Stamp collecting is a fun and easy hobby for adults and children alike. It’s a great way to learn about our country’s history, people, places and events. Or, if you decide to collect foreign stamps, you can learn about different parts of the world. Getting started in stamp collecting is both easy and inexpensive – just a little bit of groundwork and you’re on your way!
The first step is to ask friends and family to save the stamps from any letters and postcards they receive and give them to you. They don’t need to save the entire piece of mail – they can simply tear off the portion around the stamp in the shape of a square. Be sure they leave space around the stamp and don’t actually peel the stamp off as it can tear or otherwise damage the stamp. This can be done with current mail, or you can ask them to look through envelopes and cards they may have saved over the years and give you those stamps as well, so that you have some older ones to add to your collection.
When you find a new stamp, you can keep it in a box or large envelope – whatever works best for you and makes it easy to keep track of your growing collection. When you are ready to put some stamps into your album, you can begin the process of soaking, or separating the stamps from the paper.
Soaking is a very easy process, and is the best way to remove stamps from paper. To begin, place the paper, stamp side down, in a small amount of warm water. You can use a pan, or put the stopper in a bathroom sink and do it there. After a couple minutes, the stamps will sink to the bottom. Then you can remove the paper, but leave the stamp in the water for a few extra minutes to be sure that all the gum dissolves.
After you remove the stamps, place them on a clean, dry paper towel and cover them with a second towel. Then place a heavy book or other flat object on top. This keeps the stamps from curling while they dry. You should leave them there for several hours, or overnight if possible so they have a chance to dry completely. Once they’re dry, lift the stamps out one by one with a pair of tweezers. If you don’t have tweezers, you can carefully use your hands, but it’s best to use tweezers if possible so that oil from your hands does not come off onto the stamps.
When you’re ready to begin organizing your stamps, you will need a few supplies. The basic components of any organized stamp collection are hinges and an album. Let’s start with the album. There are many different kinds of albums available for housing your stamp collection. Typically, an album is in a binder form, with pages that you insert for the various years you want to collect. Some come with pages included, others come without and you simply add the pages you need as you go.
If you want a more creative way to display your stamps, you can design your own album out of any notebook, album or scrapbook. The only important factor is to be sure to use acid-free paper and to reserve enough room for the album to expand as your collection grows.
Once you have chosen an album, you can begin mounting your stamps. To mount stamps into albums, most collectors use hinges. Stamp hinges are small pieces of pre-folded glassine paper with a light adhesive on one side. They are very inexpensive – a packet of 1000 hinges typically costs less than $2.00.
Hinges are the safest way to affix your stamps into your album. Using other methods like glue or tape can not only ruin the stamps, it makes it impossible to move them once they are placed. Hinges, on the other hand, are very easy to use and let you remove your stamps if you later decide to place them elsewhere.
Using a stamp hinge is very easy. The first step is to very lightly moisten the short side of the hinge with your tongue. Place the moistened side of the hinge on the back of the stamp, close to the top. Next, moisten the long part of the hinge and position the stamp where you want it on the album page. Firmly but gently press down on the stamp. The hinge will adhere to the page and your stamp is now in place!
With these few easy steps, you have begun building your own stamp collection. Keep adding stamps and soon you will have a beautiful stamp album to look at, enjoy and pass on to future generations.
