Stamp collecting is still one of the most popular and enduring of all hobbies, and even in this technological age many people still enjoy the tactile nature of the hobby. Stamp collectors generally fall into one of two types, those that collect by country and those that collect by topic.

Stamp collectors that collect by country are faced with a linear approach to collecting. Stamps are collected and displayed by year and release date. So it is relatively easy, if a stamp collector has enough money, to start with the first issued stamp and collect every stamp produced by a single country.

Many stamp collectors though are not interested in the stamps of an individual country, but are rather drawn to the hobby by the thought of collecting stamps that depict something of interest.

When people start off and think how to start a thematic stamp collection, there is one basic consideration, and that is what topic is to be collected. Birds and animals are very popular themes for collectors, although wide ranging, most countries have produced stamps depicting wildlife. Some people though narrow down the topic to more specific themes, themes such as Elvis stamps.

A thematic stamp collector though is faced with an issue that the collector of national stamps is not. The stamp collector who collects a nation's stamp will know exactly which stamps have been produced, and therefore which stamps are needed to complete a collection. To this end the likes of Stanley Gibbons produces many guides based on stamps produced by nations, the Commonwealth, or the world country by country. There are though relatively few guides produced which provide comprehensive lists of stamps produced by theme.

Taking aside the fact that it may not be possible to know of all stamps produced in a particular theme, collecting themed stamps can be fun and rewarding.

Having decided upon a theme it is then a case of locating some stamps within that theme. A look through a Stanley Gibbons price guide may give some idea of what is available, but it is often easier to get an idea by attending a stamp fair. These fairs are also a good source of cheap stamps to start building a collection. The other major source is the internet, and in recent years a number of companies have developed based on supplying stamps based on theme rather than country.

A thematic stamp collection can start with one stamp but can quickly build to many hundreds.

Learn more about this author, Tim Harry.
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