Themes of stamp collections

There is a great number of various subjects of stamps (e.g. animals,
cars, sports, etc.). I wonder what the total number of such subjects
is and what is the most popular one. Furthermore, is there a
subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?

On 4 Oct 2003 03:28:12 -0700, (Alex P)
wrote:

There is a great number of various subjects of stamps (e.g. animals,
cars, sports, etc.). I wonder what the total number of such subjects
is and what is the most popular one. Furthermore, is there a
subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?


Alex:

The number of topics (subjects) that you can collect is unlimited.

In a 1993 USA collector survey, the ten most popular topics were :
birds, trains, ships, cats, space,
animals, butterflies, Christmas, flowers, and maps.

The list changes based on location and year, but these topics
have had a wide following for many years.

When developing such a collection there are a number of things
which should be kept in mind.

First, choose a topic which is of interest to you. A doctor
might collect medicine stamps, a pet lover dog or cat stamps, etc.

Second, the subject should be on-going. Choose a subject which will
give you a chance of adding fresh, new items to your collection.

Third, the topic should be restricted enough that you will have a
reasonable chance of achieving completeness.

Instead of selecting the broad category of music, which would include
musicians, instruments, operas, composers, and musical scores, pick an
instrument such as the violin, and go after stamps showing violins and
famous violinists. Rather than collecting sports in generaI, select a
sport and collect stamps related to it. Many countries issue soccer
stamps for the World Cup every four years, so even that might be too
broad. How about basketball or baseball?

It is your collection!
You can collect and present it in any way you wish.
Finally, you should remember that collecting stamps should be fun.

Blair




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From: (Alex P)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: 4 Oct 2003 03:28:12 -0700
Subject: Themes of stamp collections

There is a great number of various subjects of stamps (e.g. animals,
cars, sports, etc.). I wonder what the total number of such subjects
is and what is the most popular one. Furthermore, is there a
subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?

I once knew a collector of trains on stamps. He collected any stamp that had
any design element that was related to trains. His trains-on-stamps
collection was huge, much bigger than mine would have been because I would
have selected only stamps that had trains and train-related features as
primary elements.

Using my friend's philosophy, almost anything pictured on a stamp could
become the basis of a collection -- feathers, bits of string, water, paper
clips, etc. etc. The list would be staggeringly long, and impossible to
bring to an end.

Is there a subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject? Probably, but
most of them aren't discussed in polite company, or we walk around them on
the sidewalk, or we first hear about them on the evening news and shake our
heads in disbelief.

Bob Ingraham

TC wrote in message
...
On 4 Oct 2003 03:28:12 -0700, (Alex P)
wrote:

There is a great number of various subjects of stamps (e.g. animals,
cars, sports, etc.). I wonder what the total number of such subjects
is and what is the most popular one. Furthermore, is there a
subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?

- snip -

First, choose a topic which is of interest to you. A doctor
might collect medicine stamps, a pet lover dog or cat stamps, etc.

Second, the subject should be on-going. Choose a subject which will
give you a chance of adding fresh, new items to your collection.

Third, the topic should be restricted enough that you will have a
reasonable chance of achieving completeness.

Instead of selecting the broad category of music, which would include
musicians, instruments, operas, composers, and musical scores, pick an
instrument such as the violin, and go after stamps showing violins and
famous violinists. Rather than collecting sports in generaI, select a
sport and collect stamps related to it. Many countries issue soccer
stamps for the World Cup every four years, so even that might be too
broad. How about basketball or baseball?

It is your collection!
You can collect and present it in any way you wish.
Finally, you should remember that collecting stamps should be fun.

Another very popular subject is Chess. However, one subject
that I can think of, and which includes practically all of Blair's
sound advice, is "Czeslaw Slania's Engraved Stamps". The
number is fairly restricted, meaning some 1.100+ stamps;
collecting these will take you to at least 40 countries around
the world, and they include flora/fauna, means of transportation,
royalty, presidents, arts, sports etc. The latest issue was
released today (Oct. 4) as a joint issue HongKong - Sweden.
You can restrict yourself to his engravd stamps, and enlarge
your collection later with his engraved banknotes, and private
engravings including athletes, actresses etc. There are several
groups you can join for more information, both online and not.
There is an extensive literature and many websites dealing with
his work, so you'll never get "lost" ;-)

Welcome to stamp collecting :-)
--
Mette
remove news if replying directly
http://slaniastamps.school.dk

Hi Blair,


In a 1993 USA collector survey, the ten most popular topics were :
birds, trains, ships, cats, space,
animals, butterflies, Christmas, flowers, and maps.

