| Stamps may be 39 cents a piece these days, but | | | | Elvis Presley stamp issued in 1993 is the most |
| are you aware that a stamp sold for $935,000 | | | | popular selling stamp of all time with 124 million of |
| back in 1980? | | | | them sold. |
| Of course, that stamp was not the kind of stamp | | | | But some stamp collectors fear stamps will |
| you lick and stick on an envelope. This was a | | | | eventually become extinct as the use of email |
| one-cent stamp, circa 1856, from British | | | | gains in popularity. This fear is somewhat abated |
| Guiana-one of the rarest stamps in the world. It is | | | | by the thousands of stamp collecting organizations |
| these rare stamps that millions of people collect | | | | that remain, where stamps of all sizes, shapes, |
| and then sell to other stamp collectors for what | | | | colors and types continue to be traded and sold. |
| proves to be a happy day for buyers and a | | | | But should stamps ever become extinct, now is |
| lucrative day for sellers. | | | | as good a time as ever to start collecting. |
| Stamps go back to the mid 1800s with Great | | | | But collecting and maintaining mint condition |
| Britain issuing the first postage stamp, the "One | | | | stamps-both used and new-requires preparation |
| Penny Black." The first two U.S. stamps were | | | | and research. With the help of the electronic |
| printed in 1847. One of them was 5 cents, | | | | e-guide, you'll be well on your way. |
| featuring the country's first postmaster, Benjamin | | | | Inside, you'll find out where to buy the best |
| Franklin, on the front; the other was a black, | | | | stamps, where to go for inexpensive, quality |
| 10-cent stamp of George Washington. | | | | stamps, specific tools you'll need (and why you |
| You'd think that these stamps would fetch big | | | | need them), how to display your stamps without |
| bucks today, but because millions were printed at | | | | degrading the quality, how quantity plays a role in |
| the time, they can be purchased for as little as | | | | the pricing of stamps, how to determine the price |
| $50 a piece. And stamp popularity hasn't lost | | | | of stamps (both new and old) and how not to get |
| much of its luster with certain stamps, in | | | | burned by scammers selling junk. |
| particular. According to the U.S. Postal Service, the | | | | |