In the past, when we were going to school, we were told by the school itself that we should all have hobbies. Then they ask us what are our hobbies. At that time, the two most common hobbies for many people were reading books and collecting stamps. But when asked about this hobby, even though they said that they collect stamps, many people did not even collect stamps. Most of the time, mom or dad put together a stamp set for their hobby. Or, a letter that comes home a week with two stamps, rolls up two stamps and collects them, and keeps a collection of ten or twenty stamps and gives a lorry talk that they collect stamps. Well, anyway, stamp collecting is a good hobby. A hobby with especially good rewards. So, we thought we’d talk about some of the benefits of collecting stamps. If anyone is interested, they can start collecting stamps even today.
01. Patience and attention
Actually, collecting stamps as a hobby does not mean that you keep some stamps you find somewhere in a box. It is more serious than that. For example, a stamp affixed to an envelope should be carefully torn off along with the pasted paper, put in water or exposed to steam, and separated from the stamped leaf to avoid damaging the stamp. Then put it on another sheet and dry it so that it doesn’t stick. After that, carefully take it with a tweezer and put it in a stamp album. It requires a lot of patience and attention. It’s like meditation. So isn’t this a great hobby to develop patience and focus?
2. A relaxing pastime
This is the benefit one gets from collecting stamps in the first place. To be precise. Now we have said before that collecting stamps is not something that needs to be done suddenly, but rather something that needs to be done with patience and attention. Now just think about organizing the stamps that we have prepared as mentioned above and packing them carefully in stamp albums. Isn’t that very relaxing? Not only that. A collection of stamps that we collected when we were children, even when we are adults today, how much it calms the mind to take it out and look at it again? How happy are you? Come on, that’s something special.
03. Knowledge about the countries of the world
Generally, we learn about the countries of the world at a young age. The subject of geography is taught here and there from early years. But the fact that the countries are marked on the blue and white map leaves does not really give deep knowledge about such countries. But after getting the basic knowledge about the location of different countries on the map, you can get a piece of good specialized knowledge about the countries through the hobby of collecting stamps. In that regard, one thing can be said that even cultural knowledge about countries can be obtained through stamps. Why do you say that? Stamps of any country often include things unique to that country. Or international exclusives. For example, the stamps of a certain country show things like the national flower and the national animal of that country. Otherwise, the national heroes of that country will perform. Important historical figures of that country appear. Just a few of those.
04. Expertise in stamps and postal history
Here’s one, just like a long-time stamp collector. That is a good knowledge of stamps and postal histories of different countries of the world. But that expertise does not stop there. Especially in the era where this knowledge can be found on the internet, and things can be found on the internet, that expertise can be used to learn about the history and culture of different countries. Let’s take an example. Now Hungary’s stamps usually don’t say “Hungary”. They call them Magyar Posta. So, when you find such a stamp, you need to have the expertise mentioned above to know that it is from Hungary. Now, if you look further, into what are these Magyars, one can know that Hungarians are really called Magyars. That means people who came from the Ural mountain range and settled in the territory of what is now Hungary in the 9th century AD. But it doesn’t really stop there. The history of Hungarian stamps is closely related to Hungarian history. So those who have a need can learn the whole history lesson with a Hungarian stamp.
05. An art form
Have you ever seen stamp collecting as an art form? Think like this. Now, generally, stamp collectors deposit those stamps in stamp albums. But have you seen how many stamps are presented in those stamp exhibitions? Most of the time stamps are presented in exhibitions by lining them up in a very colourful pattern on a beautiful board. That’s their imagination. But beautiful and beautiful stamps can’t be aligned just by colour or shape. There must be some meaning. For example, only stamps with animals, like that. So it’s not an art form?
06. A classic hobby
As we have said at the end of the article, collecting stamps was popular as a hobby in the eighties, nineties, and even in the twelfth century, but later with the digitization of everything, it would not be wrong to say that the hobby died out to some extent. But still, it is not impossible to collect stamps. In fact, stamp collecting is a very classic hobby these days. That is why it has a special value. So having a stamp-collecting hobby makes you look like a classy person in a way.
07. Financial value
This is a relative story. Relative to the stamp collector. Now, if it is a stamp that was issued yesterday and we took the seal, then it will not be of much value today. But just think if the stamps of other countries do not have some monetary value. In fact, there are stamp collectors who sell such and such stamps in stamp exhibitions at the public library. Apart from that, some stamps have been sold even for lakhs. Once, in 1856, the British Guinea 1c magenta stamp was sold for $9.48 million. Then, one of the first stamps issued in Sweden, the Treskilling Yellow stamp, which was issued with a printing colour error in 1855, was sold for 2.6 million dollars. Then you can imagine how the value of a stamp in a stamp collection increases as it becomes rarer and older. So we cannot forget that a collection of old stamps has good financial value.
Actually, the hobby of collecting stamps was easy twenty to thirty years ago. Why, at that time when there were no telephones in homes, how many letters were used to communicate? But now the situation is different. A letter rarely comes home, only a bill. Stamps are not affixed to them either. Does that mean you can’t do a hobby like stamp collecting nowadays? Oh, you can. A bit of a challenge. But there are many ways and means to find stamps.
If so, don’t forget to post your thoughts in the comment section while sharing this article.
Stay connected with Buzzer.lk and Buzzer Blog to know more such interesting information.
