A Beginner's Guide to Collecting Stamps Ep. 1

[@pamelah1220]

The best part of this video is your enthusiasm. People like to treat collecting hobbies like an investment, but if you enjoy yourself, you've already gotten your money's worth.

[@silkontheweb]

I totally agree... and thanks for saying so... I've been thinking a lot about whether or not to do a 'how to invest in stamps' type of video, because I think it could potentially broaden the appeal of the hobby. But truthfully, I don't really care... I spend a lot of money on stamps because I love them, and so to share tips on how to invest in them seems a bit disingenuous, especially for someone who has undoubtedly spent more than their worth because of the enjoyment factor

[@madzen112]

Work earns you money, hobbies cost you money, that's one definition!

[@davidlibline1757]

Greetings from New Zealand. I just got back into stamps again five months ago when I gave up smoking and started buying stamps on Trade Me and eBay. I started collecting over forty years ago. I won an American Stamp Album seven years ago and I put the book away and now I sat down today and had a good look through and was amazed to find Stamps dating back to the 1860s plenty of mint stamps and two pairs of five dollar stamp in mint condition. I got a lot of block sets in mint condition. Great to be back to this hobby which is so awesome. 👌

[@silkontheweb]

Happy collecting!!

[@davidlibline1757]

@silkontheweb Hello. The George Washington stamps from 1732 to 1799, and it's still on paper and used. Would you know the value by chance and it's in good condition. I have seen one on eBay for 15k in mint condition. Dealers In NZ are always busy to help out. Thank you.

[@johnpontin9276]

Started collecting stamps in the mid 50’s when my Dad gave me his US collection. Have been building on that collection ever since.

[@sasmithaprabha6520]

Found this channel by chance. Like the presentation. The Fun part of collecting stamps is looking at the stamps in the album and studying them one by one over and over again.....

[@jojie-o5g]

I only collect stamps found in letters but i doubt if there's still a plenty nowadays. not many post offices in my area are not open anymore. only bills letters come now i used to collect stamps when I was younger and yes, it was so much fun tho some told me it's for old people😅. I became busy and put my collection aside safe for i know one day i will continue again. I use my hands, though i have tweezers. never thought of hinges as I've seen some old stamps have stains or marks due to hinges.

[@farizarahman3838]

Hi. In my childhood I actually collected stamps as hobby. TNow I am 48 yrs. Back then like when I was 12-15 yrs peoples used to send letters and cards from various countries and the stamps always fascinated me. But with time when the postage of letter and cards are actually replaced my collection of stamp hobby died. After talking with one of my friends I take out my stamp book after a long time and want to revive my hobby.

[@silkontheweb]

I bet you'll find it just as fascinating... happy collecting!!

[@joshuacattrell6174]

You are like the Bob Ross of stamp collecting! Love your videos!

[@Creek54]

I started collecting Pitcairn Island and Tahiti/French Polynesia stamps because of my fascination with anything relating to the Mutiny on the Bounty story. I also love whales and started collecting those too. Anyway it's cool to see someone collect something for pleasure instead monetary value.

[@silkontheweb]

That's a great tie-in... my great-grandfather worked on the railroads, so the first topic I collected was trains... got me hooked on the hobby, really.

[@tony1721]

Interesting theme

[@angelarene559]

I came across your KZbin videos. And thank you for your information you provide us all on the internet!!

[@claire2470]

Wooooooow! What a worldwide stamp album!😲 My album is made of PVC where i just insert the stamps in the pockets... Yeaaaah! The enjoyment. . . I'm enjoying my stamp hobby lately. . .🤗

[@ARealCupcake]

I don't know why but randomly I got it in my head to look up stamp collecting and your video is what caught my eye. Watching your video has kind of made me want to buy some stamps. I already collect Pokemon and Magic cards specifically for the art itself and looking at these stamps that just seems like yet another thing to collect for some interesting art. I never understood stamp collecting, but honestly watching this video has kind of made me understand it haha.

[@silkontheweb]

Glad you found my channel, and got a bit out of it! I absolutely love the hobby... and if I had to do it over again, I'd probably pick up a half-ful album off ebay, learn what I could about the stamps that are in it, and start filling it out bit by bit. That way, you can figure out what really interests you... topics (my favorites are ships and trains), countries, time periods, you name it... lots to explore...

