When thinking about gifts for children this holiday season, why not consider the gift of a new hobby? With children spending countless hours watching television, playing video games and on computers, it’s more important than ever to introduce them the wide range of leisure activities.
A hobby such as stamp collecting can open a world of discoveries. Every stamp has something of interest and with more than 200 countries issuing stamps year after year since the 1840s, there is a lot to discover.
I collect giraffes on stamps and recently acquired a 1922 stamp from Tanganyika. The name “Tanganyika” was new to me, so I looked it up and was surprised to learn that this African country changed its name to Tanzania. Some varieties of this stamp have a sideways watermark that make the stamp a bit more valuable. I also was surprised to find that the used copies of this stamp are more valuable than the unused ones.
Now I want to find other stamps in this set. Stamp collecting has been called “the hobby of kings and the king of hobbies.” Linn’s Stamp News estimates that more than 5 million individuals in the United States collect the small pieces of paper. While President Franklin Roosevelt may have been the most famous U.S. collector, other well-known collectors include financial gurus Bill Gross and Warren Buffett, astronaut Sally Ride, actor James Earl Jones, author James Michener, explorer Jacques Cousteau, musician John Lennon, cartoonist Garry Trudeau and French President Nicholas Sarkozy. If you choose to collect stamps, you will be in good company.
A few people collect stamps because some stamps are worth a lot of money, but most of us collect because we enjoy the stamps. In fact, stamp collecting is not an expensive hobby. You and your children can find many stamps to enjoy for less than $2. Plus, stamps come in your mail. Pay attention to envelopes, carefully cut the stamps out and store them for your enjoyment.
You can store your stamps in a stamp album or on special pages we call stock pages. You also can save your stamps in a shoebox or in envelopes. No matter what your choice, be sure that the stamps are kept in a low-humidity environment.
Centre County is fortunate to have the headquarters of the American Philatelic Society, our country’s oldest and largest stamp-collecting organization. The APS has served stamp collectors since 1886. The society has a library, offers beginner classes and sells supplies that can help your child get started. Learn more by touring the historic Match Factory at 100 Match Factory Place in Bellefonte or by visiting www.stamps.org.
This holiday season, consider introducing a child to a new hobby. Whether it be stamp or coin collecting, making model airplanes, crafting jewelry or another hobby, a gift certificate for something like an introductory class could be the start of a lifetime passion.
Gretchen Moody is director of education for the American Philatelic Society. This weekly column is a collaboration of Centre County Communities that Care serving Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola area school districts, and Care Partnership: Centre Region Communities that Care serving the State College Area School District.
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/12/15/2402613/give-the-gift-of-a-hobby.html#ixzz18JAiTM9y
A hobby such as stamp collecting can open a world of discoveries. Every stamp has something of interest and with more than 200 countries issuing stamps year after year since the 1840s, there is a lot to discover.
I collect giraffes on stamps and recently acquired a 1922 stamp from Tanganyika. The name “Tanganyika” was new to me, so I looked it up and was surprised to learn that this African country changed its name to Tanzania. Some varieties of this stamp have a sideways watermark that make the stamp a bit more valuable. I also was surprised to find that the used copies of this stamp are more valuable than the unused ones.
Now I want to find other stamps in this set. Stamp collecting has been called “the hobby of kings and the king of hobbies.” Linn’s Stamp News estimates that more than 5 million individuals in the United States collect the small pieces of paper. While President Franklin Roosevelt may have been the most famous U.S. collector, other well-known collectors include financial gurus Bill Gross and Warren Buffett, astronaut Sally Ride, actor James Earl Jones, author James Michener, explorer Jacques Cousteau, musician John Lennon, cartoonist Garry Trudeau and French President Nicholas Sarkozy. If you choose to collect stamps, you will be in good company.
A few people collect stamps because some stamps are worth a lot of money, but most of us collect because we enjoy the stamps. In fact, stamp collecting is not an expensive hobby. You and your children can find many stamps to enjoy for less than $2. Plus, stamps come in your mail. Pay attention to envelopes, carefully cut the stamps out and store them for your enjoyment.
You can store your stamps in a stamp album or on special pages we call stock pages. You also can save your stamps in a shoebox or in envelopes. No matter what your choice, be sure that the stamps are kept in a low-humidity environment.
Centre County is fortunate to have the headquarters of the American Philatelic Society, our country’s oldest and largest stamp-collecting organization. The APS has served stamp collectors since 1886. The society has a library, offers beginner classes and sells supplies that can help your child get started. Learn more by touring the historic Match Factory at 100 Match Factory Place in Bellefonte or by visiting www.stamps.org.
This holiday season, consider introducing a child to a new hobby. Whether it be stamp or coin collecting, making model airplanes, crafting jewelry or another hobby, a gift certificate for something like an introductory class could be the start of a lifetime passion.
Gretchen Moody is director of education for the American Philatelic Society. This weekly column is a collaboration of Centre County Communities that Care serving Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola area school districts, and Care Partnership: Centre Region Communities that Care serving the State College Area School District.
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/12/15/2402613/give-the-gift-of-a-hobby.html#ixzz18JAiTM9y
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