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Stamp Collecting Tools
One of the nice things about stamp collecting is that it is a relatively inexpensive hobby to get into. With just a few simple tools you will be able to enjoy and quickly expand your collection.
![](http://www.muircorporation.com.au/phil-philately/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/collecting_tools.jpg)
Here’s what I recommend:
- Stock Book – This is where you will store your stamps. Choose a good quality stock book that has acid free plastics (so they don’t damage your stamps over time). Personally I like binders as it is easy to add, remove or change the order of pages.
- Tweezers – Get a pair that are bent on the end and designed for stamp collectors. These are no good for your eyebrows but are designed to be able to easily slide stamps into your stock book.
- Magnifying Glass – I find that having an LED light built in is a great help. The one that I use (pictured above) is 3x with a small 45x lens.
- Perforation Guide – This is a really neat tool (and cheap to buy) that is used to determine the number of perforation holes per 2cm of stamp edge. In many older stamps the same design was used across multiple years with only the perforation count varying by year. It is almost impossible to tell with the naked eye the difference between a perf11 and a perf12 stamp. This is where the Perforation Guide helps.
- Watermark Fluid – Some people swear by watermark fluids, other prefer a UV light. Watermark fluid is by far the more affordable option for reading watermarks on stamps. You wet the stamp with the fluid and place it onto a small black tray. Before the fluid dries you should be able to see the watermark. Good fluids are non-toxic and will evaporate off leaving the stamp undamaged. It will take a long time if you have a lot of stamps to check though as each has to properly dry before you can put it into your collection.
- UV Light Reader (optional) – These can be expensive, but can also be a great tool for quickly identifying watermarks. Unlike the fluid the results are immediate and there is no need to soak and dry each stamp. Watermarks across different countries respond to different wavelengths so you may get differing results with the use of UV light reader. Both watermark fluid and UV light readers can help to spot potential forgeries – stamps that do not have the appropriate watermark.
- Glassine envelopes (in various sizes) – Glassines are a great way to store stamps. I always have glassines on hand as I use them to store my spare stamps destined for eBay. While glassines are pretty inexpensive, I’ve never actually had to buy any at all. I seem to have amassed a large bundle while building my stamp collection (most often a new purchase will ship in a glassine inside of a standard postal envelope). I simply reuse these whenever I sell stamps.
- Blotting Paper and a Large Bowl – A large bowl of water to soak stamps off paper (usually the envelope remnant) is essential and most people will have something suitable in their kitchen. After the stamps have soaked for a while and start to separate from the paper they should be placed in between sheets of blotting paper and allowed to dry. It is important that they dry flat so I usually add a few thick books on top of them for weight until they are fully dried.
A quick note on watermarks. Not all stamps have watermarks. On some older stamps the stamp design was reused over multiple consecutive years and often the only way to determine which year the stamp was produced is by checking its watermark. This is important as years with lower mintages will typically have a higher value and be more sought after. If your budget allows, I recommend both the watermark fluid and UV light reader. Try the light reader first and if you cannot make out the details of the watermark then use the fluid.