Postage Stamp Articles : Kids Love Stamp Collecting - Learning from Postage Stamps

What child hasn't saved a postage stamp with an intriguing picture? Kids love stamp collecting. What can be learned through the process of preserving stamps?

Hi readers, moms and school teachers,

Stamp Collecting is a wonderful project that should fascinate your children, no matter what their favorite topics are. Are they into sports? There are many wonderful Olympic stamps, as well as stamps of famous athletes. Does he or she like gardening? There are plenty of flower, tree, and plant stamps. Aviation, space travel, pioneer times, architecture, foods, holidays, presidents,state birds, flags, sailing ships--you name it--there are stamps that depict almost any subject a student might show interest in.

Stamps make any study more fun. There is also much to learn about the stamp itself. The collector can learn how a stamp exempts the receiver from a mailing fee. Who gets the money? What happens if you mail a letter with no stamp? What is the history of the postage stamp? Who designs stamps and what process is used?

Come read my latest article Stamp Collecting For Beginners and see if it can be a winner for your students. Have a great week!

Source: http://kidsactivities.suite101.com/blog.cfm/kids_love_stamp_collecting

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Postage Stamp Articles : Stamp Collecting For Beginners - A Guide to Starting a Stamp Collection

Learn how to obtain, clean, dry, and preserve stamps. This article helps beginners to the hobby of Philately with a few hints to help a child begin collecting stamps.
Email has slowed down the use of postage stamps in our country, but stamp collecting is as popular a hobby as ever. Beginners will still enjoy the variety and fun of a stamp collection. Collecting postage stamps is called Philately.

What is a Philatelist?
Philatelists are stamp collectors. Some collect as an investment. They want stamps to sell and trade, but you can collect stamps simply for the joy of it! The word Philatelie comes from the greek words Phil plus ateleia, which meant tax exemption or tax immunity. The stamp exempted, not the sender of the letter, but the recipient of the letter, from paying a mailing fee or tax.

Stamp Collecting Supplies
To start will stamps, you will need only a few small things.

• Stamps
• A glass soaking dish
• scissors
• water
• paper towels
• A stamp drying book
• weights

Finding Stamps for Your Collection

1. Ask friends and family members to save up old envelopes and interesting stamps for you.
2. Buy stamps packets at hobby stores.
3. Stamp stores sell pails of stamps for as low as three dollars.
4. Dealers sell stamps.
5. Internet sources like eBay sell stamps.
6. New stamps can be purchased at the post office.

Sorting, Soaking, and Drying Stamps
Most stamps you can get easily and cheaply will be on paper—on old letter envelopes. Sort them before you take them off the paper to keep from tearing them. You must get them loose from the paper without damaging them.

Trim the Stamps

Never tear them off. This can destroy a wonderful stamp. This hobby requires patience. Cut carefully around each stamp leaving all the serrated edging plus about an inch or so space around the stamps.

Soak the Stamps
Put a half inch of slightly warm water in a glass baking pan or a glass pie pan. Don’t use hot water as it will make ink run or the stamp start to disintegrate. Lay the stamps face up in the water. They will need to soak for from 15 minutes to as long as 2 hours. (The new self adhesive stamps are the tough ones.)

Stay close by and watch the stamps. The ink of the postmark or the color of a colored envelope paper may begin to run and could ruin your stamp. If this happens remove the stamp and blot it dry and then try floating it lightly on cold water shallow enough so only the paper is in the water. Do only one at a time to avoid ruining the batch. This should minimize the damage.

Lift the Wet Stamps
Use your fingers rather than a tool, like tongs, to handle the wet stamps as they may tear easily. When the paper is loosened enough to lift the stamp, carefully pull the stamp off the paper. Clean any remaining glue from the back of the stamp by rubbing your fingers gently over the glue. If it clings to the backing, soak longer. Don’t go off and forget your stamps. Set a timer or stay close by to keep your eye on them.

Drying Process
Lay the wet stamps carefully face down on a paper towel. Blot gently with another paper towel. Don’t use newspaper because ink in the newspaper may leech onto the stamp and spoil it.. Next lift the stamp and place it in your drying book.

