Starting a Stamp Collection


While there are as many collecting specialties as there are collectors, there are basically two broad types of collecting. There are historical collections in which stamps are presented in chronological order, and topical collections in which a certain type of subject matter is pursued. Most collectors work on more than one collection at a time, so you shouldn't see a choice of specialty as limiting.

Topical stamps enable a collection to be organized around a special interest, such as animals, sports, space travel, cars and planes, or special events. Characters from children's books such as Curious George, Olivia, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as well as many favorite cartoon characters from Warner Brothers and Disney can be found on stamps from countries around the world. And as your grandchild's interests expand or change, the stamp collection can expand and change too. Some of the world's great collections have been built around topics such as "Medicine on Stamps" or "Great Architecture on Stamps."

Saying that something is educational can be the kiss of death - so we won't say it. We'll talk about how it is fun! If we happen to learn something along the way, it will just be a bonus. For example, we can learn about historical events and important people from commemorative stamps. Stamps from different countries help us learn geography. Stamps from different historical periods teach us about the period and the people who lived in that time. And don't forget skills that can be developed such as classifying and other organizational skills. It is always fun to learn something together and this is a hobby that lets you do so.

More Stamp Collecting Articles From Grandma


Grandma Teaches History - The Founding of Jamestown Tells the story of the founding of Jamestown as reflected in both old and new U.S. stamps.

American Greats on Stamps Grandma remembers her Brooklyn childhood rooting for the legendary Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers.

Grandma Likes to Read Grandma introduces collecting images of famous authors and children's books on United States postage stamps.