How deep to go when building a collection?
I’m a general worldwide collector, but I do love to dig in deeper too. My current approach in building “slightly specialized” country collections, as I pick up any easy-to-spot differences I happen to come across. And then I randomly do dig in a lot deeper (like with the Hungarian Castle-definitives or GRD 5-year plan definitives).
Anyway… Seth recently wrote a comment asking do small color (etc) variances in stamps matter? And I honestly can’t come up with any other answer than it’s up for each collector to decide.
1949 Switzerland. 10 centimes definitive stamp shows train track to Rochers de Naye. Michel #531, cat. value 0.30€. These are two extreme color shades variations from my Swiss collection. All in all I have 7 different shade copies of this stamp in my collection.
1889 Finland. 1mk Coat of Arms. One of the 7 shades/prints available for these stamps. Based on cancel date alone, I can already exclude the last two prints / color shades (that happen to be the cheapest ones too).
Specialized collectors love varieties; and they might even commit to studying a single stamp design for their life. But I think most of them have moved away from “hmmm…this looks different than other stamps. It must be a new variant” approach, and instead try to accurately pinpoint the origins of any stamp in by using means of postal history, cancel/postmark research, existing print/plating studies etc. It’s a research/study world of it’s own… For example the Finnish stamp on the side is listed in (specialized) catalog having 7 different shades; all link to different prints with known delivery dates, print amounts and usage periods.
For general (worldwide) collectors like me, I guess it depends on individual… I know some worldwide collectors who don’t care a damn about color, watermark etc. varieties. They just focus on face-different stamps (and collect according to SG Stamps of the World, or other simplified catalog)… And then, some are like me, mixing portions of both worlds. I do have thousands of smaller varieties (not included to any of the numbers of my face different inventory) . None of the catalogues I have contain no information about these, but I’m quite sure they are listed in specialized literature. Most are simply minor color/shade differences, but I do have lots of perforation, paper and watermark varieties too… And then there are EFO’s (possibly my favorite area these days):
1984 US. 20c Smokey Bear commemorative stamp. Michel #1735, cat. value 0.40€. The right side stamp is a minor EFO, possibly worth a buck or two for like-minded EFO-collector.
I think that one of the biggest obstacles for collectors who collect a bit of everything (people just like me), will be the limited number of information available.
If common stamp catalogs were not expensive enough to own, then dedicated books are usually even far more hard to obtain. They are seriously expensive, and usually of very limited prints (meaning you can’t find them easily as second hand books or from public libraries)… I’ve been hoping and praying that collectors would start pushing this data to Internet; and despite the existence of some excellent online resources for stamp collectors, I think a whole lot more could be done by each and every collector. It honestly doesn’t take much effort or money to start sharing images and information online these days.
But all in all, I’d say I’m quite happy collecting small varieties the way I do now… Finding out more about the origins of variations is interesting, but IMHO not required in order to enjoy them. But that’s just my opinion.
Want more?
Sign-up to weekly newsletter and get notified when new articles like the above are published at Stamp Collecting Blog. The email-newsletter is sent to You once a week (during the weekend) and it contains a summary of latest new entries and discussions.
Show that you liked this article - and support Stamp Collecting Blog!
Clicking the Like-button below promotes this article on FaceBook:
Clicking the +1 button below promotes this entry on Google and GooglePlus.
Thanks for your support!
Hi Keijo
collecting ’shades’ can be a frustrating affair. I once spent an evening sorting some old Straits Settlements definitives into all sorts of minor colour variations, only to find that the next morning they all looked exactly the same!! Moral of the story? Do your sorting in good natural daylight not by a desk lamp.
Also, many ’shade’ collectors prefer mint because the soaking process can often affect the colour of a stamp, especially with some older issues.
Love the blog
Steve
Thanks for the additions, Steve. I knew I had forgotten some “minor” details, LOL.
I agree with You about the importance of using a proper and consistent light source(s). Sometimes it’s amazing how different same stamp can look under different type of lighting conditions… If anyone has a light table/box, they are worth using with stamps too IMHO.
And You are correct about the position of soaked stamps too. Any amount of soaking CAN change the colors in some scale. The more heat/time, the higher the risks of modifications too.
