Basically, there are four kinds of stamps: traditional, topical, specialist, and worldwide stamps. The stamps you would find in a traditional collection are those that represent a specific country. Topical stamp collectors choose their stamps depending on the designs. Specialist stamp collectors are those who have multiple duplicates of just one stamp design. A worldwide collection includes all the stamps the collector had come across with. Any Philately for Beginners class will tell you to start as a worldwide stamp collector until you decide what you like best and then you can specialize if you desire.

A number of stamp collectors choose to have more than one collection of different stamp types. For those who are just starting out, it is advisable to look at lots of stamp types and designs and acquire as much information as you can. If you do these things, you could stumble upon areas of stamp collecting which did not even enter your wildest imaginations. Another way to learn more about collecting is to read as much stamp news as you can get your hands on. The more you know the better.

What is important for you to keep in mind is that when starting out in stamp collecting, begin with just what you have in sight. You do not necessarily have to do too quickly. As you go on, you will stumble upon the stamps you truly would like. In the meantime, be happy with what you have at the moment and be sure to take good care of them.

In stamp care, you must always have stamp tongs no matter what. Stamp tongs are somewhat similar to household tweezers, only that the edges are not sharp. The use of tweezers is unacceptable for collectors as these will damage your stamps. That is another must in stamp collecting—use stamp tongs.

Moreover, never use your hands to pick up your stamps or even put them on top of a bare table. Your stamps will get dirty by coming in contact with your skin’s natural oils or with the dust on the table. If you want to look at your stamps, pour them out onto a clean sheet of white paper or such. Collectors are very meticulous with their collection. Having numerous stamps is not enough grounds for calling yourself a stamp collector. You should be passionate about collecting stamps, and you must be very strict with regards to stamp care.

Beginners in stamp collecting need not have a lot of supplies. Stamp tongs, envelopes, and a storage box are all the things you are required to have. As mentioned earlier, the tongs would be used to pick up stamps. Envelopes, on the other hand, will act as folders where you can put your stamps according to type. You will then store these envelopes inside the storage box. Make sure to label the envelopes according to the type of stamps contained inside them.

To get started with stamp collecting, people buy several items: an album (to hold, maintain the stamps), a stockbook (to hold duplicates), stamp hinges (to affix stamps), metal stamp tongs (for handling), a magnifying glass (for inspecting), a perforation gauge (to tell rare from average stamps), a watermark detector (to view secret images) and a stamp catalog like "Scott's."

stamp collecting is fun, relaxing, and popular for many reasons. What do people look for when collecting stamps? This depends, of course, on personal preference. Some people collect themes, artwork or stamps from countries they like, just to have a collection of some sort to show off to friends and family or pass down to future generations. Maybe there's someone who collects Star Wars, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and other pop-culture stamps. Or there could be another stamp collector who specializes in war-time stamps from around the world. Others look out for exceedingly rare prints that are worth a great deal of money.

Generally anything before 1900 and in good condition, will be worth a good sum. The first United States postage stamps -- the five-cent Franklin and the ten-cent Washington (unused) sold for $1,400 and $28,000, respectively. Britain's first official adhesive stamp ("Penny Black") sold as used postage stamps in an auction for $200 in the year 2000 -- and unused for $3,000! Also, errors, misprints and flukes are naturally the most coveted. For instance, the "Inverted Jenny" is a US postage stamp from 1918 featuring a photo of a Curtiss JN-4 airplane where the plane was mistakenly printed upside-down! Only 100 were ever printed and a block of four just sold at an auction for $2.7 Million! Similarly, the "Treskilling Yellow" stamp from Sweden was misprinted in the wrong color, placing its value at over $2 Million.

Stamp collecting is a bit like collecting art in that it requires an eye for detail and exemplifies personal taste. It can be rewarding and profitable to trade stamps in auctions or dip into international conventions with like-minded collectors. Philately, as it's called, has become one of the most nostalgic (but popular) hobbies amid a world of dizzying technological advances and faster communication.

