One for the Christmas Stocking for Collectors

Greenlight publishing

For the stamp collector in your life. STAMPS IDENTIFIED  Is a new fully illustrated book for collectors by Steve Leaky and Tyler Lieuliss of the Philatelic Association of Scotland (P.A.S.). This fully illustrated edition is a must-have for every philatelic enthusiast, whether a collector or a dealer. Possibly the most comprehensive stamp identification book ever published. The P.A.S. team have spent years collating, identifying and photographing stamps from the very first issues of 1840 through to the 20th century, and for the first time, this book pulls together a selection of the most interesting items in one beautiful volume. Lavishly illustrated with thousands of photographs, this book not only helps to identify the stamps but puts them in context and offers detailed information on each one. This book is organised on a thematic basis with similar types of objects being placed together, rather than separated by period. This will allow readers to see how stamp types changed over time with the introduction of new materials, techniques and styles. The book is a bit pricey when similar information can be found on the Internet for free, but of its £30.00 cover price, £3.00 will be donated to the Philatelic Association of Scotland to help them in their very important typological work. The book is published by Greenlight Publishing, publishers of many general and specialist philatelic catalogues and Stamp Hunting Magazine.

Stamp typology is the key

The Philatelic Association of Scotland is a partnership project involving at least 119 national and local collectors' organizations and philatelic trade publishers who have come together to help deliver the Association's aims. Thousands of stamp collections are created by  members of the public every year. If properly catalogued and displayed, these stamps have great potential to transform philatelic knowledge on the types and varieties of these objects that are in existence and can be used to update the catalogues. The Philatelic Association offers the only proactive mechanism for recording such finds, which are made publicly available on its online database (neither collectors' names, nor the present location of the collections, however, are revealed). A primary aim of the PAS is to get as many people as possible engaged in the wholesome hobby of stamp collecting and fighting the atavistic tendency of some to see postal history as the real aim of philately.

Here is just a selection of the many useful books out there for those collectors wanting to identify the old stamps they find:

 

 (Note the nationalist overtones of some of them)