As often, I think like you. I don’t search these minor varieties, and in most countries, perhaps I wont even notice them.
In countries I have more stuff (Argentina, Uruguay, Spain) I do collect them. I do not collect shade varieties, as they limit as “varieties” is very subjective, and subtle too!!
@Fred… And what would the world be without Wikipedia where You can always check “cool facts” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amílcar_Cabral
(BTW… I do have that DDR stamps Wikipedia shows
– real used I recall).
another good topic to be discussed.. How deep can we go? I guess this is a really big area. Normally one can study on the following:
1. plate numbers
2. perf
3. watermarks
4. gum type
5. flaws and varities
6. usage time (start date to end date)
7. just to many to list out but i guess all of us already know this.
One thing i would like to highlight on going really deep into stamps is please start with your local definitives. I feel definitives provide the best platform to start and they can be very much “Affordable”. Besides that, its easier to get varieties as definitives are usually used for a long period of time and less not 4get; being our local definitives, we have direct access to those materials. LOL
Anyway, its just my humble opinion. Do enlighten me if im wrong. Would love to hear from friends all over the world.
Hi Ronny,
I agree that local definitives are a good way to start learning. Usually there’s both stamps and literature much more easily available than with foreign countries… And I definitely would not limit myself to just older stamps; lots of modern definitive series are highly versatile too.
Dear Keijo,
yup, I have to agree with you. One of the modern definitives i collect is the Malaysia 2005 bird definitives. Definitely a wonderful area to collect especially on the plate blocks. Not too many varieties, but their inverted watermarks is very interesting. Besides that, gum and POS logo difference is another good aspect.
Sadly, the birds will be ending soon and replace with the Garden Flower definitives. Im not sure if im going to embark on this again. But u know what, the first release has provided quite a number of constant flaws. LOL… tempting!tempting!
regards,
ronny
“Not too many varieties, but their inverted watermarks is very interesting.”
Yet another piece of information not listed in general catalogs (at least in those I use)…
Well, I guess I’ll have to start checking any copies of these as well in more detail… LOL.
8. Don’t forget about coil numbers. That variation is popular to collect in the U.S.
Hello Keijo,
I enjoyed reading your article on maintaining a proper stamp collection (as well your blog in general) and was wondering if you would be able to provide me with the template which you use. I’ve been trying to organise my collection(s) for some time but alas I don’t seem to get very far!
Thanks.
Hi Nicholas,
One piece of email with template + instructions coming right up…
I feel I should warn that I don’t believe any software (including my Excel template) will solve problems related to how organized (or unorganized) ones collection is. It might even make matters worse by becoming dead weight or obstacle…. IMHO the best method to keep a collection organized is very simple – simply line up everything you have by country in order defined by stamp catalog (Scott, Michel etc), and leave enough empty spaces for missing stamps and varieties; and work from there on by adding new material…. You have possibly seen these two entries, but IMHO they are worth the highlight: Using stock books as storage method and Breaking the mold.
Hi Keijo,
I was rather hoping my inquiry on colour variation might inspire you into writing something, so I was glad to find this. Thanks for your initial reply and what is written here. I think I’m starting to clear up what my policy will be, though things like the ‘GRD 5-year plan definitives’ article show that the level of potential detail in collecting is almost infinite.
Still on the theme of where variation is ‘worth’ collecting, do you have any thoughts on the corner numbers for penny blacks, penny reds and two penny blues? In general if there is some obvious difference between stamps, I like to keep an example of each, but to collect all corner number combinations would mean having many pages of essentially the same stamp. Of course the answer is another personal preference thing, but I would be interested to hear what your approach is.
Best wishes,
Seth.
@Seth… Personally I’d go all the way, and hoard them all from the bottom of my heart If I had enough available copies & resources (money,money,money), LOL.
But I didn’t like this always. About a decade ago I did stumble upon a “decent assortment” (=hundreds) of Penny Reds (of the cheapest possible type). And I was stupid enough to sell them as a single lot after picking up copy of each major type. Now I regret that
… But that’s water under the bridge I think…
I know… Philatelically speaking stamps with different plate / corner numbers are not major variaties the same way like new prints with different watermarks or similar. But there’s something I like about them…