How to Start a China Stamp Collection by Fidelity Trading Co. (start)

How to Start a China Stamp Collection

This publication is intended as a guide for individuals who have never collected stamps and who would like to begin collecting stamps from the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Your first job is to decide how your are going to display/store your collection. Most collectors purchase an album which has been printed with spaces and illustrations of the stamps issued by the country of interest. There is a tendency for beginners to buy the most inexpensive album available with plans to upgrade to a nicer album later. The main disadvantage to this plan is the tremendously time consuming job of "remounting" your entire collection at a later date. The album is the "showcase" for your collection, so you should want to have an album which will best meet your needs from the very beginning. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing an album. Here is a list of some things to consider:

1) Are the stamps listed in the album chronologically according to the dates of issue?
2) Are the spaces for mounting the stamps printed only on one side of the pages?
3) Are there printed titles describing the purpose for issuing each set of stamps?
4) Is the date of issue for each set of stamps printed on the pages?
5) Are yearly supplements published and in a timely manner?
6) Does the album contain spaces for all of the stamps issued by the country which I want to collect?
7) Are the spaces for the stamps large enough to accommodate stamp mounts?

For a good album the answer should be yes to all (or most all) of these questions. An alternative to using an album is to store the stamps either in boxes of glassine envelopes or in "stock books" which have a series of clear "pockets" into which the stamps can be placed for viewing. If quality stockbooks are used the price can easily exceed that of a good album.

Most beginners do not understand very well the term "complete sets." Stamps are issued by most countries in "sets" which contain one or more stamps issued on the same theme or topic. For example, in 1979 the PRC issued a set of stamps entitled "The Great Wall." This set has 4 different stamps, all with different pictures of sections of the Great Wall of China. This set is only "complete" with all 4 values. If you have 3 or fewer of these stamps then you have what is called a "short" set. It is very difficult to find the missing values from a short set. We cannot emphasize this point too strongly. PRC stamp dealers can occasionally find for you the missing values from a short set, but please do not depend on this happening very often. Most knowledgeable collectors collect stamps in complete sets only, and virtually all PRC stamp dealers sell most of their stock in complete sets only.

You should purchase a catalogue which contains the necessary information you will need to get started. We recommend you purchase a recent edition of the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Volume 2. The catalogue is needed so that you can determine both the "catalogue number" and the approximate value of the stamps which you have or which you intend to purchase. Most stamp dealers have their stock catalogued according to the numbers which are used in the Scott Catalogue. This catalogue can be purchased from a local stamp dealer. You can find his or her name in the yellow pages under the heading of "Stamps for Collectors."

It will not be necessary to purchase a new catalogue every year unless you want to keep up with new catalogue prices each year. Many local dealers do not have comprehensive stocks of PRC stamps, and you will need to purchase these by mail order from a dealer who carries PRC stamps. Once you decide to display your stamps in a printed album (rather than stockbooks) as do most collectors, you will need to decide on how you are going to affix ("mount") the stamps to the album pages. You basically have only two viable choices - either use stamp "hinges" or "mounts". Hinges are cheap and quick to use. They are pregummed and usually prefolded so you simply moisten the hinge and affix it to the back of the stamp and then to the album page. The use of hinges has one major drawback which we will try to explain. Virtually all modern stamps are issued with gum on the back which can be easily moistened to affix the stamp to the envelope when mailing a letter. In the eyes of many stamp collectors, mint (never used) stamps which were issued with gum and which have been previously mounted with a stamp hinge are deemed less desirable (and therefore less valuable). The reason is the "mark" which the hinge leaves on the gum of the stamp when the hinge is removed from the stamp for resale. Thus the term "never-hinged" (nh) has become a prominent word in stamp collecting circles. If the stamp was issued without gum (as were most "older" PRC stamps) or the stamp is "used" (canceled) then the hinge mark does not matter. The use of "mounts", instead of hinges, solves the "never hinged" problem. The stamps are inserted into mounts, and the mounts are stuck down to the album pages. The stamp is safely inside, and the gum on the stamp has not been "blemished" by a hinge mark. The mount also helps to protect the stamp from "dirty" fingers or other hazards. Mounts are not particularly cheap and are much thicker than stamps. If you use mounts you will find that because of the cumulative thickness of the mounts fewer pages will fit into your album binder. For most good albums additional binders are available separately, so this is no major drawback. We recommend that you do use mounts rather than hinges for your PRC stamps, and we specifically recommend "Showgard" mounts. You can have your local stamp dealer explain about the hinges and/or different kinds of mounts when you purchase your Scott Catalogue. While most mounts do come both in strips which you must cut to size and in precut sizes, the latter are really not feasible because of the many different sizes of stamps issued by China. A "guillotine" style mount cutter and a metric ruler are the tools we highly recommend for cutting mounts.

Once you have an album and have decided whether to use hinges or mounts, you are ready to begin selecting some PRC stamps. Of course, if you already have some PRC stamps you can begin the mounting process; if not, then you will need to make one more decision before you begin. You need to decide whether to collect all "mint" (not canceled or used), all "used" (canceled), or a combination of both mint and used. Please see our comments about this subject in our publication "Frequently Asked Questions about Collecting PRC Stamps". Many new collectors start with the most recently issued stamps which are pictured in their album and work "backwards." Others start with #1 and work to the present. Some first buy all sets less than $1.00 each, then less than $2.00, and so on.

In summary, to begin with you will need an album ($50 and up), a Scott Catalogue - Volume 2 ($35), some PRC stamps, and hinges (75¢) or mounts ($40 and up with cutter).