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Collecting Stamps

By: Fiona Whealer

Collecting stamps is a hobby that interests kids and adults alike all over the world. You can begin a stamp collection easily enough; just start collecting interesting and unusual stamps that you find. When you start out, you may want to begin by spending as little money as possible, just enough to get your feet wet and begin to build a collection.

When you first decide to start collecting stamps you may find that you have nothing to start with. If this is the case you can buy a pack of stamps from a hobby shop or a stamp collector to get you started. For a small price, usually around $6.00, you'll get an assortment of stamps from different countries. This is a great way to determine what types of stamps appeal to you and what area you might like to focus on.

Another good source of stamps is on the Internet using eBay. You'll often be able to purchase large amounts of stamps for a very low price. You'll want to have as wide a variety of stamps as possible so that you can see a good selection of stamps from various countries. Once you've purchased a large batch of stamps you'll need to have a way to organize them so you can determine what direction you want to go with your stamp collection.

Most of the stamps that you buy will still be on the paper on which they were mailed. This makes them durable and easy to handle. Once you remove the paper backing the stamp becomes much more fragile and you'll have to be very careful in the way that you move it around. This is why you should sort out your purchased stamps according to country before you take off the paper backing.

Taking the paper off stamps can be tedious so make sure that you take your time and don't do any damage to the stamps. Don't just attempt to pull the stamp off the paper since this can result in the ripping of the stamp. Use a pair of small scissors to trim the paper as close to the stamp as you possibly can.

Fill a shallow bowl or plate with a small amount of clean water. Place the stamp with the paper still attached, stamp facing up, and allow it to soak for about ten or fifteen minutes. After sufficient time ha passed, carefully pick the stamp up out of the water and try to slowly remove the stamp from the paper.

After you've removed the stamps from the paper you'll need to dry them gently and slowly so that they don't fold over and wrinkle. You can do this by laying them flat on a layer of paper toweling, taking care to make sure that none of the stamps touch and overlap. Gently take one sheet of paper towel and lay it over the stamps, pressing gently so that you are carefully removing some of the water.

Once the stamps are dry you can flatten them by laying them in between the pages of a large book, or you can buy a special drying book that is available at most hobby stores or stamp collecting stores. Once the stamps have been dried and flattened, you'll be ready to sort them into categories within your stamp collecting books.

Article Source: http://www.simplepetcare.com/pet-articles

Fiona Whealer is the owner and operator of FW Stamps, a fantastic resource for information about stamps. For questions or comments about this article why not visit: www.fwstamps.com/articles
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