September 18, 2010

Earlier in the year I inherited my Granddad’s old postage stamps collection. I have tried to not only maintain it but expand it as well. I have had to learn quickly and I have. My knowledge is so much more than when I started.

I was quite enthusiastic when I first got them. I went through each of the albums and then ticked off each one that he had against an old postage stamps catalogue. It takes a long time but it is worth doing. It was good to go through each of the stamps and at the same time create a comprehensive record of his collection.

The next thing you need to be concerned about is where you store the old postage stamps. I moved them to my house and piled the albums on top of each other. After a little bit of research I found out that you shouldn’t do this. You need to store them in a dark dry place. It is also important to stand the albums upright to avoid them getting damaged.

When you inherit an old album it is important that you have a plan if you are going to expand it. You can fall into the trap of just buying any old stamps. What are you trying to achieve? Do you just want a lot of stamps or do you want good quality? There are so many variations on a theme that you can go for.

Buying old postage stamps has changed over the years. There once were stamp shops but these aren’t around anymore. You will be able to buy from the post office, on the internet, at auctions and from stamp dealers. For many of mine I went directly to the post office. Not surprisingly they have made some mistakes but they have put those right. I have also bough one or two from Ebay.

I hope that my story has given you more information about collecting old postage stamps. The key to it is to enjoy the experience and learn from it.