Beginner's Album
This is the first of a series of lessons providing an introduction to stamp collecting. Additional lessons will be provided periodically. If you plan to use these lessons please E-mail your address to: Bill Olcheski. My purpose in asking for your address is so that I will know if enough people are interested to make this worth doing. Periodically I will make special offers to new collectors but there is no obligation to buy in order to take the course. In this session I will discuss how to get stamps.
How to get stamps. If you were going to make a rabbit stew the first thing you would need to do would be to get a rabbit. It follows therefore that the first thing you need to do to start stamp collecting is to get some stamps. I'm sure your first inclination is to rush out to the stamp store and buy all the stamps your budget allows. This is not the step to take at this time. Begin by telling all your friends and relatives that you have decided to collect stamps. Ask them if they would clip the stamps from their incoming mail and save them for you. Remind them that this applies only to current mail. If they have older envelopes (collectors call them covers) ask them to save the entire envelope until you can have an experienced collector look at it. This is because special markings on the envelope may be of more value than the stamps.
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B
eginners can be of any age. The approach for adult collectors will be a little different. Ask your coworkers to save stamps from their office mail. If you have friends who get business mail ask them to save you all their envelopes.
O
nce you get the current envelopes you are ready to cut off the stamps. You do this by cutting all around the stamp about one-quarter inch from the edges of the stamp. Do not cut too close as you could clip off the edges and this would destroy the stamp as a collectible item. Sometimes people in the business will be willing to give you their envelopes in exchange for having you go through the envelopes and return any checks or correspondence which might be left inside. This is a service to them and it gives them a good reason to have you go through the envelopes. When you are in the post office, look in the trash cans. People often discard envelopes or package wrappings with stamps on them. Tear off the corner of the envelope and add the stamp to your accumulation.
Y
ou have now taken the first step toward becoming a stamp collector.
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or information about stamp collecting correspondence courses check Pennsylvania State UniversityI wrote the basic courses and grade the papers.
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