HOW TO FORM A STAMP COLLECTION

Most philatelists drift into stamp-collecting—that is to say, the start is made unconsciously, and without any definite planning. Probably the first specimens are obtained through the generosity of a friend who possesses a few duplicates, or may be the letters coming regularly from a relative living in some remote part of the world supply the earliest treasures. But however the beginning is made, progress will be slow unless friends are very generous or a little money is spent on buying sufficient specimens to make a fair start. In the ordinary course, the collector will be wise if he spends a few shillings on buying a packet of the commoner stamps which form the basis of all collections.

The packet should cost as much as the beginner can reasonably afford, and be composed of different stamps—that is to say, without containing any duplicates. If four or five shillings are to be invested, as many as four hundred varieties may be expected, whilst a thousand varieties will usually cost about half a guinea.

Armed with such a nucleus as this, the fascinations of the pastime begin to make themselves evident. Duplicates will quickly accumulate, and serve to form the basis of exchanges amongst friends. Approval sheets will invariably come to hand from dealers, and permit of additional specimens being secured at a very cheap rate; whilst attractive bargains will be obtained, from time to time, through the medium of advertisements in newspapers and magazines.

But the reader may argue that stamp-collecting is a costly pastime if every specimen must be bought. In practice it is anything but an expensive hobby. If the writer were to sell his collection, he would obtain about three or four times the amount he spent on forming it. The reason for this lies in the fact that stamps seldom lose their value, but frequently rise in price.

When a hundred or more varieties have accumulated, an album should be procured. These may be obtained at all prices and in a bewildering variety of patterns. Too often the young philatelist provides himself with a voluminous album in which his tiny but growing collection appears as a drop of water in the ocean. It is far better to buy a small, cheap album which may serve as a temporary home until the treasures have grown sufficiently numerous to warrant a more expensive one.

Many collectors prefer to house their stamps in a scrap-book containing a number of fairly stout, smooth, blank leaves. In such a book as this we are free to arrange the stamps just as fancy dictates; we can place them close together or far apart, and we can reserve as many or as few pages as seems desirable for each individual country. The writer's collection is contained in two books of this description. Great Britain fills the first fifteen pages, and the Colonies follow in alphabetical order in the first volume. In the second volume the foreign countries are set out in the order in which their Governments first issued stamps—i.e., Brazil comes first, then the United States, then France, Belgium, Bavaria, Spain, etc. This is, of course, a somewhat unusual plan to follow, but it certainly has advantages.

Whilst speaking of albums, it will be well to point out that stamps should never be fixed to more than one side of a page. If both faces are used, the stamps will rub against each other and also catch one with another.

Before the specimens are placed in the album, each should be carefully examined, and cleaned, if necessary. When paper is adhering to the backs, it should be removed. This unsticking process is easily performed when the specimen is immersed in a bowl of hot water, but, unfortunately, many stamps will be utterly ruined if even a trace of moisture is allowed to come in contact with their colours. No rule can be given as to which stamps spoil and which do not when treated with a hot bath, but it is safe to say that valuable specimens suffer considerably, whilst common varieties emerge from the ordeal unscathed. Perhaps this is just a matter of natural contrariness.

To be on the safe side, however, no stamp should be plunged into hot water. Cheap varieties may well be floated on the surface of warm water, but the rarer kinds must not be subjected to even this treatment; they should be placed face upwards on a sheet of wet blotting-paper, and left until the adhering paper can be peeled off without an effort. After the under-surface of a stamp has been cleaned, it should be pressed between two sheets of dry blotting-paper and carefully dried. If it seems liable to cockle or is creased in any way, it is a good plan to flatten it out by means of a warm, though not hot, iron, the stamp being protected by three or four thicknesses of white blotting-paper.

Fixing the stamps to the album is the next operation. On no account should the under-surface be gummed all over and the whole stamp stuck down to the page of the hook. The collection will need constant rearranging, certain specimens will have to make way for more perfect copies, and so on; this will be quite impossible unless hinges are used. These contrivances are thin but tough pieces of paper, approximately one by three-quarters of an inch in size, and gummed on one surface. They cost about sixpence per thousand.

When a stamp is to be fixed to the album, a gummed strip is taken and folded so that the adhesive side is turned outwards; one flap is then moistened and stuck to the stamp and the other is moistened and stuck to the page. The specimen is thus hinged to the album in such a way that its underside can be inspected easily—a necessary matter when the watermark or the quality of the paper requires examination. The hinge should be fastened as high up on the back of the stamp as possible, but not so high that it touches the perforated edge.

One little point needs mention. On no account should cheap hinges be used or hinges made at home and fixed with ordinary gum. Unless the adhesive is entirely free from acid—and ordinary or cheap gum is not—the stamps will become discoloured and entirely ruined. The writer laments to this day a fine set of old Queenslands which he fixed, many years ago, by means of some cheap and nasty hinges. The stamps grow more and more discoloured as time wears on, but the exasperating thing is that good copies of these Australian treasures are now worth almost as many pounds as they were pence in the days when the offending gum was applied to their under-surface.

