| Apart from the stamp themselves, the essential | | | | published by Scott Publishing Co. in the United |
| tools you need as a stamp collector are very | | | | States, contains the listing of all the stamps issued |
| simple and geared to maintain order and good | | | | by all the countries of the world. |
| care of your collection. | | | | 3. Tongs |
| 1. Album | | | | Always use tongs to manipulate your stamps in |
| You cannot always keep your stamps and | | | | order to avoid damaging them with your fingers |
| envelopes with stamps on them in a shoe box! | | | | or skin oil. As the condition of the stamp is |
| They deserve a better home and also, a better | | | | directly related to its value on the market, you |
| way of being displayed. | | | | must take great care. |
| The first album printed specifically for stamps was | | | | 4. Magnifying Glass |
| published by Lallier of Paris in 1862 and since that | | | | Very handy when comes the time to check for |
| time, many types of album became available. | | | | varieties, errors, oddities and freaks, but also to |
| Nowadays, you can even choose to collect by | | | | decipher the cancellation on used stamps and |
| country or by subjects, and find corresponding | | | | difficult to read inscriptions. |
| albums on your main topical choices. | | | | 5. Hinges |
| Do keep in mind that you do not have to buy a | | | | In the past, many postage stamps completely |
| "printed" album to store your collection, as you | | | | lost their value because they were affixed to |
| may, instead, acquire a three ring binder and keep | | | | album pages with glue or scotch tape! We owe |
| your stamps on loose leaf stock sheets. Quite | | | | much to the inventor of stamp hinges as these |
| simple and unexpensive, this system gives you | | | | small, folded, transparent and rectangular pieces |
| much more flexibility that a printed album as you | | | | of paper coated with a mild gum are now safely |
| can easily shuffle your album pages around while | | | | used to affix used postage stamps onto the |
| your collections grows. | | | | album pages. |
| 2. Catalogues | | | | 6. Perforation gauge |
| Stamp catalogues are an essential guide. They | | | | It is not uncommon to find two stamps with |
| provide an illustrated listing of the postage stamps | | | | identical design and colors but not having the |
| issued by the postal administrations of the world | | | | same perforations. It is now easy to measure |
| along with their market value. | | | | such perforations with the gauge and properly |
| It is the tool by excellence to identify and store | | | | identify the stamps. The first perforated stamps |
| chronologically your stamps. They are updated on | | | | appeared in Great Britain in 1854. Before that |
| a regular basis to reflect the changes in the | | | | date, stamps were issued imperforate. |
| market value along with the addition of new | | | | 7. Transparent Glassines |
| issues | | | | They can hold unsorted or unidentified stamps |
| Pretty much every country has its own | | | | until you have time to work on them or can be |
| specialized catalogues. For example, Yvert & | | | | used to display your collection in this format as |
| Tellier for France, Michel catalogue for Germany, | | | | well. |
| Zumstein catalogue for Switzerland, Stanley | | | | You now know the basic tools you need to start |
| Gibbons for Great Britain, to name just these | | | | your stamp collection. |
| few. | | | | Happy stamping! |
| The Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue | | | | |