Love Stamp - The Seven Best Reasons to Collect Stamps

1) Stamps Are Fun

By more than 3 to 1 the public chose this portrait to immortalize the legendary Elvis Presley. 1,128,923 votes were cast!

One of the very best reasons to collect stamps is for the pure fun of it. Stamp collecting is fun because it’s personal – you collect the kinds of stamps you want, the way you want to collect them, whenever and wherever you want to. There’s no right way or wrong way.

When you collect stamps, you’re in complete control. It’s one corner of the world where whatever you say – goes. Your stamp time is your own, a time to relax, escape the everyday routine, and expand your horizons. And stamp collecting always has something fun to offer... sorting, arranging and mounting your stamps, acquiring new ones, finding out the intriguing stories behind your stamps, exploring the fascinating world of watermarks, secret marks, errors, perforations, and so much

Collecting stamps is challenging and personally satisfying. You’ll experience the thrill of the chase as you finally acquire that special stamp you’ve been looking for and then another and another... Whatever your interest, stamps provide you with an oasis of pleasure in an often hectic world.

2) Stamps Are Affordable

This stamp was issued in 1870, over 130 years ago. Yet it sells for just $1.25 in used condition.

Imagine owning a genuine U.S. postage stamp that’s over 130 years old for as little as $1.25! Like the one illustrated here. It depends on how many were issued so long ago, how many have been snapped up into permanent collections and how many actually survive today. That means even very old stamps can be very affordable, especially in postally used condition. Used stamps have a real history and romance all their own. Who knows where they’ve been and what news of momentous events of the day they’ve carried? They even could have been used by a President, prominent scientist, or beloved entertainer – the possibilities are endless. And you can afford all this history – isn’t it wonderful?

3) Stamps Are History

A historical snapshot – the Landing of Columbus is captured forever on this 1893 stamp from America’s (and the world’s) oldest commermorative series.

Every time you open your album, stamps take you wherever you want to go in our nation’s past... the plains of the Old West, the Space Race, the White House, the American Revolution, the battlefields of the Civil War, and so much more. Stamps chronicle 19th and 20th century America like nothing else.

Like tiny mirrors, stamps reflect our historical heritage and our heroes, as well as our culture and our achievements. They reflect what we as Americans feel is important, who we honor, what events have shaped our lives and the lives of everyone on this planet. Our accomplishments, hopes and dreams... conquering space, discovering medical cures, preserving our environment, making the world a more peaceful place. U.S. stamps are a tribute to all this.

Stamps are souvenirs of our past – history you can hold in your hands.

4) Stamps Are Travel

The ultimate journey – "One small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind." -Neil Armstrong upon his descent to the surface of the moon, July 20, 1969.

Stamps show us traveling the globe as well as taking our first tentative steps into outer space... exploring the frigid icefields of Antarctica and the eerily beautiful landscapes of the moon; celebrating the diversity of America from exotic Hawaii north to Alaska, with the variety of 48 great states in between; discovering the Pacific Ocean and blasting off aboard the space shuttle; flying across the Atlantic to Paris with Charles Lindbergh and floating above the clouds in a lighter-than-air ship called the Graf Zeppelin. You can satisfy your wanderlust just by sitting in your favorite chair, opening your album and browsing among your stamps.

5) Stamps Are Art

Frederic Remington made the old West his specialty, painting and sculpting Native Americans, cowboys, soldiers and horses. Shown above is "The Smoke Signal."

Having a stamp collection is like having a miniature art gallery right in your own home. Many older U.S. stamps are masterpieces of the engraver’s art, while modern stamps use innovative, multi-colored designs and even computer images to get their message across. U.S. stamps exhibit the work of artists like Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Peter Max, Winslow Homer, and Frederic Remington, to name just a few. The portrait of every late U.S. President is found on at least one U.S. stamp. So if you love art, you’ll love stamp collecting. And remember, you’ll be preserving these tiny works of art for future generations.

6) Stamps Are Valuable

The Inverted Jenny Error worth $100,000! This one survived the London Blitz of World War II.

Some stamps are tremendously valuable. A stamp may be worth thousands of dollars because it has a tiny printing error, or because only a few examples survive. These stamps are fun to look at and dream about, and who knows, maybe one day to own. And since there’s a little bit of a dreamer in every one of us stamp collectors, we all fantasize about owning a great stamp rarity or finding a stamp error hiding out in our own collection. But even if you never discover an error, you can own hundreds, even thousands of beautiful and important stamps.

7) Stamps Are Important

This is the world’s first postage stamp – The Penny Black. Instantly popular with collectors, this stamp shows Queen Victoria at 18. The Queen never allowed any other portrait of herself to be used on a British stamp!

The issue of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp in England revolutionized the way mail was sent. After May 6, 1840, the cost of sending a letter was paid by the sender instead of collected from the recipient. The price was just one British penny per ounce, rather than being based on distance. This change enabled the common man to communicate much more affordably. Mail volume more than doubled in the year following its issue.

But stamps are important not only because they enable us to communicate through letters; stamps are a statement about who we are as Americans. They are symbols of our struggles and our strengths – of victory in war, progress in peace, and faith in the future.

Best of all, stamps give the gift of a fun, happy and healthy hobby to us and 20 million other Americans.

Source: http://www.mysticstamp.com/content.asp?contentID=1

The Seven Best Reasons to Collect Stamps