Stamp Collecting for Kids

So about a thousand years ago, when I was a kid, I had a stamp
collection. The years went by and it fell by the wayside, but now I've
got a 10 year old son. He inherited a small collection from a friend,
and is thoroughly enthusiastic. I'm doing my best to keep up and to
remember stuff I used to know. I hope it's OK if I ask a few questions
of a basic nature here.

The album he received from the friend is an old Harris album, similar to
the one I used to have. It has small black and white images of the
stamps, with little explanation of them (and is about 40+ years old, to
boot). I got him the American "Heirloom" album(s) from Mystic Stamp Co,
and it seems to be a better set of books - more room for the stamps
themselves, more complete, and with some discussion of the issues.
However, especially looking at the older stamps, it can be tough to
distinguish between some of the issues. A magnifier doesn't help, as
it's looking not only at a used stamp, but also at a black and white
image rather than a decent description of distinguishing features. I
dimly remember my mother having some old Scott's Catalogs years ago, but
I looked them up and they seem to be $50-75 per volume for multiple
volumes. Is that my alternative? It seems that would get quite
expensive quite quickly.

Also, there are some stamps which may need some extra protection, or
otherwise are ones we don't want to use hinges on (for example, in the
"pile" we found a couple of mint plate blocks). I seem to remember that
my parents had mounts, where they cut a black paper-like backing to the
size of the stamp(s), cut a plastic sheet-like cover to size (along with
flaps along the edges) and would fold over the flaps to make a
protective cover. So far I've seen only pre-sized mounts - do the
self-made ones exist anymore? I'd hate to think that I need to get a
whole bunch of different sizes for the various stamps he has, or is
likely to run across.

Thanks in advance,
-Don

See inline comments

Bill

On 8/16/2010 1:00 PM, Don Levey wrote:
So about a thousand years ago, when I was a kid, I had a stamp
collection. The years went by and it fell by the wayside, but now I've
got a 10 year old son. He inherited a small collection from a friend,
and is thoroughly enthusiastic. I'm doing my best to keep up and to
remember stuff I used to know. I hope it's OK if I ask a few questions
of a basic nature here.

The album he received from the friend is an old Harris album, similar to
the one I used to have. It has small black and white images of the
stamps, with little explanation of them (and is about 40+ years old, to
boot). I got him the American "Heirloom" album(s) from Mystic Stamp Co,
and it seems to be a better set of books - more room for the stamps
themselves, more complete, and with some discussion of the issues.
However, especially looking at the older stamps, it can be tough to
distinguish between some of the issues. A magnifier doesn't help, as
it's looking not only at a used stamp, but also at a black and white
image rather than a decent description of distinguishing features. I
dimly remember my mother having some old Scott's Catalogs years ago, but
I looked them up and they seem to be $50-75 per volume for multiple
volumes. Is that my alternative? It seems that would get quite
expensive quite quickly.

Most libraries carry Scott catalogs. Mine has one reference set and two
sets that patrons can check out.

Also, there are some stamps which may need some extra protection, or
otherwise are ones we don't want to use hinges on (for example, in the
"pile" we found a couple of mint plate blocks). I seem to remember that
my parents had mounts, where they cut a black paper-like backing to the
size of the stamp(s), cut a plastic sheet-like cover to size (along with
flaps along the edges) and would fold over the flaps to make a
protective cover. So far I've seen only pre-sized mounts - do the
self-made ones exist anymore? I'd hate to think that I need to get a
whole bunch of different sizes for the various stamps he has, or is
likely to run across.

Mounts for mint stamps are somewhat expensive. There are precut sizes
and strips which you can cut as needed. The backing can either by
transparent or black.

Thanks in advance,
-Don

I'd suggest visiting www.virtualstampclub.com. There's a lot of
information already available there plus a discussion board where you
can ask questions and get answers. Scroll down the main page to "Help! I
just inherited this collection" to start.

There are many other informative web sites about stamps. A Google search
can be helpful. If there's a dealer in your area consider stopping by
and picking up a copy of Linn's Stamp News.

I'm not suggesting your son join, but the American Philatelic Society,
www.stamps.org, also is an excellent site for information about stamps.

I'm sure others will reply to this group, too.

Bill

On 8/16/2010 18:54, Victor Manta wrote:

I suggest you to visit this site and its Q&A:

http://www.askphil.org/

"If your question is not answered in our Q&A database, send your
question to for a very quick response ... and the
possibility your question will be added to the database to help others
in the future".

You are not expected to register or other things like that.

