As with the Introduction, this section is included in all books in this series as it is expected that each will appeal to a different audience. To those that see this again – we request your forbearance.
What makes us collect stamps? Come to think of it – what makes us collect anything? Is there a hoarding instinct in some of us, or all of us? A squirrel hoards nuts for the lean months whilst at times of national stress we’ve all seen supermarket shelves emptied quickly, but stamps? Or playing cards? I have collected various genres of transport models for decades, buses, trains and aircraft in big numbers, but why? There are private collectors of works of art; the value of their collections is not necessarily monetary but just as likely emotional, and probably not with an eye on an investment. Others will see collecting as a way of reliving their childhood, or an aspect of their life most dear to them.
Parents and grandparents will be familiar with children’s obsession with collecting cards, maybe of footballers and here we see the excitement of the chase, to obtain the vital last or rarest one to show off to their school friends and perhaps here we will find the psychology of collecting stamps; the pride in building up a collection, the hunt for the rarity or an ‘error’, a specialisation in itself that can vary enormously from a spelling mistake (embarrassing but not unknown) to missing colours or type.
Like collector-cards we saved in our youth, stamp collecting may well start with the fascination of issues from across the globe or from previous eras. A kindly aunt’s birthday or Christmas present may see our first album with pages for a great many of the world’s nations, and possibly an envelope of mixed stamps, sometimes unused – mint – or maybe used and still on a fragment of the envelope. In this photograph of ‘The Nelson’ album we see just such an item, un-dated but this teenage owner (my wife) has made notes on the contents dated 1953-5. The hunt has begun, to piece together the perceived history of that collection as we are led by the album with the stamps scattered in all probability all over the dining-room table or the lounge carpet and before long the craving has developed, to add to this collection and then to multiply the number of albums needed to accommodate the growing collection until eventually order will need to be established. At that time, the likelihood is that there will be some sort of concentration or specialisation, perhaps on specific countries or regions, or themes such as the subject of this series of books.
A great many stamp collectors concentrate on the country of their birth or home and build-up a comprehensive history of that nation’s stamps into a portfolio of immense prestige that may even include text to provide a commentary or catalogue number. Another speciality is the study of the perforations that surround each stamp for ease of separating from the sheets, their size and hence the number on each edge, and to damage these devalues the stamp as much as a rip or thinning of the paper itself due to careless removal from its backing or the previously mentioned hinges. As postal authorities modernised and became more mechanised, stamps had watermarks added or phosphor strips which bore vital information. And then there is the collector with an eye on the investment for undoubtedly a great many stamps reward the serious collector very well and there are organisations that offer advice for the committed investor. Reading one of the established magazines on our subject will enlighten some and surprise others.
That such a big industry, or some would say profession, has grown out of the love of a little piece of paper with gum on the back might be hard to credit but the obsession with the minutiae of the subject can sometimes seem out of all proportion.
Our Aunt’s birthday present gave the young and budding philatelist the encouragement to either glue those precious stamps within the dotted squares provided or with wisdom find the little clear hinges that preserved them at least temporarily in place but today both these habits are discredited as they affect the stamp itself, for today the serious collector goes to incredible lengths to preserve each individual stamp in as near as possible the condition it left the printer. First of all, one should never touch the stamp itself; grease and other contaminants will over time degrade the surface whilst clumsy figures can quite easily crease or tear the delicate paper and perforations, so acquisition of specialised tweezers are a good idea, then take the trouble to look at the various types of album available.
Most will be ring-binders ready to accept the many different pages available. Some of these pages will have clear strips of varying depths to keep stamps secure and visible whilst others are available pre-printed with details of the country of origin and the specific issue to which it refers and it only remains for the owner to place his treasured morsel of paper behind special clear envelopes cut to size and ready for attaching to the designated space. Many will produce his or her own leaves, suitably annotated and presumably preserved in beautiful albums bound in leather. Many collectors exhibit their work at well-known exhibitions in city venues across the globe and their work is often lauded amongst their peers.
Finally, the collector must remember the bible of the stamp world – the catalogue. Here one will find a huge coming-together of stamps one wouldn’t otherwise dream of, listed in copious detail by country and date to give a firm basis to any collection. Usually a value will also be provided, although one has to treat these with a little caution, as this is totally dependent on condition and the vagaries of market forces. Dependent upon the detail and how up-to-date one needs to be, these can be acquired for a few pounds or up to several hundreds for the most comprehensive, that from Stanley Gibbons stretching to several volumes at a cost running into the hundreds of pounds and whilst these are up-dated regularly, only the obsessive or professional will want to replace them regularly.
Having already been mentioned several times in this book and the series so far, I wish to acknowledge the work of Stanley Gibbons Ltd, stamp retailer and publisher of catalogues covering all countries as well as many specialised subjects, as well as the previously mentioned Stamp Magazine, without whose help this book would have been so much more difficult to produce.
