The most popular hobby in the world is collecting stamps?

Who is to say it is? Stamps are one of the most fragile and inherently LEAST valuable things you could collect! I would think that that indicates that it is unlikely that most collect stamps.

I think the fun in stamps is searching, arranging, and maybe selling them. Unlike most other things, it is best to go to the SOURCE to get them. If you take stamps off of envelopes, they are likely WORTHLESS! In fact a worthless stamp on an envelope that is addressed to a historic figure and was cancelled would probably have MORE value than a VERY unique stamp that has been cancelled, and not so attached.

Steve

Having worked in the Postal Service for 10 years, you would be surprised what kind of people collect stamps,and what they find valuable and collectible.
The most common collected stamps are "first day issues" which are stamps that are hand cancelled onto pieces of mail the day they are issued.
Probably the next in line would be "plate blocks" which are the four stamps in a corner of a sheet of stamps that have the plate block number on them. There were rarely cancelled if I remember correctly. And the item that a collector took the most time getting were still sealed coiled rolls of stamps. They also had some type of number on them,but never understood what it represented. But I had several regular customer that would come in with their jewelry eye loop (can't remember right off what they are called) and literally take 30 minutes to an hour looking at every coil of stamps I had and would maybe take 1 out of every 15/20.
The postal service loved people like that because that was always considered "profit" in as much as they would never be used in the system.

Well, stamps can be, and are, collected by VERY young kids, and VERY old adults. Some postoffices have rather ornate collectors centers, where they sell stamps, and I think even coins. Still... I forgot about the novelty of things like first day cancellations. Still, such mechanizations are risky, and only time will tell.

Steve

Stamp collecting, or philately to give it its technical term, has been a big hobby for a long time, in fact from when stamps were first issued.

Rare stamps, and misprints can fetch huge amounts at auctions.

To make it clear, I said INHERENTLY worthless. By that, I mean they are small and fragile, so not likely to be used like a picture for art, and they can't be used for anything like gold, so there is no value to the object itself.

Of course, some ARE VERY rare, or have historic significance, or are very unusual, so they can cost incredible amounts of money. and the value CAN increase.

Of course, if times get tough for all, I wonder how it would affect such a market.

Steve

they say philately will get you anywhere