’s stamp enthusiasts.

Buying and selling stamps online is all about modernizing the age-old craft of stamp collection to keep up with the times. Thus, based on the aforementioned fact, EBay proves to be an excellent hub for finding stamps that are worth including in anyone’s well-loved collection.

Stamps on eBay fulfill every stamp collectors’ ultimate dream, which is to find unique and valuable stamps to keep, display, and compare with other stamp collectors’. They come in various designs, while some originated from Japan, Austria, and New Zealand and are considered vintage stamps.

Shopping for Stamps on eBay has never been this enjoyable through the internet. Since Ebay.com started this thing going on, collectors as well as non-collectors are attracted to take a peak at its vast collection because the site also contain hard-to-find collections like covers, errors, oddities, and more.

Stamps on eBay are always included in auction events. They are always given to the highest bidder and their price continuously increases as time go by. However, some of these stamps go on sale, but that is a very rare case since Stamps on eBay become the collectors’ investments as they accumulate in the album. This only proves that such stamps are valuable and are worth every collector’s money.

The Cards issued by the government with stamps already printed on them are really not post cards, but postal cards. The distinction being that post cards are without stamps, and are usually scenic cards printed to advertise some place or event and sold as tourist items. While collecting post cards is a big hobby, too, wee are concerned Postal Cards are sold at post offices.

Postal Cards are made in two ways, as a regular card, having a stamp printed in the upper right hand corner, and with or without the admonition that the stamped side of the card is for the address only and as a message reply-card. In the latter case the card is double, folded on a roulette line so the two parts can be easily separated Each card has a stamp printed on it, and one card is for your message; the other card is for the recipient’s reply to you, the postage already having been paid by you when you purchased the reply card. Such message reply-cards should be preserved intact. They have more value than if the two parts are separated.

Postal Cards are now made in both regular mail and air mail types. Usually, but not always, the air mail types have red and blue border of diagonal bars to attract attention to the fact that it is being sent via air.

Just like stamp collection requires a lot of time similarly taking good care of those stamps is vitally important. Stamp Collection involves a schematic arrangement of the collected stamps and preserving their quality. Stamps having poor quality won’t make a good impression on anyone looking at your stamp collection efforts.

Soaking Stamps

At times you receive a stamp pasted on an envelope. You might have to get rid of the envelope to add that stamp to your collection. Tearing it out would mean loss of quality and possible damage to the stamp. Before separating the stamp from its cover evaluate its worth with and without the cover. At times old stamps with covers are worth more than those without the cover as they have interesting details of postal history. You could refer your query to your stamp club mates to decide if you need to keep the cover or no.

Once you have made up your mind to separate the stamp from its cover, cut finely around the stamp close enough to keep the teeth around the edges intact. Then soak this stamp cut out in lukewarm water, spread in a saucer. Allow the paper to float till the stamp is separated from the paper. You may rub off the remaining adhesive at the backside of the stamp with your fingertips. Now you need to dry these stamps using either a newspaper or an absorbent paper. Once these stamps dry they develop wrinkles on them, which could be removed by placing them between the pages or beneath a heavy book.

Stamp Collection Album

Arranging your stamps is an important part of stamp collection. This ensures better quality and gives more life to your stamp collection, when preserved in an appropriate manner. There are different ways to store stamps. Easiest would be to sort stamps and put them in separate envelopes. Envelopes are available in different sizes and ones having a transparent portion called as the glassine envelopes would be preferred by stamp collectors as the stamps are visible through it. This would be the most basic way to store your stamps. If you want to store your stamps for a higher durability you could make use of stock books. Stock books or folders have a set of transparent pockets where in stamps could be arranged depending upon their sorting. This ensures durability but not a very good presentation of your stamp collection as the stamps are in groups. Individual stamps cannot be viewed.