Just out of curiousity:
Is the outcome of that survey available electronically?

I think it would be nice to look at (especially) the (not so popular)
subjects

jan

Ahhhhh, Ships. Who knows, I may start a topical collection myself of
ships. How would one determine how many different 'ship' stamps there
were/are for the US, or is going thru a Scotts catalogue the best way?

TC wrote:

On 4 Oct 2003 03:28:12 -0700, (Alex P)
wrote:


There is a great number of various subjects of stamps (e.g. animals,
cars, sports, etc.). I wonder what the total number of such subjects
is and what is the most popular one. Furthermore, is there a
subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?



Alex:

The number of topics (subjects) that you can collect is unlimited.

In a 1993 USA collector survey, the ten most popular topics were :
birds, trains, ships, cats, space,
animals, butterflies, Christmas, flowers, and maps.

The list changes based on location and year, but these topics
have had a wide following for many years.

When developing such a collection there are a number of things
which should be kept in mind.

First, choose a topic which is of interest to you. A doctor
might collect medicine stamps, a pet lover dog or cat stamps, etc.

Second, the subject should be on-going. Choose a subject which will
give you a chance of adding fresh, new items to your collection.

Third, the topic should be restricted enough that you will have a
reasonable chance of achieving completeness.

Instead of selecting the broad category of music, which would include
musicians, instruments, operas, composers, and musical scores, pick an
instrument such as the violin, and go after stamps showing violins and
famous violinists. Rather than collecting sports in generaI, select a
sport and collect stamps related to it. Many countries issue soccer
stamps for the World Cup every four years, so even that might be too
broad. How about basketball or baseball?

It is your collection!
You can collect and present it in any way you wish.
Finally, you should remember that collecting stamps should be fun.

Blair




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I think it is not possible to ansxwer your question because too many
themes exists!!

Better question: on the Net where could we find a list of all
thmatically collections that are described?
I surch where I could find something about disable people (in French
personnes handicapées) and I had foind nothing! had you an Idea ?

Grandpa wrote:
Ahhhhh, Ships. Who knows, I may start a topical collection myself of
ships. How would one determine how many different 'ship' stamps there
were/are for the US, or is going thru a Scotts catalogue the best way?

For just US stamps, that is probably the best way. If you want to get a
list for w/w stamps, you can get a handbook listing them from the "Ships
on Stamps" unit of the ATA at http://www.shipsonstamps.org/.

= Eric

From: Eric Bustad
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sat, 04 Oct 2003 10:50:46 -0700
Subject: Themes of stamp collections

Grandpa wrote:
Ahhhhh, Ships. Who knows, I may start a topical collection myself of
ships. How would one determine how many different 'ship' stamps there
were/are for the US, or is going thru a Scotts catalogue the best way?

For just US stamps, that is probably the best way. If you want to get a
list for w/w stamps, you can get a handbook listing them from the "Ships
on Stamps" unit of the ATA at http://www.shipsonstamps.org/.

The list is the way to go, although a Scott Specialized U.S. catalogue
would show you what the stamps look like. For other countries, Scott is not
a good choice, because it often shows just a "representative" stamp from the
set. I found this out when I was searching for astronomy topicals. Often
they were within sets, but not illustrated.

If you are going to start a ships topical collection, will you differentiate
between ships and boats? Would you go with sail only, or include steamships
and motorships? Civilian or military? While ships or parts of ships? Ships'
captains and crew? Nautical themed stamps -- anchors, charts, compasses,
early explorers, seascapes, lighthouses, etc. Submarines? Flying boats?
(Early airline captains wore uniforms patterned on those worn by ships'
captains.) How about covers? This is what I love about topical/theme
collecting. You can go in so many directions, and they're all "legitimate".

Will you stick just to the U.S.? I myself wouldn't, because there are so
many gorgeous and interests ship stamps issued by other countries, many of
them representative of major advances in nautical technology.

Good luck (assuming you choose to go ahead with this collection). Well, good
luck regardless!

Bob Ingraham

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 12:40:01 GMT, Bob Ingraham
wrote:


Is there a subject/theme that has not become a stamp subject?
Probably, but we walk around them on the sidewalk ... (snip)


Bob Ingraham


Fire Hydrants on stamps ?

{8*P

Blair



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