Some method must be adopted for the arrangement of the stamps in the album. Beginners are apt to fix the specimens in no particular order, merely one after the other as they come into their possession; but this is clearly a wrong plan to follow. Either of the following methods is worth adopting:

1. Sort out the stamps of each country according to the prices printed on them, and then stick all the specimens of one value together, but in order of age.

2. Sort out the stamps of each country according to their issues; then arrange each set in the album, in ascending order of the values.

To follow either of these plans, we must know the date of issue of all our specimens. This, of course, requires a certain amount of knowledge, but information of such a kind comes with marvellous rapidity when once the collector's interest has become fully aroused. As a guide, however, a catalogue such as the one published by Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., should be procured. The colour, pattern, watermark, approximate market value and date of issue of every postage stamp may then be learnt with certainty.

We must guard against cramping the specimens too closely together. In order that our collection may grow naturally, space must be left for additions which may reasonably be expected to fall into our possession. Every distinct issue should be started on a fresh line, and room must be allowed at the end of a country for future issues.

As to the stamps which ought and which ought not to be admitted into the album, a great deal could be written. In the first case, it is well to rule out every specimen which is not perfect in every detail. Torn stamps are almost worthless—even though they may be copies of rarities—and on no account should a place be found for them in the collection. There is no need to throw them away or get rid of them; they might well be allotted a home in a minor album. Not only torn stamps, but copies which have lost two or three teeth of the perforated edge, copies which have been heavily postmarked, copies which are dirty or discoloured, and copies which have served for revenue and not for postal purposes—all these should be kept out of the collection.

Concerning the stamps which have been cut out of entires—that is to say, from postcards, letter-cards, wrappers, and impressed envelopes—a difference of opinion exists among experts. Some say that they ought not to be included, whilst others urge their inclusion. Without a doubt, these stamps are interesting; and as they serve for purely postal uses, there seems no reason why they should not be allowed a home in the collection. Perhaps the collector should be advised not to seek after specimens of this nature, but that is quite another thing to excluding them rigorously.

There are many kinds of stamps which do not serve for franking letters in the usual way, but as their functions are purely postal, a position in the album should be awarded them. Among such stamps as these may be mentioned the "Postage Due" issue which Great Britain put into use early in 1914. These labels serve the purpose of indicating and at the same time checking the fees which are levied on letters and parcels that have been insufficiently prepaid. It is interesting to note, that though our authorities have only issued stamps of this nature recently, foreign countries have used them for close on half a century. Such stamps from abroad may be recognized by the inscriptions which they bear—"A Percevoir," "A Payer," "Te Betalen," "Deficit," "Segnatasse," "Too Late," etc.

Another kind of stamp which should be accepted is the "Parcels Post" label. Though we at home have no special labels for this particular service, many Continental countries use them, notably Belgium and the United States. Then there are the "Express Delivery" stamps of the United States, Canada, Italy, etc. The purpose of these labels is sufficiently explained by the wording on the United States stamp: "Secures Immediate Delivery at any Post Office." A fourth stamp of special usage is the newspaper stamp. Though many of our home railways employ these labels, there are no Governmental varieties. Abroad, however, we find a number of countries use them—the newspaper stamps of Hungary and Spain being fairly common.

There is one kind of postage stamp, however, that should not be extended a welcome in the usual way—we have in mind the specimens known as "local" stamps. These special labels—they are mostly obsolete—came chiefly from Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and China, and were used by private companies which possessed certain postal privileges. As a rule the operations of these bodies were carried out in small areas (hence "local" stamps), usually in out-of-the-way districts where the ordinary postal arrangements did not penetrate. Genuine obliterated stamps of this class possess a certain amount of interest, and in some cases command high prices; but as there were so many varieties, and as it is difficult to discriminate between the genuine and the fictitious, collectors are well advised to leave them all alone. Undoubtedly a number of the carrying companies went on printing and selling their stamps to collectors long after the postal rights were taken from them. This fact alone should make the cautious philatelist hesitate before purchasing specimens known as "locals."

More dangerous than the "locals" are the commemorative stamps which certain impecunious Governments issue with the idea of attracting philatelists.[1] These stamps invariably bear exquisite designs, and are usually current for a limited period. Their appearance is heralded with much beating of drums, and the idea is carefully spread abroad that only the earliest purchasers will be able to secure copies. As a rule these labels are printed in millions, and are often sold to large buyers under face value. The proceeds go towards making the country solvent, or in providing for palatial postal headquarters. Of course, such stamps can hardly be considered postage stamps, as the number used for postal service is but a minute fraction of the whole issue. It is on these grounds that the wise collector should refuse to treasure up labels, the main purpose of which is to amass money for an unscrupulous Government.