Stamp Drying Books
Inexpensive stamp drying books can be purchased at the hobby store and consists of alternating blotter paper pages and plastic pages. You can make your own with absorbent paper and plastic sheets and some big books for weight. Dry the stamps in the drying book overnight.

Air Dry
Take them out of the dryer book and lay them face up on a paper towel again to air dry for a hour or more.

Arrange in Album
When the stamps are thoroughly dry and nice and flat, put them into your collecting book. Hobby stores and the Post Office sells such books. If you choose a photo album be aware that the plastic sheets may stick down to the stamps and that they may discolor the stamps over time. They can usually be found at teacher stores and book stores also. Dover books carry some stamp collecting books.

Saving Postmarks
In many cases the postmark or cancellation mark since it bears a date and the name of the city where it was mailed may be as interesting as the stamp. When you trim the paper from the stamp, record the date and city name, if they will not show on the face of the stamp. When you add the stamp to your book, jot the postmark facts with it. Many Philatelists also collect postcards.

Clubs for Collectors
The American Philatelist Society is a nationwide club for stamp collectors. Your local postmaster may have a listing of local stamp clubs. You can start your own Philatelist Club with friends who are interested in stamps. Meet once a month and show the new stamps you have preserved. It is fun to trade duplicates too. Learn together about stamps, stamp collecting methods, and products.

Philately is a great hobby - why not start today?

Source: http://kids-indoor-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/stamp_collecting_for_beginners

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How to Take Care of your Postage Stamps Collection by Dave Poon

Apart from being a fun and great hobby, collecting postage stamps can also be considered an important and financially rewarding leisure pursuit. For one, there's very good money in keeping and selling commemorative or rare postage stamps. Also, stamps may be small and simple but they stand for a piece of history, a certain individual and a country. Hence, it's important to value every postage stamp.

There are a number of ways to take care of these valuable collectibles. First off, you can buy a waterproof stamp album. Make sure that you buy enough pieces so as to accommodate your entire collection. Alternatively, you may want to purchase a stock book with small pockets you can insert the stamps into. Choose an album that has enough space for each stamp. Let the stamp "breathe". Besides, it would also look better if each and every stamp gets "featured". Keep the album off a busy desk and keep food, cigarettes, lighters, matches and drinks at bay. Avoid accidents! Secondly, don't use your fingers in handling stamps. Experts of philately (the study of stamps) say that any outside matter such as a fingerprint can decrease the stamp's value. This is why experts discourage the mere use of fingers to take a stamp off an envelope. They reckon that the best way to take it off is to let the stamped envelope undergo a process called "steaming". Ask where you can buy a pair of flat bladed stamp collector's tongs. Use this to transfer each stamp. Avoid using the regular pair of tweezers! The tweezers' sharp points may damage the stamp.

Thirdly, avoid using both sides of an album page. Doing this allows the stamps on one side to come in contact with the stamps on the other side of the page. Don't let that happen since it may decrease the value of the stamp. Fourthly, use inserts for the album. Place them in between pages to further keep the stamps from coming in contact with each other. An ideal insert can be as thin as onion skin paper. Don't hesitate to ask the local school supply store which inserts are usually bought by stamp collectors. Fifthly, purchase stamp mounts or clear plastic sleeves with gummed surface. Use these to handle the precious stamps that are still in mint condition. The mounts can help protect the stamps since the gummed surface can maintain the adhesive on the back of the precious stamp. Lastly, never let your stamps get in contact with direct sunlight. This can cause discoloration and can also melt the adhesive on the back of the stamp.

Preserve your stamps by following these steps. Your collection deserves nothing but proper care.

About the Author
Jeff Dodd loves to view and collect Postage Stamps. Come visit us at http://www.totalstamps.com.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=571791

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Personalized Wedding Postage Stamps by merchant-phil

Personalized Postage Stamps for Your Wedding Do you need something extra for your wedding to be perfect make your own custom postage stamps fast and easy.

