Getting A Kit To Start Stamp Collecting

“How will I start?”, “What materials will I needed?” and “Where can I buy them?” are just some of the common questions asked by people who want to engage themselves in a hobby. And purchasing a stamp collection kit is the perfect answer.
A stamp collection kit is complete with materials necessary to start the hobby. Kits come in different versions – deluxe series, for professional collectors, starter series, for beginners and junior series, for kids. Junior and starter series help kids and beginners to mount and design easily, while professional series allow experts to freely create their own style. However, all kits include the following:
1. STAMPS
– Junior kits contain 50-100 U.S. stamps. While more advanced series contain up to 2000 pieces.
Tips:    Don’t get overly ambitious at the start. Work on with an initial set of one to two thousand different stamps. Too much pile can be exhausting which will eventually lessen one’s enthusiasm.
2. HINGES
– A stamp hinge is a small piece of thin, but tough, paper applied with a special adhesive. Hinges come in different sizes and styles and are in almost universal use.
Tips:    Both ends of the hinge should be moistened. Do not wet the entire hinge. Lesser moisture will prevent damaging the stamps and can make the album look neat.
3. ALBUMS
– Albums fall under two categories-“printed” and “blank”. Printed ones give spaces with outlines and descriptions of what stamp that is to be placed in each space. These are perfect for beginners and kids. However, many professional and advanced collectors prefer to use them throughout their entire collecting life.
Tips: Choose loose-leaf albums. It will allow you to insert blank pages wherever you wish to and easily remove sections for rearrangement. Duplicate, new and not-yet-mounted stamps can be kept safe in Stock books.
4. MAGNIFYING GLASS
–  One of the most important tools for a stamp collector is a good magnifying glass. Most of them carry one wherever they go.
Tips:    A magnifying glass with a lens power of 3 or 4 is satisfactory.
5. TONGS
– This is a tool used to pick up and hold a stamp when mounting or classifying.
Tips: Use tongs in place of fingers to avoid damaging or folding the stamps.
Other tools not included in some kits are: perforation gauge, which measure the holes in a stamp; millimeter rule, measures the size of the stamp and watermark sensor, used to detect the water mark on the stamp.
Stamp collection is an easy, inexpensive and enjoyable hobby. And now that kits are readily available, anyone can start mounting and make stamp collection a life-time hobby.