Making a Stamp album for your collection would be the ultimate way to preserve your hard earned stamps. You could design your own stamp album by punching a set of handmade paper together either with a ribbon or getting it spiral bounded. Choose a good color for the paper on to which stamps would be prominently visible. You may choose to stick stamps on either side of this paper or just on the right hand side, making use of special peel able gum that will not harm stamps.

Another option would be to purchase a ready made album having printed information that would help to sort stamps into different subjects. This seems to be a good initiative for budding stamp collectors. The only trouble here is that a readymade album restricts any kind of creative presentation to preserve stamps. When you create your own stamp album you could add on as many more supplement s as you wish to. Moreover you could design various sections within your album such as Sort by type – animals, ships, nations, country, etc. You may add a separate section for covers. Used and unused/mint stamps could have separate pages allotted too. Remember to make use of stamp mounts while you stick mint stamps to your album. This will help to restore its quality and preserving the adhesive at the back of the stamp.

Stamp collecting can be fun. It may sometimes be profitable. And you can start with an album plus a packet of stamps from all over the world for less than a tenner.

If you want hours of amusement sorting and sticking, dealer Stanley Gibbons sells packs of 2,500 assorted stamps for £17.50. That’s less than 1p per stamp.

You could also go to the top of the market – but prepare to remortgage to the hilt.

Last September, a block of 20 Great Britain “two shilling browns” from 1880 fetched £240,800 at auction in London. They had been owned by the late Sir Gawaine Baillie whose collection was the most important in the UK, other than the Queen’s.

But if your spending power is less than Sir Gawaine’s, it can be all too easy to discover you have wasted your money on an album-full of virtually worthless pieces of gummed paper. Most stamps have a zero resale value.

So if you want to move up from a child’s hobby to a more mature interest, here are some essential tips.

Read before you spend

Stamp collecting can be a lonely hobby. And while there are many local clubs for stamp collectors dotted all over the country, you may not feel comfortable joining them as a total beginner (although most clubs are really welcoming).

So take some time to read through the various stamp magazines. Gibbons Stamp Monthly costs £2.90. Stamp Magazine is the same price, while Stamp & Coin Mart is £2.50 – all are sold at most newsagents. These will give you some stamp “buzz” and gossip. And they feature informative adverts from dealers and auctioneers.

Don’t believe the catalogue value

Stamp catalogues are like the Argos catalogue – a list of prices for people interested in buying. All the stamps in the £17.50 packets are valued from 10p upwards in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue – but that does not mean you will get £250 or more for your 2,500 stamps. It’s just the price you could pay if you bought them one by one.

If a collection is saleable, you should expect to get around 30% to 40% less than catalogue prices once you take auction or other costs into consideration.

Avoid poor quality

Property investors know the rule is “location, location, location.” In stamps, it’s “condition, condition, condition.”

Dealers usually quote six grades – but not always the same six. Some go from superb to poor: others from mounted mint to poor quality used. The difference between top and bottom is huge.

A pale blue 1854 Great Britain 2d stamp will cost £950 in top condition – but just £5 for the lowest grade.

Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules so comparability is tough.

Shun “commemoratives” and countries you’ve never heard of

Dealers sometimes sell special stamps from remote corners of the globe, often commemorating events such as the Olympics or the World Cup. These are generally worthless. The most amazing example was the 1981 Charles and Diana wedding issue from North Korea. Value, zero. For UK collectors, Great Britain stamps rule.

There are costs involved

You will need to insure your collection. Most home insurers will cover a collection up to £1,000 to £2,500. But once you are serious, you may need to go to a “high net worth insurer” with experience in covering valuable collectibles and works of art, such as Hiscox.

If you trade stamps from your home or exhibit regularly, try a specialist broker such as H.W. Wood (020-7398-9000).

Remember the Inland Revenue

As stamps produce no income, you do not have to report your collection on a self-assessment tax return. But selling a collection could produce a capital gains tax charge.

And if you were to put stamps into a Sipp under the new rules in April 2006, you won’t be able to show them off to your friends without paying income tax. It’s called a P11D assessment – it’s similar to the tax charge on perks such as a company car or company medical plan.