And get your perfect postage stamp made by you now.

What are the possibilities? Whether you have a wedding to announce, a new baby in the family or a photogenic pet, PhotoStamps are a fun and easy way to add a personal touch to everything you send in the mail! PhotoStamps can help you grow your business by showcasing your business logo, announcing new products, or advertising upcoming events. You can also give them as unforgettably unique gifts, or keep them and frame them so you and your family can treasure your PhotoStamps for years to come!

Are these real? Yes, PhotoStamps from Stamps.com are valid U.S. Postage, based on a technology called PC Postage. Stamps.com, the company behind PhotoStamps, has been a United States Postal Service approved provider of PC postage since 1999. When PhotoStamps first launched in 2004, it was the first ever customized postage product in the United States. To date, over 32 million PhotoStamps have been sold! Click this link--->>> http://stamps.merchant-phil-thestore.com

Personalized Wedding Postage Stamps

About the Author
http://stamps.merchant-phil-thestore.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=516895

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Postage Stamps Collecting by Tony Robinson

STEP 1: Before you start your new collection, decide on a theme that you are interested in and want to collect. Themes can vary from such topics as Sports, Countries, Flora and Fauna through to topics such as flags, pop idols and royalty. Now you can start by going to your local post office and purchase new stamps.

STEP 2: Take used stamps off your old mail. Note that it's sometimes more valuable to collect the entire envelope rather than stripping off the stamp because of a unique postmark date. There are a lot of people who collect "First Day of Issue" stamps and envelopes. You may also be interested in these types of collections.

STEP 3: You should also ask friends and family for their old stamps. Consider asking businesses to keep their envelopes and stamps for you also. Their saved envelopes also can be valuable.

STEP 4: Widen your postage stamps collecting areas to purchase stamps from dealers, who are often listed in newspaper classifieds and offer stacks of assorted stamps.

STEP 5: Order stamps through the mail or via Web sites, either by approval or by want list. "Approval" is when a dealer sends you assorted stamps and you choose which ones to keep. A "want list" is when a dealer checks his or her stock and quotes prices for specific stamps you want to collect. EBay is a great resource to continually buy and sell stamps. I also suggest surfing the internet to find good stamp sites that even offer a collector forum where you can chat with other collectors with similar interests to yours.

STEP 6: Once you are more experienced and know what you are looking for and the associated prices you can bid at stamp auctions or philatelic exhibitions. Take the time to look through the merchandise and make educated deals.

STEP 7: Trade with other fellow stamp collectors. Do this by meeting other stamp traders at shows, auctions and stamp clubs.

STEP 8: Once you have a postage stamps collection you need to arrange them in some sort of logical order. You may arrange them in your stamp album in date order, price order or whatever system you decide to follow.

STEP 9: Display and continue to build up your Postage Stamps Collection

Helpful tips and techniques.

Store your stamps where they will be safe and not damaged. A cardboard box or simple shoebox will do starters.

To assist your postage stamps collecting, check the prices of stamps in the most current price guides, such as the Scott Catalogue or the Blackbook Price Guide. Follow the instructions printed at the beginning of the guide for more information on examining and handling a stamp.

About the Author
Tony Robinson is a keen stamp collector and also has a range of First day of Issue envelopes.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=471362

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Photo Postage Stamps - Great Innovations in Stamps by John Hinkle

Photo postage stamps arent such a new idea; its been around for years! The USPS (United States Postal Service) briefly suspended the use of such a stamp due to security concerns. There are certainly a number of reasons that the USPS would want to abolish all photo stamps, for example in the height of the anthrax scares a stamp with a scull and cross bones plus the word Anthrax caused a sorting office to shut down for several hours. Although custom photo stamps are legitimate, perhaps getting rid of them would put people off trying to get away with counterfeit postage stamps!

The USPS decided that it would allow another phase of a pilot program allowing companies to sell their customers photo postage stamps. The first stage of the trial was a huge success; however the USPS wants to make sure that these custom postage stamps arent just a fad.

