You do not have to be rich to collect stamps! There are many ways of obtaining stamps inexpensively. Firstly decide what you wish to collect. The obvious choice is your own country, as you are more likely to obtain material because of availability.

Firstly, ask your family. Elderly friends and relations are often a good source. They may have had collections as a child, which could contain all sorts of interesting material, especially when the collections are old. Deceased estates are another good source. They may not have been collectors but they often put aside a few stamps waiting for the rainy day that never came. Ask you workmates and associates to keep the stamps from their mail for you. If they get overseas mail or postcards, ask if you can have the whole envelope (cover) or postcard. These are often a good source of cancels (postmarks). Even your family doctor or bank managers are possible sources, as they often receive a lot of mail. Churches and charities are worth approaching.

If you know anyone, who works for a company or organisation, they may be happy for you to have the stamps, as they often end up in the rubbish. And speaking of rubbish, don’t be too proud to look in bins. I have a couple of friends who check out waste paper bins in post offices, where people often pick up their mail and discard the envelope or packaging. Parcels are sometimes a good source of high-value stamps, not to mention the wide range of private post and express couriers labels operating worldwide. Keep your eyes open for computerised stamps, too. They look like barcode stickers and are invariably discarded. Post Offices are disappearing at a rapid rate, so watch out for circular date stamps (hand-held postmarks). Have fun searching! The chase is one of the inherent joys stamp collecting.

Have you noticed; so far you have not spent a cent?

Next time, we’ll talk about, housing your stamps, joining a stamp club, buying on the Net and learning more about the hobby. In the meantime take a really good look around the Philatelic Database. It really is a marvellous source of philatelic information…

Happy collecting!