I was surprised when an old stamp collecting friend told me that he doesn’t subscribe to a single stamp journal! He has been collecting stamps for over thirty years and has a large collection which he seems to enjoy. However, for some unknown reason, he has no interest in news of other collectors, collecting activities, discoveries, new issues or the myriad goings-on in the philatelic world.

I wonder if this particular collector is unique or if there are many like him. I also wonder if he— and his approach to the hobby— are symbolic of the people who form the collections that we and other dealers are never anxious to buy when they come up for sale.

We see thousands of these collections every year. They lack quality. They are completely devoid of interest of any sort. They are almost always poorly arranged and to my mind, they are often downright worthless.

True, there is no fixed way to collect stamps, but no matter how you do it, you are bound to learn more about your hobby by reading the journals of philately and by joining other collectors in philatelic activities.

If you are going to discover all of stamp collecting by yourself, you will make costly errors. Of that, nothing can be more certain.