Stamp Collecting Guide

Online stamp catalogs can be a great way to find out a wealth of information about your collection as well as those stamps you would like to obtain. Online stamp catalogs hold a major advantage over printed stamp catalogs because they can be much more quickly updated with new and relevant information than printed stamp catalogs.

There are a number of different reasons why a collector might want to utilize a good quality online stamp catalog. Often collectors may wish to arrange their collections in a certain manner. One of the most popular arrangements in chronological. A quality online stamp catalog can help you accomplish this by providing information regarding the issue dates of stamps in your collection.

You can also use an online stamp catalog to make sure you have all the stamps in a particular era that you might want for your stamp. This can help you quickly develop a wish list for your stamp collection.

You can also gain a lot of good information about the value of your stamps, which can help guide you regarding the sell and trade of your stamps. Some specialized online stamp catalogs can also help you determine the difference between stamps that may appear to be very similar.

There are a number of online stamp catalogs from which to choose. The catalog you select for research information may depend on the type of stamps you collect. If your collection is a worldwide collection, be aware there are only a limited number of online stamp catalogs that provide worldwide coverage. These online stamp catalogs include:

Scott Online Stamp Catalog
Stanley Gibbons Catalog
Michel Catalog
Minkus Catalog

Be aware there are also a number of online stamp catalogs that focus specifically on particular countries. These can be handy if your collection focuses on one particular country. Take a look at these online stamp catalogs:

French Online Stamp Catalogs :
For French classic stamps from 1849-1900 -
http://www.citeweb.net/phila/timbres-classiques/timtyp.html

French stamps from 1849-1998-
http://philabx.citeweb.net/timbres.html

French stamps from 1849-1997-
http://www.philatelie-fr.net/galerie/

Austrian Online Stamp Catalogs:
Austrian stamps from 1947 to 2000-
http://www.post.at/content/shop/

Austrian stamps from 1986 to 1996
http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.stamp

Irish Stamps catalog online:
http://www.awwwsome.com/dlaraway/gallery/gallery.htm\

Netherlands stamp catalog from 1872-1913
http://www.geocities.com/empire-stamps/neth.html

British stamp catalogs:
British Stamp online stamp catalogue-Also contains information from North.Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Monmouthshire as well as surcharge stamps.
http://members.nbci.com/britain15/

British Colonies online stamp catalog

http://www.mtu-net.ru/colony/brit.html

Online stamp catalog for Royal Mail of United Kingdom
http://www.royalmail.com/default.htm

Czech online stamp catalog from 1918 to 1999
http://www.czechia.com/filatelie/galerie.htm

Croatian Online Stamp Catalogs:
Croatian stamps from 1906 to 2000
http://home.connexus.net.au/~mikuto/stamps/stcol.htm

Republic of Croatia
http://www.math.hr/stamps/index.html

Luxembourg stamps from 1852-2000
http://www.luxcentral.com/stamps/

Estonian stamps from 1997-2001
http://www.post.ee/eestipostmark/ve_1997.asp?id=31

Latvian stamps from 1919-1940
http://www.riga.post.lv/markas/engl/

Ukrainian stamps from 1992-1997
http://wvnvaxa.wvnet.edu/~roman/1997.html

Russian online stamp catalog
http://www.rossia.com/stamps/frstampinfo.htm
Also see: http://www.rossia.com/stamps/frzemstvo.htm

Mexican stamp catalog-from 1910 to 1997
http://www.mufi.org.mx/emexico.html

Asian online stamp catalogs:
Japanese stamps catalog from 1994-1997
http://www.iptp.go.jp/museum_e/stamp/intro-stamp.html

Singapore Stamps from 1948-2000
http://cs.com.sg/csphil.htm

Old Imperial Chinese stamps catalog
http://www.chinesephilately.com

Thailand stamps from 1883-1994
http://www.kmitnb.ac.th/Stamps/Stamps.html

Armenian stamps from 1992-2001
http://www.armenianstamps.com/

Persian / Iranian Stamps  from 1889 onward
http://www.farsinet.com/tambr/

Iraq 1994-2001
http://www.armenstamp.com/iraqstamps/iraq.html

Egyptian stamps from 1884-1982
http://members.tripod.com/hallouda/index.html

Moroccan stamps from 1996-2000
http://www.baridalmaghrib.net.ma/philat.htm

Tunisian Postal Stamps 1888-2001
http://www.pttnet.gov.tn/stamps/english/index.htm

Online stamp catalogs can be a very handy resource for collectors who want to obtain value information about their stamps or who need guidance in organizing their stamp collection. Browsing through online stamp catalogs can also provide a lot of information that can be particularly helpful for new collectors. As you become more familiar with the various stamps in the area you have chosen to collect, it will become easier for you to identify and locate the stamps you wish to add to your collection.