1. Be Careful with your stamps.
Leaving your stamps just laying around can allow for them to be damaged, become creased, or even dirty. Always store your stamps in a safe place, preferably a stamp album.
2. Use tongs to handle your stamps.
Moisture or residue from your fingers can damage the glue or gum of the stamp, reducing their value. Stamp tongs are cheap and worth the price to protect your collection.
3. Never lick, glue, or tape a stamp into your album.
Adhering a stamp to your album in this manner will make it so you cannot remove it later, without causing damage to the stamp. Always use some type of stamp hinge or mount to place your stamps in your albums.
4. Use little moisture when adhering your stamp mounts.
Soaking your stamp mounts will cause them to become soggy and unusable, or worse still, may cause damage to your stamps. Only slightly wet your mount regardless of the type you are using.
5. Never completely seal your stamp mount.
Stamps are made from paper and paper can become brittle or may even decompose when kept air-tight. Always leave an opening for air when using mounts.
6. Store your stamps in a cool dry place.
Humidity and moisture cause the worst damage to postage stamps. Once they are introduced to your collection, stamp gum will become tacky and your stamps will stick together.
7. Buy the largest high quality album that you can afford.
Buying a smaller album means at some point, when your collection becomes larger, you will have to transfer all of your stamps to a new album. Unless you will later have the time and money, it is best to buy a larger album from the very beginning.
8. Do not soak your stamps until you are sure their ink will not run.
Some stamps when soaked in water or watermark detection fluid will have fugitive inks that run. Research your stamps to make sure they are safe to soak.
9. Never remove a stamp from a cover before checking for special
markings.
Older covers should be checked to make sure they do not have any special postmarks before soaking the stamps off the paper. Some stamps are more valuable if left on the cover, such as those found on cachets.
10. If you aren’t sure… ask!
If you are having difficulty identifying your stamps or just have a general philatelic question, it never hurts to ask a stamp professional. With millions of collectors in the United States alone, there is always someone who would love to share their knowledge with you.