[@fenrik8178]

I remember being 8 and being so pleased with my purchase of colorful fish stamps (CTOs) from around the world. Later someone heard I was interested in stamps and donated his sons old stamp collection to me, some of those stamps I still own. (The fish ones not anymore though )

[@fenrik8178]

I also one day randomly found stamp tweezers in our bathroom that used to belong to my father. Still use them today 😂😅👌 I knew they were for stamps because they had the logo of a popular Dutch stamp stock book maker engraved on them. (Importa)

[@fenrik8178]

When I was in my teens I finally catalogued all of those stamps I got from that guy’s son’s collection. I didn’t have the tweezers then so I used my hands, but had so much fun doing that.

[@silkontheweb]

Love it... thanks for sharing Fenrik... the first topic I collected were trains... still adding to that stockbook, one of my favorites

[@fenrik8178]

I recently soaked some hinges and scraps of leftover paper from the envelope from some stamps, turns out a person used glue to stick the hinge to some of the stamps. Almost impossible to scrape off everything without damaging the stamp :( One stamp stuck to the drying book, some others have a stain from the glue, and others look a bit weird from the back (since the drying book has a special page to help take off sticky residue, but it sometimes leaves the back of the stamp looking and feeling weird)

[@scoutbehr4199]

As someone who's a postal worker who likes stickers I'm surprised I never thought of collecting stamps

[@angelaferreira1650]

Hello! I'm very happy to have found this video, I work at CTT in Portugal and I'm learning about stamps. Unfortunately, my father is not in good health and I need to learn on my own. Your video showed me a lot about this passion, I have to thank you for being such a gentleman and demonstrating the passion you have for your hobbies so well.

[@silkontheweb]

Welcome to the hobby! It's wonderful...

[@LiveStampLaughRepeat]

I’ve been wanting to start collecting stamps for a long, long time. I’m 62 yrs old I think I should stop procrastinating lol

[@wadimlazarev5746]

Thank you very much for your review. It was very nice to see the stamps of the USSR. I know that they are not very popular in America and Europe, but they certainly deserve the attention of collectors. Thank you

[@silkontheweb]

Stamps from the USSR tell such stories, their imagery is very evocative

[@jameslove1092]

Hi again. I used to get stamps on approval were better than packs in scotland.

[@madzen112]

Cool stamps 🙂👍

[@yashadattadeo]

Nice video. Please keep sharing more videos like this.

[@silkontheweb]

Thank you for watching, and for the encouragement!

[@tony1721]

Interesting video….i used to collect British as my dad did, but when I was in the army posted to Germany, I started collecting Germany stamps, a very complicated and wide area 😂😂🇬🇧

[@jameslove1092]

Hi again. I cut the hinge in half that way theres less to damage stsmp.

[@silkontheweb]

That's great advice... I use hinges sometimes, and will definitely do that. Thanks for sharing!

[@flairshield9195]

Best unintentional ASMR 😊

[@StampsCoinsValues]

Thanks for sharing

[@АлексейП-и3н]

Спасибо за обзор,много интересных марок!

[@BESTLOADOUTS]

Write notes and use stock books rather than hinges (sorry can't stand hinges)

[@ozgur4475]

thanks for your sharing. I just found my mom's stamp collection and I think im going to start collect stamps too

[@marcsmilen6565]

I use hinges to store all the doors in my apartment.

[@martinceva319]

I wanted to start collecting stamps but I dont know what to collect, I was thinking of 2nd world war stamps, stamps of my country, spain stamps (because I bought 1969 stamps of spain) or maybe collect at least 1 of each country of the world what would you recommend me?

[@silkontheweb]

Best advice I've got is to buy an old album, and review it all... what you like you most, focus on, then go from there. Could be a topic you like, trains or cars or space or whatnot, could be a country and then a time frame. I'd just pick something you like most and take it as far as you want, then move onto another inspiration if you'd like to. I started my country focuses by trying to complete a set at a time, and then a decade. Hope that helps

[@martinceva319]

@@silkontheweb ohhh thanks a lot for your advice!! I will try to do that hehe 🤗🤗

[@jimderr7795]

you might consider a trip to the library and look for a stamp catalog. Review the stamps from various countries and pick ones that you find you might like to study/collect.

