The "Essentials" for Stamp Collecting

Alright ladies and gentlemen, I need your input/advice.

I would like to know what you deem to be the essentials as far as supplies
for stamp collecting.

Here's what I have so far, and if you could be so helpful as to point out
what is "missing", I would greatly appreciate it.

I have albums, hinges, a few mounts, tongs, watermark fluid and tray, a set
of Scott Catalogs (since I mainly collect used US singles, but also have a
few WW topical collections), a "drying" book for soaked stamps (I love this
baby), a small magnifying glass, a Linn's perf gauge (thanks to a tip I read
here), and of course stamps. While it may not be considered essential, I
also have a membership in APS as well as CPC (since one of my topical
collections is Christmas). I think that sums it up. What should I be
asking my husband to get for me for my birthday, anniversary, Christmas,
etc?


--
Ames
remove the gum to reply

Gday
Looks like you could be missing something to store your stamps in between
buying / acquiring them and getting them into your albums. All sorts of
options - stockbooks, stock pages and manilla pages being my favourites.
Then comes glassine envelopes for the stuff you're going to get round to one
day, shoe boxes for bulk junk you've got hold of, more show boxes for the
stuff you really will put on ebay one day, maybe a dedicated shelf or a
whole bookcase, a larger house...G

If you live somewhere disgustingly humid and don't have airconditioning, a
dehumidifier can be money well spent though they ain't cheap. I suppose the
opposite goes if you live somewhere really hot and dry, too.

I agree about the drying book - bought one years ago just for the hell of it
and now wouldn't be without them.

--
Cheers - John Mycroft
coryton_at_cobbsmill_dot_com

And I forgot to mention - rub shoulders with other collectors, here, at
meetings, at stamp shows, bourses, whatever. Subscribe to a magazine -
which one depends on what you collect. Linns Stamp News is a good place to
start.

--
Cheers - John Mycroft
coryton_at_cobbsmill_dot_com


"Ames" wrote in message
...
Alright ladies and gentlemen, I need your input/advice.

I would like to know what you deem to be the essentials as far as supplies
for stamp collecting.

Here's what I have so far, and if you could be so helpful as to point out
what is "missing", I would greatly appreciate it.

I have albums, hinges, a few mounts, tongs, watermark fluid and tray, a
set
of Scott Catalogs (since I mainly collect used US singles, but also have a
few WW topical collections), a "drying" book for soaked stamps (I love
this
baby), a small magnifying glass, a Linn's perf gauge (thanks to a tip I
read
here), and of course stamps. While it may not be considered essential, I
also have a membership in APS as well as CPC (since one of my topical
collections is Christmas). I think that sums it up. What should I be
asking my husband to get for me for my birthday, anniversary, Christmas,
etc?


--
Ames
remove the gum to reply

"Ames" wrote in message
...
Alright ladies and gentlemen, I need your input/advice.

I would like to know what you deem to be the essentials as far as supplies
for stamp collecting.

Harken back to the days of yore when I began my stamp collecting
interest.
As a little boy, the mail came with a neat looking stamp (I beleave it
was the blue 1950's beaver definitive of Canada). It was so different from
the lady (AKA Queen Elizabeth II) that I'd seen on so many stamps. I asked
my dad for the stamp and got it. He showed me how to soak it off the paper
in a dish of water. I had a cigar box an in went the stamp. My very
primative start to stamp collecting.
I went to the store when I got my allowance and bought some stamp
hinges to go with the 2 ring binder and lined paper. I was all set and more
stamps joined the beaver, even that lady in different colours. That, for
several years, was the extent of my stamp collecting equipment. Nothing
fancy.

Dave

2/25/2004 12:16 PM

And the answer is....

A new copy of the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps!

This catalogue is an absolute requirement for any collector with more than
passing interest in U.S. stamps. In the philatelic heavens, the Scott
Specialized is a supernova; the Scott Standard Catalogue, for the U.S.
collector, is a brown dwarf.

Bob Ingraham

-------
An early United States stamp provided an interesting philatelic puzzle for
me. Learn about it at http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/philpuzzle3.html. It
will crack you up!
-------








Alright ladies and gentlemen, I need your input/advice.

I would like to know what you deem to be the essentials as far as supplies
for stamp collecting.

Here's what I have so far, and if you could be so helpful as to point out
what is "missing", I would greatly appreciate it.

I have albums, hinges, a few mounts, tongs, watermark fluid and tray, a set
of Scott Catalogs (since I mainly collect used US singles, but also have a
few WW topical collections), a "drying" book for soaked stamps (I love this
baby), a small magnifying glass, a Linn's perf gauge (thanks to a tip I read
here), and of course stamps. While it may not be considered essential, I
also have a membership in APS as well as CPC (since one of my topical
collections is Christmas). I think that sums it up. What should I be
asking my husband to get for me for my birthday, anniversary, Christmas,
etc?