Early this year I took possession of my Granddad’s old postage stamps. He had a really great collection and it was my job to help preserve his memory. There has been a lot to learn and I think that I have done well.

The first thing that I did when I inherited the old postage stamps was catalogue them. I bought a book containing all the Great British issues and I went through each of his stamps and checked them off. I really enjoyed this but it took a while. You should always have a complete record of your collection.

If you are new to stamp collecting you probably won’t know where to store your stamps. The best place to do it is in a cool, dry and dark place. You need to keep your albums in an upright position. I didn’t do this initially and mine were left flat. There is a chance that you will damage your old postage stamps storing them that way.

When you first get an album the first thing that you want to do is add to it. This is understandable and I did the same. I think that you should decide on a theme for your album very early on. There is so much choice and you could end up with a very mixed album. I have decided to go for a theme.

There are lots of places to buy old postage stamps. You can buy them directly from the post office and that is what I have done with a number of mine. I have also bought a few over the internet on Ebay which went well. When you become more experienced you can look at going to an auction or a stamp dealer. This is better for more rare offerings.

I have really enjoyed collecting and learning about old postage stamps. You too can learn about them and have a great experience doing so. You don’t have to do it like I did.