Stamp collecting

Press, 2 October 1979, Page 16

Stamp collecting

Stamp-collecting is the hobby of kings, of rich and poor, young and old. Serious collectors will pay thousands of dollars for one stamp, and this is not unusual. People in al! parts of the world are doing this every day.

But you do not need a lot of money to start what is said to be the most popular hobby in the world. You can begin by saving the stamps from all letters the postman leaves in your mailbox (provided they are addressed to you or members of your fai - ily).

If you receive mail from Britain at yc ur house you may soon see the new stamps issued by the British Government to commemorate the International Year of the Child. These will hold special interest for you in the future.

To boost your collection at the start, ask your friends and relations to help you by saving their stamps for you. Dealers sell packets of mixed stamps from different

countries at quite a rea sonable price.

Sort your stamps into groups according to countries. You will need io buy an album in which to mount the stamps later on, but in the meantime it will help' you to identify them, because each page has the name of a country printed at the top, and it has several pictures of the country’s stamps underneath.

For mounting the stamps in your album you will need a packet of stamp hinges which you can buy from a stationery shop. When you have enough stamps from one country, arrange them on the corresponding page in your album to make an attractive display. Make sure that stamps with similar pictures, though of different values, are placed together.

In time you will have an interesting collection of stamps from many countries of the world. Through collecting, swapping and reading stamp magazines you will have

learned a great deal about stamps and you may find that yefu have a special interests, such as sports stamps. New Zealand stamps alone would make ad interesting collection, with the changing values, the health stamps and other attractive pictorial issues. Pictorial stamps are being issued every year on a variety of subjects* Many people specialise iif collecting pictorial stamps, related to another of their interest, such as sports, plants, birds, motor trans* port, space travel and others. Great Britain was the first country in the world to issue stamps as we know them. The very first adhesive postage stamp" known as the Penny Black, .was produced bv Rowland Hill in 1840. The stamps Of Great Britain still rate highly with many serious collectors,’ and this year’s commemorative issue to mark the International Year of the Child will be eagerly sought after by young collectors in many countries.