[@martinceva319]

@@jimderr7795 ohhh I see sounds cool I will do that hehe thank you!!! 🤗

[@bubaidey733]

I collcting stamp since my teenage. 1st I collect rare stamps from old book store very cheap price . I personally like ussr space stamps. Like u I very very like ussr stamps. I have uri gagarin stamp just like u 1961

[@silkontheweb]

Thanks for sharing!

[@bubaidey733]

@@silkontheweb welcome sir love from kolkata, India. But I must say today our society these great hobbies disappear from new generation. In india new young generation interested mostly bike party girls alcohol all kind of fancy lifestyle and smartphone. They miss great pleasure of coin note stamps antique collection.

[@silkontheweb]

I'm hopeful... I think there's something timeless about stamps, specifically, and think our hobby will catch on with enough folks to keep it going. Part of the reason I started my KZbin channel... hopefully I can help a bit...

[@JulJennings]

I have had my collection for about ten years now. My dad who is still alive gave them to me. My aunty started the collection and gave it to him. So they are stamps from the 1800's on. I love the stamps from the 1800's more. Stamps of today I don't have many off at all. So I my focus is collecting stamps of the 1800's if I go into the 1900's anything before 1930 that can no longer be used as a postal stamp I will be colleting. I will be looking for these to purchase in the future. Really busy going through the thousands I have now. I was also wondering which older stamps don't have many that were issued out. I would like to research these ones. It seems like George Washington has so many issued out and King George Vi too. I have so many of them. Queen Elizabeth II is another one. Too bad we can't post pictures here.

[@Stuart36]

I would tell myself to choose 2 or 3 topics and not all kiloware is great and worth it

[@silkontheweb]

Focus... absolutely... something I've struggled with, because a lot is fascinating!

[@abijahdixon2771]

I keep seeing that but to me my squirrel brain is like, I'll miss out on something and gives me more to do, I get bored easily...

[@silkontheweb]

@@abijahdixon2771 Me too... :)

[@Simon114-v3n]

Couldn’t you also glue/tape the stamps or would that damage the stamps

[@madzen112]

Is finding stamps on old postcards from fleamarkets still a thing?

[@silkontheweb]

For some... postcards are still collected for sure, less so for their stamps though

[@heimrheljar]

How do you get the stamp OFF the envelope? Or do you just cut around it?

[@silkontheweb]

With few exceptions (some old British stamps for example) you can soak stamps off the paper in water and won't damage them, they'll dry just fine

[@AngelVazquez-vs9xp]

Where can I collect new modern-day stamps? As of now I’m starting off by taking an easier route by looking for new stamps instead of vintage ones.

[@silkontheweb]

That's a great way to go... Hipstamp.com would be a good option...

[@xscarecrowxx]

I used to collect movie tix

[@chuckswain8299]

I am 63 years old. I collected stamps in my 20's. I bought a US #834 and paid $100 for it in MNH condition. When I was trying to sell it I was offered $12 for it by a stamp dealer. I was very disappointed. I am getting back into stamps at my age and I refuse to buy expensive stamps. Evan though I will order from a catalog from up north, I am going to enjoy buying common cheap stamps. It's just my opinion to not put a lot of money into something and not get anything but a loss. The cheaper the better for me. I want to enjoy the hobby.

[@Janika-xj2bv]

Each stamp, even the most common one, is a tiny work of art with a history. And it stays there, you can revisit your liliputian gallery whenever you want. Isn't it much better than the endless, pointless, brainless stream of digital bubble gum ?

[@X_sparta]

Where do i find them stamps?

[@Robertbrown08049]

When I sort out stamps I find it is much easier to put them in alphabetical order at the start. It never fails after I get 50 piles that I come across a country that I know that I have a pile for but spend 5 minutes looking for it, whereas if they are in alphabetical order I can find it right away. When I first started out collecting I bought a lot and a lot of country packets. Finding that, if there were a set of 6 stamps that the packet would have the lower 4 values but not the higher 2 and I thought no problem I can always buy them later. A couple of years later I found stamp shows and realized that I could not buy my 2 missing stamps and that I would have to buy the whole set again. So if I could go back l would tell myself not to waste money on packets.

[@silkontheweb]

Great advice! I'll be putting them in alphabetical order from now on... thx for sharing...

[@jameslove1092]

Wish i hadnt used hinges.