What is a photo postage stamp? Photo postage stamps allow people to put a photo of pretty much whatever they want to on their stamp. There are however exceptions, you cannot for example put pornographic or disturbing images onto your photo stamp.

Photo stamps are useful for:

Weddings Births Anniversaries Business Logos Any Special Occasion Internet pranksters - screening photo stamps for validity Being able to put an image of anything you want onto your stamps is very exciting for most people; however some internet pranksters just take things too far. Some people have tried to order stamps with people like Slobodan Milosevic on them, as these could cause public outrage its important for the organizations that are permitted to produce photo postal stamps to have proper screening processes in place.

Along with controversial figures, the other things that must not be allowed on postage stamps are pornographic images, and also certain religious symbols. Copyright is a tricky subject; technically you should only use material on a stamp that you own the rights to, or have permission to use. Other than this and advertising, the images can be of pretty much anything.

The company that supplies the postage stamps are personally responsible for screening, this is nothing to do with the USPS. The vendors themselves should reject the images that break the strict rules set down by the USPS. The USPS is able to find out which company generated the stamp by looking at the information encoded in the stamps barcode, therefore any company not screening images properly could find themselves losing the rights to print postage.

Where can I get my photo postage stamps? There are three main custom stamp vendors in America , www.stamps.com , which has been a key contender ever since the postal services first trial. Endica are also permitted to produce stamps. Pitney Bowes the popular franking machine manufacturer has realized that photo stamps trespass into their industry, and so they are grabbing hold of this opportunity with both hands and refusing to let go!

Photo stamps are a worldwide phenomenon! Photo postal stamps arent just popular in America , theyre popular worldwide! England has one of the oldest postal services in the world, but even so the Royal Mail is adopting online photo postage stamps. Currently in England you can only buy the stamps directly from the Royal Mail (the equivalent of the USPS), but only time will tell as to when they will adopt the same personalization.

About the Author
Visit Discount Online Stamps to view the latest articles and cash back rebates on all photo stamps and online postage stamps

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=458649

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Collectible Postage Stamps by Tony Robinson

Humans are notorious for collecting and hoarding. Many people have collections of some sort - be it collecting coins, cars, dolls, china, art work and a myriad of many many other collectible items. Stamp collecting is no exception. The art of stamp collecting is known as Philately

Collectible postage stamps aren't necessarily the highest dollar value - or most valuable stamps. Virtually all stamps will feature something that appeals to a stamp collector, instantly making the item a collectible. Whilst most collectors aspire to own stamps worth large sums of money, many who enjoy the hobby simply collect and/or purchase stamps they find visually interesting.
The obvious source for finding stamps is a post office, but shopping for collectible stamps at such a location barely scratches the surface in terms of what's available. By using the Internet, you gain access to stamps from around the world. One of the best internet resources for a stamp collector is eBay, the world's single largest marketplace.

An east strategy to begin a collection is to ask family and friends to collect the stamps off mail they have received. remember to ask them not to try to take the stamp off the envelope - leave that task for yourself top do properly.

Some of the most popular collectible postage stamps feature images of pop culture icons. Disney characters, Elvis Presley, and Princess Diana have all been honoured with their own postage stamps. For those new to the world of philately, these celebrity stamps make the ideal starting point. They feature familiar faces we all know and love, and many of them are available at economical prices. You may also choose an event such as the olympic games as a theme for your first collection - think of where your own interests lay - and follow that interest. For example - you may be interested in flowers, animals or cars - so you could use those themes as the theme for your first collection.

Of course on eBay, you'll find thousands of auctions for collectible stamps, ranging from affordable celebrity-themed stamps to the extremely valuable. The auction website is also a wonderful place to find stamps from countries other than your own. By using Find-Your-Item.com, you can effortlessly discover new stamps to add to your collection. eBay has been designed with efficiency in mind and is completely free for shoppers to use. Simply input a few keywords to begin your collectible stamp quest, or browse by category to view the full range of stamps up for auction on eBay.

Good luck and happy stamp collecting.