The way around this is to keep the collection in a bank vault and never look at it. Expect to pay for this facility.

There are many ways to mount stamps in an album. From the very beginning collectors have resorted to stamp hinges as a practical and inexpensive way to keep their stamps stored in their albums. Hinges, especially our modern ones, are easy to apply and peelable. What then makes collectors turn to stamp mounts instead? Well, hinges invariably leave a mark on the gum side of a stamp, so if you want to preserve the condition of your never hinged mint stamps obviously hinges are not the best idea.

In addition, many collectors know that sometimes it is necessary to wait several years before selling a stamp in order to make a significant profit. If you have to wait that long, obviously you need to keep your stamp in pristine condition, especially if it is a mint specimen. Or, perhaps you are looking to mount your collection attractively in an album without damaging your mint stamps. In all of these cases mounts are ideal.

Stamp mounts are sold in strips of varying sizes to fit the smallest stamps up to large souvenir sheets. They have a clear acetate front and come with either a black or clear background depending on what look you prefer. The back of each mount has a peel-off adhesive backing which keeps the mount attached to your album page. You can trim each mount to the width you need with a mount cutter. In essence, each mount becomes a little frame for your stamp which sticks to your album page, so no glue ever comes in contact with your investment.

There are two different ways of inserting your stamp into the mount. Firstly, top opening mounts, and perhaps the easiest to use, allow you to slide your stamp in from the top with a pair of stamp tongs. There are also center opening mounts. While a little more difficult to use since you have to lift both ends up in order to insert the stamp, this method practically guarantees your stamp will never fall out. So consider stamp mounts next time you need to store your collection in an attractive and effective way, they are definitely worth the money and time! Visit the API boutique to view a vast selection of high quality stamp mounts.

If you’re a stamp collector, then you may be seeking a more high-tech way to find, identify and organize your stamps. How about using the power of computers? There are lots of great software programs out there dedicated to stamp collecting. Most of them are easy to set up and learn how to use. There are so many different programs out there, it can be hard to decide which program is right for you. Here are some great titles to get you started:

AlbumPro — This software allows you to create customized pages for your album. You can even add your own custom color graphics and headings to your album pages. Just be sure to use acid-free paper when printing them out!

HobbySoft — This amazing piece of software provides you with stamp values, standard and custom reports, want lists, and more! This software also works for currency collectors and coin collectors, so if you collect more than stamps, you’ll definitely want this powerful program!

Stamp Organizer Deluxe — This simple to use software allows you to list, organize and catalog your stamp collection. Even a computer novice can utilize this great program. This software is perfect for someone who needs a simple program to help them organize and catalog their various stamps without a lot of complicated extra features.

Stamp Tracker – This stamp collecting software lets you store information about your stamps and keep them organized. You can list and track what you paid for each stamp, and keep track of its current value. A notes field allows you to write helpful notes about each stamp.

3D Stamp Software — You get a gorgeous visual catalog that is set based, and lets you see the entire set in the window at once. You can search for stamps using various criteria such as color, denomination or year. You’ll also get price and want lists, and the ability to resize and crop stamp images.

These represent just a few of the stamp collecting software choices out there! Using software to organize your stamp collection can save you lots of time and money. Don’t take our word for it — try it for yourself! Many software sites offer free demos where you can test the software out before buying. This can be the perfect way to decide if it’s right for you.

Philately, or stamp collecting, is a time-honored hobby enjoyed by collectors all over the world. This can be an enjoyable way to spend your free time, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are stamps out there for sale that range in price from fifteen cents to a million dollars! Some people collect stamps for fun, and some go into business. If you’re new to the world of stamp collecting, start slow and learn as much as you can!

There are various places where you can buy stamps for your collection. You can visit stamp dealers, contact the Stamp Clubs, or even try Ebay! Regardless of where you buy your stamps, it’s important to know the basics of stamp care.

