Types of Stamps

There are commemorative and definitive stamps. Commemorative stamps are issued, as the name suggests, commemorating important events, prominent personalities in various fields, aspects of nature, beautiful or rare flora and fauna, environmental issues, agricultural activities, national/international issues, games etc. These stamps are only available at Philatelic Bureaux and counters or under the Philatelic Deposit Account Scheme. They are printed in limited quantities.

Definitive stamps on the other hand, are used for day - to - day postal mailing purposes and are available in various ascending denominations from 25 paisa onwards at all postal counters.

How to collect used stamps?

Used stamps can be collected from the postal envelopes one receives. These can be detached delicately from the postal articles. Rinse in a shallow dish of water, using a soft brush. Carefully dry them in a dark place as the ultra violet rays of sunlight can damage the colours. It is also valuable to retain stamps along with the envelopes on which they are pasted as this authenticates their use.

How to Get Started with Your Stamp Collection - Simple Tips

Collecting stamp is a famous hobby as well as an easy activity, which provides many lighter moments. If you would like to start your own collection of stamps, here is the list of procedures to get started:

1. First you need to decide on what kind of topic you would like to use for your collection to get started with this hobby. It is also recommended to start with general but choosing a specific theme for your stamps will be more exciting. If you would like to collect postage stamps from other countries, you may start narrowing down your collection for the stamps coming from a specific country.

2. You can also start the stamp collection by buying new stamps from the market. If you are aiming for the stamps of the specific country will help you to get a good start on your collection and will help to prevent the duplication of your collection. Buying a whole pack will give you different designs and will make more interesting for you and motivate you to collect more.

3. If you have limited budget for starting the stamp collection you may have to collect the used stamps from your friends and relatives, which they have received from the mails. They can also help you by asking their friends to donate the stamps to you, which will be exciting since the stamps came from people will be with different themes and special to you. This will make you to valuate the sentimental values of the collected stamps.

4. Once your friends and relatives are informed that you are collecting the stamps, they will make you to learn that they will provide you stamps as a gift for occasions. This kind of helps will make the collection easier for you. Some times your friends and relatives may make use of their maximum effort for getting special editions or commemorative stamps to make you happy and surprise.

5. You may then narrow down your collections by considering the new or old stamps, which one is more preferable to you. Many people prefer to collect more old stamps in their collection than the new stamps. On the other hand, the new stamps are easier to find and manage. Once you have decided the type of stamps to keep in your collection, you should not throw away the other stamps because, you can exchange them with other collectors to get the stamps as per your choice.

6. One benefit of stamp collecting is that you need not spend much money for the hobby. You may buy inexpensive tools and supplies, which you need for your collections. For starters, an album is the first thing to acquire. The most popular type of the album is the loose-leaf album. A loose-leaf album has a binder that has removable sheets. This will make the stamps easier to manage and compile.

7. It is most important to learn removing the used stamps from envelopes to place them in your album. You may the cut the envelope along with the stamp but it is important to leave the space between the scissors and the edges of the stamps. Now, you can place the stamp by the face turned down in a bowl with warm water. When it becomes completely wet, you can peel off the stamp and place it in the album after drying it properly.

8. There are many resources where you can get informations about stamps and stamp collection. The Internet is the most effective way to search for stamps and determine the place you can get the cheapest and even those stamps, which are hard to find. You can also make use of the Internet to make friendship with other stamp collectors, which will help you become more interested in the hobby and they may help you in finding the stamps you are looking for. You can also exchange stamps with one another making your collection bigger and more exciting.

The best part of the collection is displaying them to your friends and loved ones. Once you have your own collection, you can show them to your friends and relatives. You may even have your own exhibition in the future. One way to let the people know about your collection is by putting up your own website. You can create the website, where you can exhibit all of your collected stamps and you can also give the notes about the stamps and your efforts to collect them.