ways to collect stamps

Two major ways are generally recognized for collecting stamps. They are general collecting and topical collecting. With general collecting the philatelists collects as many stamps as possible. They generally save stamps they or their families and friends receive on letters delivered to their mailboxes or post office boxes. Other sources of stamps might be: postcards and packages with stamps on them; asking people who mail you letters and other items, to use interesting stamps such as commemoratives, "First Day Issues", etc.; neighborhood business that get a lot of mail are another source; such as banks, stores, and particularly travel agencies. Topical collecting allows people to tailor their collections to their own particular interests. Simply choose one or two specific themes that really interest you such as: art, history, science, technology, sports, transportation to name just a few possibilities. If for example you love animals, you can start a topical collection with U.S. stamps that feature animal subjects. You could begin with the pane of 50 North American Wildlife stamps issued in 1987; then add blocks of four horses (1985), dogs (1984) and cats (1988). With the Creatures of the Sea block of four isued in 1990 you can create a special animal category for sea mammals.