You’ll need an album designed for storing collectible stamps. You can find special pages for your album that reflect the type of stamps you are collecting. You will also need stamp hinges, which are small gummed rectangles of paper that attach to the back of the stamp as well as to the album, which holds the stamp in place. Stamp tongs are another must, and are tweezer-like implements used for picking up and moving stamps.

You may also need supplies like a magnifying glass to see details on stamps, glassine envelopes to store and transport stamps, a watermark detector to look for hidden watermarks, a perforation gauge to measure individual stamp perforations, and a stamp catalog so that you can identify various stamps. These supplies can be purchased most anywhere that collectible stamps are sold and don’t cost very much.

The kind of stamps you decide to collect will depend on your personal preferences. Some people collect old stamps from their native country. Others collect commemorative stamps or decorative stamps. Still others like to collect stamps from around the world. Take a look at some stamp magazines and books to get an idea of the type of stamps you’d like to collect. Some people collect stamps that they think will gain in value, while others choose stamps based on their aesthetic value.

Stamp collecting can be a great hobby for people of all ages. The more you learn about stamps and stamp collecting, the more you’ll see how fun the quest for rare and interesting stamps can be!

Such things as a missing perforation will reduce the value of an otherwise good stamp when you sell it. This is especially true of corner perforations. There may be a crease in the paper of the stamp, so small as to go unnoticed unless you examine it closely or use a glass. Be certain, if the stamp is of any great value, that the buyer will use a glass, and the crease will not pass unnoticed. If the perforations are very uneven, it will lower the price. If the colored design of the stamp is unevenly centered within the perforations that is another point against the ultimate selling value. A stamp, normally perforated, having one edge without perforations, is of less value than a perfect copy. These stamps are called straight-edged stamps. Avoid them if at all possible.

Mint stamps without gum are of less value than regular gummed specimens. Usually such a stamp was glued to an album page or in a stock book by humidity. Or it may have become stuck to other stamps, making it necessary to soak them apart, thus loosing the gum. Make no attempt to re-gum a stamp to restore it to good condition. First, you cannot duplicate the gum used by the government. Secondly, you cannot spread it evenly on the stamp. Thirdly, you cannot know the exact thickness to apply the gum. If you lose the gum on a mint stamp, you should just try to accept your loss as philosophically as possible.

The same with parted perforations in blocks of stamps. If you have a block on which some of the perforations have parted, you merely have four stamps. No longer can you value it at the premium price of a block. The best thing to do is to part the stamps, saving an intact pair if possible, and make two separate singles.

For stamp collectors, stamp collecting can be more exciting if you know where and how to get your collections. Whenever you collect a stamp, always remember that, someday, it will become rare and will worth a lot of money. So handle your collected stamps well.

In this article we give you some tips on how to collect your postage stamps.

Follow some of our tips and we guarantee that you will have lots of postage stamps as your collections.

Buy your stamps. It is always a good idea to spend a little amount of money for your collections in order to get your stamps regularly. Just by doing this, you will soon build up an impressive collection of stamps, in a little amount of time.

Postage stamps are not that expensive anyway. Recent stamp issues are available in the Post Office near you; you can always purchased stamps issued over the last few months. You can also look for the right stamp dealers in your area; most of them have huge collections. Find some that you like. Remember that the value of old postage stamps is much higher than others.

Exchange stamps with friends. Ask your friends if someone are interested to exchange stamps with you. If not, ask stamp dealers if they want to exchange for some of your collections. But first, choose stamps that are duplicate, exchange the other one for a stamp that you still don’t have. Go for the older stamps. You can offer a greater number of stamps in exchange for an old stamp.

Old posted stamps are hard to find. Don’t worry – you can always buy stamps that are recently issued. One way to publicize your passion for stamps is by blogging. Create a blog about your desire to exchange stamps with other postage stamp collectors, this way, you reach out farther, many famous stamp collectors from all over the world may see your posting and maybe will contact you for stamp exchange.