About the Author
Tony Robinson is a keen stamp collector and also has a range of First day of Issue envelopes. His site is at www.betterpostagestamps.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=453354

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Buy Postage Stamps by Tony Robinson

OK so you got mail - to post that is! You obviously now need to buy a postage stamp? Well the obvious place to go would be the Post Office - but have you ever though that this is not the only place to purchase them from?

Depending on exactly what you need you may be able to buy your postage stamps online. A quick search on www.google.com shows there are over 3 million sites for the search term buy postage stamps so looking closely at some of these sites will show you the procedure on buying stamps online.

One site I found - stamps.com allows you to buy postage stamps and print them off on your own printer!

Instead of going to the post office - have a look for the blue-and-red U.S. Postal Service logo at grocery stores, drugstores and mini-marts. Also look for stores that specialize in mail and shipping services. Swing by the ATM machine and buy stamps while you make deposits or withdrawals. You can even go to USPS to simply have stamps mailed to your home.

If you want cheaper stamps - You can even get stamps for below the face value! Buy them in a greater quantity from a dealer. They have so many they actually reduce the price below what the stamps originally were worth (sometimes), especially if you have $25 or more to spend all at once on a whole bunch.

Ebay.com is also a great source to buy postage stamps. Research carefully to find both new and uses postage stamps as well as special and hard to get stamps. When searching ebay, mix up your search terms such as postage stamps, stamp collections, first day of issue stamps and so on. This will give you a wide range of stamps to choose from.You could even begin your own little business by trading and buying and selling postage stamps.

So good luck and happy buying of postage stamps.

About the Author
Tony Robinson is a keen stamp collector and also has a range of First day of Issue envelopes. His site is at www.betterpostagestamps.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=453346

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Enjoying The Uniqueness of Personalized Postage Stamps by Craig Thornburrow

With today's high number of new technologies and innovations, something is yet being added. It's nothing fancy really, but it is something worth raving about. If you haven't heard of personalized postage stamps yet, you are missing a lot from parcel and snail mail sending.

With the entry of photo postage in the market, it is refreshing to realize that the world of Internet and email has never really replaced holiday card sending covering all occasions, including graduations and weddings. And the good old stamp still has a place in this fast-paced world.

And the new twist in postage sending is the photo stamps. Which is personalized postage that you can use to send those timely holiday cards you need to send to far-away families and friends. With this innovation, you can print your favorite photo and use it as a real postage stamp. You can now pattern your picture stamp with the holiday card you are sending. You can now use your baby's photo for baptisms and wedding pictures for anniversaries.

And don't worry. The U.S. Postal Service duly approved this technology. You can be certain that your intended recipients will receive your mail or package rightfully. Well then, are you ready to order your very own customized photo stamps?

You can buy personalized postage stamps from authorized distributors verified by the U.S. Postal Service. Most of these companies are offering their services online, to make it convenient for you to upload your picture and have it printed effortlessly. The cost may vary, depending upon your requirement. The usual 37-cent one is commonly priced at less than $17 per sheet. And each sheet contains about 20 photo stamps. For higher denomination and for volume orders, distributors usually give out good discounts.

Any picture with a good taste can be passed off. There maybe a few guidelines to follow as to what pictures can be used. But generally almost all photos are accepted. You can put pictures of your dogs, your baby, or even of yourself. There is really no restriction for as long as the picture is not notorious or vulgar in nature.

Photo stamps were introduced only early this year but currently, these stamps are getting good raves and positive feedback. A lot of people had availed of them to date. One big distributor had reported to receive an order of 100,000 sheets of photo stamps within the first week of its market test. An order of 100,000 sheets of photo stamps is totals to 2 million individual stamps produced.

Personalized postage stamps are used exactly the same way as postage stamps. It can be used for First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Express Mail. Initially, it is projected to run for a whole year. And USPS itself gives consumers the ability to print their photo stamp online through the Click-N-Ship program at no additional costs.

About the Author
Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on the ability to print postage and photo stamps at http://www.printingpostage.com/

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=395856

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