Victor, this is particularly helpful. The problem I was running into
was differentiating between the Washington and Franklin issues; their
page http://www.askphil.org/W-F/Index.htm should work for me. Thank you!

-Don Levey

On 8/16/2010 17:53, Billns wrote:


Most libraries carry Scott catalogs. Mine has one reference set and two
sets that patrons can check out.

Thanks, I'll try that. Victor also mentioned askphil.org which has a
page on the specific problem I was having (differentiating between the
Washington and Franklin issues): http://www.askphil.org/W-F/Index.htm


Mounts for mint stamps are somewhat expensive. There are precut sizes
and strips which you can cut as needed. The backing can either by
transparent or black.

OK, perhaps I'll look at the strips.


I'd suggest visiting www.virtualstampclub.com. There's a lot of
information already available there plus a discussion board where you
can ask questions and get answers. Scroll down the main page to "Help! I
just inherited this collection" to start.

There are many other informative web sites about stamps. A Google search
can be helpful. If there's a dealer in your area consider stopping by
and picking up a copy of Linn's Stamp News.

I'm not suggesting your son join, but the American Philatelic Society,
www.stamps.org, also is an excellent site for information about stamps.


Bill, thank you very much - this is quite helpful.
-Don Levey

On 8/17/2010 11:20, Sir F. A. Rien wrote:
Don Levey found these unused words:

On 8/16/2010 17:53, Billns wrote:


Mounts for mint stamps are somewhat expensive. There are precut sizes
and strips which you can cut as needed. The backing can either by
transparent or black.

OK, perhaps I'll look at the strips.

Check eBay, there's a dealer that has access to 'slight 2nds'. Double
quantity strip packs for less than retail of a single 'size'.

Ah, excellent - I'll check.



I'd suggest visiting www.virtualstampclub.com. There's a lot of
information already available there plus a discussion board where you
can ask questions and get answers. Scroll down the main page to "Help! I
just inherited this collection" to start.

There are many other informative web sites about stamps. A Google search
can be helpful. If there's a dealer in your area consider stopping by
and picking up a copy of Linn's Stamp News.

I'm not suggesting your son join, but the American Philatelic Society,
www.stamps.org, also is an excellent site for information about stamps.


Hopefully that's a good change. In the mid 70's and 80's they didn't give a
darn about local clubs.Only cared when the 'dues' were late!

I'll check it out. As for a local dealer, the few in my area seem
mostly concerned with the higher-end issues and auction material. I
can't find anyone with a retain location (except for one which is
appointment-only) within a 90 minutes drive, but it is possible I've
missed someone. If he decides to stick with it, perhaps I'll suggest
that he find a local club, but I think that might be overwhelming for
him right now.

Thank you again,
-Don Levey

On 8/17/2010 18:29, Sir F. A. Rien wrote:
Don Levey found these unused words:
...
Hopefully that's a good change. In the mid 70's and 80's they didn't give a
darn about local clubs.Only cared when the 'dues' were late!

I'll check it out. As for a local dealer, the few in my area seem
mostly concerned with the higher-end issues and auction material. I
can't find anyone with a retain location (except for one which is
appointment-only) within a 90 minutes drive, but it is possible I've
missed someone. If he decides to stick with it, perhaps I'll suggest
that he find a local club, but I think that might be overwhelming for
him right now.


"Quality time with Dad ..." !


That's a big part of it, to be sure. The club won't help much with
that, though, as we could spend the time just he and I and I think he'd
get more out of it (unless the club is a kids-oriented group, and I
haven't seen one of those in the area as of yet).

-Don Levey

On Aug 18, 8:58*am, Don Levey wrote:
On 8/17/2010 18:29, Sir F. A. Rien wrote:

Don Levey found these unused words:
...
Hopefully that's a good change. In the mid 70's and 80's they didn't give a
darn about local clubs.Only cared when the 'dues' were late!

I'll check it out. *As for a local dealer, the few in my area seem
mostly concerned with the higher-end issues and auction material. *I
can't find anyone with a retain location (except for one which is
appointment-only) within a 90 minutes drive, but it is possible I've
missed someone. *If he decides to stick with it, perhaps I'll suggest
that he find a local club, but I think that might be overwhelming for
him right now.

"Quality time with Dad ..." !

That's a big part of it, to be sure. *The club won't help much with
that, though, as we could spend the time just he and I and I think he'd
get more out of it (unless the club is a kids-oriented group, and I
haven't seen one of those in the area as of yet).

*-Don Levey

some schools used to have stamp clubs, but usually they were run by
teachers who collected but that may be a thing of the past now