Initially the hobby began in 1840 England with the issuance of the first collecting stamp -- a portrait of a young Queen Victoria, called "One Black Penny." Much in the same way kids trade baseball cards in the US, kids exchanged new postage stamps with their peers. Postage stamp collecting was so popular, they dubbed it "Timbromania" (meaning "stamp madness"). The hobby hit the United States in the 1920s where the rising value of the stamp made older stamps instantly more valuable. However, unlike money, stamps are not necessarily worth a lot simply because they're old. Many people still have older stamps and they're available at affordable rates.

It became the misprints that became the most coveted in the world of collecting postage stamps. Most serious collectors will try to seek out a rare stamp resulting from a printing error. For instance, the "Inverted Jenny" is a US postage stamp from 1918 featuring a photo of a Curtiss JN-4 airplane where the plane was mistakenly printed upside-down! Only 100 were ever printed and a block of four just sold at an auction for $2.7 Million! The US-made "Benjamin Franklin Z Grill" stamps were made with a waffle pattern embossed into the paper supposedly to prevent the ink from running. Only two were printed before they realized this process was impractical. Now one stamp could get as much as $3 Million!

Internationally, stamp collecting often equates with big bucks. For example, the "Treskilling Yellow" stamp from Sweden was misprinted in the wrong color, placing its value at over $2 Million. Historically, Britain's "Penny Black" (the first official adhesive stamp) sold for $200 in the year 2000, and unused went for as much as $3,000! Or imagine owning the "British Guiana Magenta," a rare stamp with a face value of one cent but an estimated value of $935,000! There is much controversy surrounding this stamp. Since there is only one known copy in existence, some say that it was an altered 4-cent stamp, however these claims were disproved. Others speculate that another copy was discovered but was purchased by Arthur Hind, who owned the original and who quietly destroyed the copy so he wouldn't lose the value. In 1999 a forged copy was found in Bremen, Germany.

Postage stamp collecting is a fun and relatively inexpensive way to collect historical artwork. You may begin by browsing a catalog such as Scott catalog (for US postage stamps), or check out KenmoreStamp.com and MysticStamp.com for stamps online. If you're looking to seriously collecting stamps as an investment, you should begin your quest at the National Philatelic Society.

By definition, when an object is considered as a work of art, it simply means that the object is the result of a creation of an item using the valuable application of a mass of expertise along with an array of talents and cleverness. It is on this context that experts consider collecting as one form of artistic endeavor in the sense that the mere acquisition of objects that is limited to the interest of the person who acquires them is already artistic. This means that not all people were born to collect coins, stamps, or any other items that may not be valuable to other people but to some, they are almost priceless.

Consequently, most experts contend that the hobby of collecting some explicit objects are generally based on a precise area of interest of the person involved. Because the interest of the collector is the primary purpose of this kind of leisure pursuit, many people consider collecting stamps and coins as an art collectible hobby. Why? Because based on the definition of art collectible hobby, the mere acquisition of stamps and coins based on the personal attention given by the collector to the items are already artistic in nature. In short, when a person is attracted to a certain thing, the object becomes an art collectible.

Moreover, the basic features of the coins and the stamps are also one of the reasons why it becomes an art collectible. This is because coin and stamp designs are not just created by anybody who knows how to draw some lines or shapes. The designs that are engraved or sketched in the surface of the stamp or coin are made by people who were gifted with the talent to draw things imaginatively and creatively. Take the stamps for example. The creation of the designs in a particular stamp undergoes a detailed process of brainstorming, evaluation, analysis, and good decision making in order to come up with a truly creative design. In fact, a group of 12 to 15 people forms the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, which serves as the body that will recommend the ideal designs to be included in stamp production.

Every year, the committee contemplates on about 50,000 designs and then advocates at least 35 of it to the “postmaster general” for the production of “commemorative stamps.” This just goes to show that the selection of the design is such thorough process that the value of the item is clearly identifiable. For this reason, stamp collectors and coin collectors, particularly those that focus more on the rare items, know that the value that goes with each item is almost priceless. So for those who still cannot understand why many people are into art collectible hobby of stamps and coins, here is a list of some of the reasons why these enthusiasts are so much engrossed in collecting: