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Collecting stamps is a hobby that attracts people from all around the world. When you're collecting stamps you can find them from a multiple of sources, including free sources, as well as paying for those stamps that you just can't do without. When you start collecting stamps you'll want to spend as little money as possible and concentrate on getting a beginner's collection of stamps. At first, you start your collection with only a few stamps, perhaps some favorites that you have from childhood. A great way to begin to expand your collection is to purchase a starter set from a stamp or hobby store. These collections are usually inexpensive, sometimes costing about $6.00 for a collectors pack. In the pack you'll get a nice selection of stamps from different countries. This is an easy way to start and find out what stamps appeal to you and what you'd like to focus future collecting efforts towards. These days another good source for getting stamps is eBay on the internet. Here you will often be able to buy large number of stamps for a very low price. Once you have a sizable collection of stamps, you will need to organize them so that the stamps are safe. This will also help you decide how and where you want to proceed with your stamp collection. Most of the stamps that you buy will still be on the paper on which they were mailed. This makes them durable and easy to handle. Once you remove the paper backing the stamp becomes much more fragile and you'll have to be very careful in the way that you move it around. This is why you should sort out your purchased stamps according to country before you take off the paper backing. While taking off the paper backing from the stamps do not just try pulling the paper away from the stamp in a hurry. Take your time and be patient so that you do not damage the stamps. Pulling the paper off in a hurry can rip the stamp edges. So use scissors to cut the paper backing as close to the stamp body as possible. To take off the paper backing from the nicely trimmed stamp take clean water in a bowl. Place the stamp with the paper backing into the water and let it soak for some time. Take care that the stamp side is facing up. You can now try to carefully remove the paper backing from the stamp. Once you've removed the stamps from the paper you need to allow them to dry out. You want to take care when drying the stamps so that they dry slowly and gently - this reduces the folds and wrinkles that may occur on the stamp. Lay the stamps of a layer of paper toweling, making sure that none of the stamps touch or overlap. Gently lay a paper towel on top of the stamps and lightly press (be very gentle) to remove the excess water from the stamps. The dried stamps need to be flattened. This can be done by placing these dried stamps in the pages of a large or heavy book. Else you have the option of buying a stamp drying book to dry your stamps. These dry and flattened stamps can be sorted country wise to help you locate them when ever you want to. These sorted stamps then need to be arranged in your stamp collecting book.
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Fiona Whealer is the webmaster for FW Stamps, a fantastic resource for information about stamps. For questions or comments about this article why not visit: www.fwstamps.com/articles Get your own completely unique content version of this article.
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