I have been doing my best this year learning about old postage stamps. The reason for that is because my Granddad had a collection and it is now my responsibility to maintain. It is amazing the amount of things that you have to know to maintain them correctly.

Being able to go through the entire collection of old postage stamps was a treat. It took me a long time but I went through and took a record of every single stamp. It is always good to have a complete record of your collection. It also helps for insurance purposes.

I was very keen to take them home and as a result I stored the old postage stamps incorrectly (for a short time). I had them in a flat position on the floor. This can damage the stamps. You want them in an upright position. You also want them to be left in a dark place that is cool and dry. You don’t want any humidity if you can help it.

Once I had the album at home I wanted to buy some stamps for it. I was keen to ’stamp’ my personality on it. I started buying any stamps that I liked but I don’t think that did the collection much good. I decided it would be better to do a theme and therefore make it a little more structured.

There are lots of places that you can buy old postage stamps now. The first place that I went to was the post office itself. There you can buy them at face value although they aren’t presented very well. I have also bought a number over the internet. Ebay is great for being able to pick up a bargain. You also can go to a specialised stamp dealer or have the excitement of an auction.

I have progressed a lot in knowing about old postage stamps. I have learnt a lot and hope to learn more in the future. I will then pass the collection onto the next generation.