Stamp Collections

I had my first stamp collections when I was 12 years old. My grandfather had always had stamp collections and ever since I could remember I had visited him and we had looked at his stamp collections together. He preferred the old WWII planes and paraphernalia I think because he had been a part of the war so it meant a great deal to him.

He also loved the baseball stamp collections and this was the one that he gave to me on my twelfth birthday and he made me promise to keep adding to it and to hand it on to my son when I had one, kind of a family tradition. I told him yes of course though the idea of having a family was so far away at that time that his request did not have any impact on me till years later.

But I did add to the baseball stamp collections and started other sports stamp collections as well. And when I did have a son of my own I remembered what I had promised.

Types of US Collections

The type of US stamp collections that you can have is expanding all of the time with the new stamps that are issued but here are the stamp collections that we know of and have to share:

Historical stamp collections

US postage stamps never feature anybody that is still living which is unique to the US. This means that every stamp that features a person that has some type of historical significance to the US so historical stamp collections are easy to create. With people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, Enola Gay or many of the other wonderful people featured on stamps that could be added to historical stamp collections.

Artistic stamp collections

There are many stamps that you could add to an artistic stamp collection that will have the image of a famous artist or even a designer of stamps. Some of the people whose work is featured on stamps include Louise Nevelson, Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keefe, or Al Hirschfeld – stamps that you would be very pleased to add to any artistic stamp collection.

Movie themed stamp collections

For the avid movie lover there are stamps that feature movie stars from an era gone by that could make up movie themed stamp collections. People like James Dean, Grace Kelly, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Alfred Hitchcock, Clark Gable, or Marilyn Monroe would all be great to add to movie themed stamp collections.

Love stamp collections

Some of the more unusual US stamp collections are those that are inspired by love and created for special occasions such as Valentines day, anniversaries and even potentially for occasions such as weddings for the avid stamp collector.

Children’s stamp collections

These can be made up from lots of different stamps depending on what their interested in. It could be toys, sports, music, cartoon characters or movie monster stamp collections to tickle the fancy of your child.

Duck stamp collections

If you want to start duck stamp collections there are many duck stamps to choose from ranging from Federal duck stamps to Alaska duck stamps and First of State duck stamps. Whatever the types of duck stamp collections that you prefer you will have no problem filling your albums.

Revenue stamp collections

Revenue collections contain tax stamps and revenue stamps Canal Zone stamps. These are unusual and are very popular types of stamp collections including stamps like the Marijuana Tax Stamps, used revenue stamps, and McMunn’s Elixir of Opium stamps.
Errors, Freaks, Oddities stamp collections

Many people like stamp collections that comprise of postal service mistakes and stamps that have some type of anomaly or error. They may include imperforated stamps, ones with color anomalies or Porky Pig stamps that were created but never actually released for sale.

US events covers collections

These are covers collections that are released to commemorate events or major moments in the history of the US. An envelope being sent to a postmaster when a new stamp is about to be issued creates the postal covers, these covers are often framed and displayed. Events such as Olympic sports stars, Lou Gehrig baseball covers or WWII covers are examples.

Terms used for stamp collections

Aerophilately: "Aerophilately" is when a person has collects only airmail stamps and or covers (envelopes) that have already been sent by air.

Bright: If the color of the ink on stamps that are bright is still vibrant and in a very good condition.

Cachet: These are the designs that you will see on the envelopes. They can be either text or a picture and generally relate to an event that is being remembered.

Stamp coils: This is when stamps are made into rolls to be then sold in vending machines or machines that automatically attach stamps to envelopes. They will have perforations on the two parallel sides and the other two are straight cut.

Mint: A mint condition stamp is one that has never been used, is still in its original condition and still has the full gum.

Overprint: This is when printing is added onto the front of a stamp usually so the stamp is available for a particular purpose. This addition is made after manufacture.

Selvage: This is the margin on the edges of sheets of stamps and what will be included are plate number, copyright and any other necessary markings.

Tied stamps: Tied stamps are connected (or tied) to a cover by a postmark or cancellation.