Stamp Collection for Beginners – 05. A Philatelist’s kit

For preserving stamps and making them displayable, a collector needs a stock book, an album, transparent glass like envelopes and some apparatus. The apparatus consists of a pair of tongs, a magnifying glass, a perforation gauge, a watermark detector, a colour guide and some mounts or hinges and of course the world map.

Stock books These are books consisting of thick leaves with uniform pocket like transparent stripes or cellophane panes across the paper into which the stamps can be kept and viewed through. These books are usually used either to keep the spare material for exchange or to stock the stamps before they are finally transferred to their respective albums. These are available to various sizes and especially the pocket size, which is very popular among the philatelists who keep on exchanging their duplicates to enrich their collection.

Albums These are as important as stamps for a collector. A great variety of albums are available, both subject-wise and country-wise, and at varying prices, with illustrations to help in identifying the stamps. There are different kinds of albums both for beginners and specialists. These albums make the subject informative as well as educative as they guide in identifying the stamps, locating the country in the world map and also in knowing the name of the currency used there.

There are albums, which can be very handy to collectors who limit their collection to a particular country or theme. They give details about every stamp used by that country. Supplements to these albums are also available for new stamps from time to time.

Then there are loose-leaf albums in which only one side of the sheet can be used. Some such albums have faint quadrille pattern to be displayed in stamp exhibitions. The standard size is 210 x 297 mm (M)& 420 x 297 mm (A3).

Transparent glass like envelopes These are small envelopes of transparent glass like paper, which can be used to keep spare stamps. Having chosen an album and a stock book, the collector then requires the philatelic apparatus to maintain his collection in a proper manner.

Tongs Also known as tweezers, tongs are specially meant to hold fragile pieces of paper. This saves the stamps from absorbing moisture from the fingers, especially those unused stamps, which still have the original gum on them. The tongs come with spade like tips that hold the stamps firmly.

Magnifying glass This is also a very important item in the kit of a philatelist. With the use of this tool, a collector can pick out important details of the designs in a stamp. The glass is available in various sizes and strength of the enlargement i.e., 4X, 8X, 10X, The most popularly used magnifier is the pocket size folding magnifying glass.

Perforation gauge It is used to measure the perforations of stamps. It consists of various rows of dots, each numbered. One has just to move the stamp up and down until its punched holes fit a row of dots, and the place where it fits exactly is its perforation.

Watermark detector This consists of a small black tray in which a drop or two of benzene is placed. The moment a stamp is dipped in the liquid, the watermark, if there is one, flashes out. The stamp will also dry up immediately the moment it is picked up from the tray.

Colour guide The next item is the colour guide, the use of which is required every time a write-up of a stamp collection is to be made. This is because the catalogues do not tally on the colour so used. The colour guide helps the collector to decide for himself the correct description of the colour.