The objection to commemorative, or perhaps it would be better to say speculative, stamps disappears in cases where the specimens have been through the post. Such labels have franked letters or parcels, and have thus fulfilled the conditions which we demand of genuine used stamps. Unfortunately, this fact has been noted by at least one Government, and in order that its gaudy labels should not be shunned by the collector, it has had some thousands of unused copies specially cancelled in the hope that the obliterations will serve to make them more acceptable. Undoubtedly some of the stamps marked in this way are very attractive; but, of course, they are not postage stamps in any sense, and can thus make no appeal to the philatelist.

A third group of undesirable stamps comes from South America. About thirty years ago a Mr. Seebeck, of New York, entered into an agreement with Ecuador, Honduras, Salvador, and Nicaragua, to supply each of these republics with new stamp-dies once a year on condition that the old dies should be handed to him as they fell out of use. As soon as a set of dies became superseded, he printed from the plates and flooded the market with unused copies. The Seebeck issues, needless to say, are of little interest.

Seebeck is not the only man who has printed from discarded dies; there are, in fact, many types of stamps on the market which have been produced from obsolete plates. Such stamps are known as "reprints," and are worthless except as curiosities. Perhaps the best-known reprints are those bearing the inscription "Heligoland"; but as these labels emanate from the Government printing works at Berlin, and have never been to this little island, it is clear that they have served no genuine postal purpose.

Reprints are difficult to distinguish from the original stamps, but as a rule slight differences in colour prove sufficient clues to their identity. Often the correct kind of paper and watermark are unobtainable by those who print them, and then the merest novice may detect their origin with the aid of a catalogue.

There are so many undesirable stamps to be found on the market in an unused condition that the beginner may feel that the safest plan will be to confine his attentions to obliterated varieties alone. There is much reason in such an argument, but it is not altogether a wise course to follow. Unused specimens, as long as they are issued for genuine postal purposes by reputable countries, are more sought after than those which have been obliterated, and their value is more likely to rise in the future.

One matter which often puzzles the novice is how to decide whether two particular stamps are similar or different. If there is the slightest variation in—(a) Design; (b) method employed of printing; (c) colour; (d) method employed for separating the individual stamps; (e) texture of paper; (f) watermark—then the two stamps may be looked upon as being different, and both should be placed in the album. Certain stamps bear designs on their reverse side—i.e., the horn on early issues of Sweden. Copies both with and without the design should be added to the collection. The addition of advertising matter on the reverse side (see New Zealand issues), however, does not constitute a difference. In the case of recent Belgian stamps which bear the inscription, "Not to be delivered on Sunday," in both French and Flemish, specimens with and without the label should not both be given a home in the collection. Lastly, it may be well to point out that stamps, on paper of various textures, which have been cut from entires, should not be considered as individual varieties, seeing that most Governments are prepared to impress any letters, cards, etc., that may be supplied to them, and varieties of such stamps must be, on this account, unlimited.

When the collector has amassed a number of good duplicates, it will be a wise plan for him to join one of the many exchange clubs. In this way he will be able to turn his surplus stamps into specimens for the collection. The working of these organizations is simple. Each member sends a sheet of his own stamps, with prices marked on them, to the secretary of the club, who places them all in a portfolio which is forwarded to each member in turn. When a member receives the portfolio, he selects specimens at will from any of the sheets, but he generally endeavours to balance his own takings with the takings of all the members from his sheet.

Another and perhaps better way of enriching one's collection is open to the philatelist who is able to obtain quantities of the medium class British and Colonial stamps. Briefly, the method is to insert an advertisement in a journal, which enjoys an overseas circulation, to the effect that for every hundred stamps sent of the reader's country, a hundred or more well-mixed British and Colonials will be despatched by the advertiser in return. The writer used to make it a practice of inserting some such notice as this two or three times every season, and the plan invariably brought in many valuable additions to his collection. Suitable mediums are the Overseas Daily Mail, the Boy's Own Paper (in the Boy's Own Column), The Philatelic Journal of America, and L'Écho de la Timbrologie.

Before closing this chapter, it may be well to give some hints on how to value one's collection. Possessed of a stamp catalogue, the philatelist can easily jot down the price of every stamp in his album, and so arrive at the total catalogue value. But this figure will be much above the price a dealer would give for the treasures. The catalogue value of a stamp is the selling price. What we want to know is the buying price—a very different matter.

To get an approximate idea of the value which a collection would realize, we should calculate as follows:

1. Nothing for all stamps catalogued at 1d. or 2d.

2. One penny each for stamps marked 3d. or 4d. each.

3. Three-halfpence to twopence each for stamps marked 5d. to 8d.

4. Quarter catalogue value for stamps quoted between 9d. and 4s.

5. Half catalogue value for other stamps, except for rarities, which often command full catalogue figures.

None but first-class specimens, and, in the case of used stamps, only those which have served postally, should be taken into consideration.