[@johngreen3543]

I just want to mention that I place the hinge in the album first and then with the tip of my finger I moist the top part of the hinge and then press the stamp on top of the hinge. That is better because the stamp can go in exactly straight and there is no over wetting the stamp hinge which could spill out over the edge of the hinge and if it is CTO (like those Ruskies) you will find it could get stuck to the album page. Try it yourself once.

[@silkontheweb]

Thanks for sharing, John!

[@glynisrem6006]

What is more valuable in a stamp? Before the stamp is marked or after?

[@silkontheweb]

Most often it's the new one, the closer it looks to the day it was printed the better

[@JulJennings]

How could he see the stamps without a magnifying glass. I need mine so bad. These stamps on the table are old but not as far as 1840's when the first adhesive stamp was created. Still a nice collection though. The stamp store in my city didn't have to 1800's surprise bag I was hoping for.

[@marcsmilen6565]

I recently bought an album of 1935 British coronation stamps, the album was owned by the son of the president of gortons fish company

[@jojie-o5g]

BTW, what's your opinion about stamps collection found from abandoned houses, or from someone who passed away. so sorry to bring this topic, i just remembered watching some videos wherein they found stamps collection left and were still in good condition, sad thinking it's going to waste but scary at the time.

[@kellyphillips2239]

I inherited my uncles stamps alot of 1 cent and 2 cent stamps Statue of liberty Abraham Lincolin and George Washington

[@marcsmilen6565]

I'm nuts about stamps but not nuts enough to become unhinged.

[@hamidraviani2506]

Anyone knows how I can find out about value of foreign stamps ?

[@arniedavis5784]

Should you be wearing gloves when handling stamps? Will perspiration on your hands not damage the stamp?

[@silkontheweb]

So long as you're using tongs you're fine... if you grab the stamps themselves the oil on your fingertips can damage them

[@Rebelboy1122]

Where can I buy these stamps

[@silkontheweb]

I got these at an independent hobby shop near me... I think chains like Hobby Lobby might carry them too...

[@Bubonica-AOE]

are they used though? i dont get it

[@NapeX291]

can anyone tell me is the 40 Birds of Africa collection worth anything?

[@abijahdixon2771]

I wish had kept all my stamp stuff, and I wish I had brought my stuff with me when I moved as it got thrown in the trash and burnt when I was gone...

[@pamelah1220]

:(

[@mirasarkar2986]

I want stamps of different countries ,help

[@ericbond5276]

Relaxing until the off camera voice at 4:55.

[@zebrahippo8775]

I would keep them

[@HehehOlik]

I hated it Headed collecting stamps it takes so long just to get one stamp in a plastic bag unless if it connects to a plastic bag it sucks I have to peel it off and sometimes your plastic stays on it so now I have to get a new stuff or take me 7 years

[@ShimAwng-cg9wm]

I have alot of stamps

[@TOONZiTO]

😂

[@mirasarkar2986]

Who can give me stamps,kolkata

[@Alex-kp3hr]

I would tell myself to not collect used, cancelled stamps. Its a waste of money because everyone will have the same used stamp. Collect only mint condition or else, just buy gold coins instead. You'll be richer in the long run.

[@margaretcarr2268]

But it's not about the money. Let's be realistic even those of us with pristine collections when we do eventually try and sell them well we're not going to be able to retire early. It's about the joy of collecting. 50+ years for me and a bookshelf of Great Britain and British Commonwealth stamp binders that give me immense joy and when I do come across an occasion stamp to add to my collection, I'm a happy camper.

[@ericleonardi4811]

Thousands of hours enjoying stamps from around the world. Yes cancelled or precancelled. It was the best. It also showed me geography. Later as special operations soldier. I remembered those countries. It meant much more to me later than you can picture

[@dannyjanssens8985]

Isn't it just the opposite? All mint stamps are the same. What makes it special is to find a nicely cancelled stamp.

[@hamoostaffat]

While having a mint version of stamps is great, if its all about the investment then sure mint will probably be worth more but gains will be slower if you limit your stock options And if its about the collecting, every cancel had a unique one of a kind sometimes global story to tell, mint has one story.... "I got printed and shoved in a book" Think about all those places that no longer exist that will never stamp another letter, plus I dont care about hinging used stamps onto pages 😂worst thing to ever happen to the hobby were pen cancels though ✌️

[@davidcarter3109]

Stop touching stamps with your fingers!!!

[@nass214]

I actually have an album full of staps but most of them are just the same 🎟📘