As a stamp collector and blogger, I regularly visit a TON of stamp-related websites. Over the years, I’ve found several websites that I go back to over and over again, because they’re just that good.
I realize that lots of stamp collectors have no idea some of these websites even exist. That’s really too bad, since the knowledge you can get from these sites is almost unimaginable. I want to share these sites with others, because without them I think you’re really missing out.
Without further ado,
Stamp Smarter
If you collect stamps – which I’m sure you do if you’re reading this – Stamp Smarter is a site that you cannot miss. Stamp Smarter includes tons of amazing features.
The pop-up stamp finder is one, which allows you to input any Scott number and it will return a picture of that stamp with a description. At this time, the pop-up stamp finder works for both United States and Canadian stamps.
Another feature is the US Plate Number Tool, which allows you to input any plate number of a United States stamp, and it will return the Scott catalog number of that stamp just based on the plate number. This is an extremely useful tool for stamp buyers when buying a plate block that may or may not be correctly identified. By putting in the plate number on the plate block, you can see whether the seller identified it correctly or not. Of course, you can use this tool to correctly identify your own plate blocks as well.
1847USA is by far one of the most useful tools offered by Stamp Smarter. 1847USA helps you identify and learn about United States stamps. The identification aspect alone is extremely comprehensive and has proven very beneficial for me over the years.
Stamp Smarter also has a World Stamp Identifier, which is a really handy identification tool for collectors of worldwide material.
An extensive list of How To articles provides an excellent resource for new and advanced collectors alike. The topics covered in the how to articles range from how to buy stamps online, to how to extract stamp image colors, and much more.
Another great feature is listing reviews. Stamp buyers using eBay should definitely check this feature out, since it gives tons of reviews of eBay stamp dealers. Educating yourself on who to trust and who not to trust can save you tons of money and hassles.
I’ve only covered a very small portion of what Stamp Smarter has to offer. There are many other useful features, but if I were to list them all here it would take forever. Whether you’re just a beginner in the world of stamp collecting, or a seasoned veteran, I have no doubt that you’ll find Stamp Smarter to be a valuable resource, just as I have.
The American Philatelic Society
The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest non-profit organization for stamp collectors in the world. Founded in 1886, the APS serves collectors, educators, postal historians, and the general public by providing a wide variety of programs and services.
The APS website has lots of useful stamp collecting information along with programs and services. The APS monthly newspaper, the “American Philatelist”, is published online for members of the APS. For those interested in furthering their philatelic knowledge and career, joining the APS is a must.
Stamp World
Stamp World offers many features, such as identification for hundreds of thousands of worldwide stamps, and estimated values for these stamps as well. People can also buy and sell stamps at Stamp World.
Stamps2Go
Stamps2Go is a buy and sell stamp marketplace, where people can browse through stamps for sale by Scott number, or sell their own stamps. Stamps2Go can be a great alternative to eBay if you’re searching for a specific stamp that’s not well represented on eBay.
Linns
Linns Stamp News is a weekly stamp news magazine. You can stay up to date with all the latest philatelic happenings, and pick up some great philatelic knowledge as well.
The Swedish Tiger
The Swedish Tiger is a website that helps with identifying United States stamps. It also gives their values, which is a very sought-after feature on stamp identification websites. The Swedish Tiger also includes a section on Great Britain stamps, which is still a work in progress.
USPhila
If you want to know what an old US stamp in great condition is worth, this is the place to look. USPhila provides thousands of records of auction prices realized for old and valuable United States stamps. Although, you should keep in mind that the stamps shown on USPhila are of excellent quality, and many of them are certified. So if you have one of the stamps listed on USPhila in your collection, it’s only worth those high prices if it’s in pristine condition.
Stamp Collecting Blog
Stamp Collecting Blog is run by a worldwide collector who blogs about a wide array of philatelic topics. The full length articles are only available for subscribers though, but if you’re serious about collecting and learning something new every day, it might be a good idea to become a subscriber.
Blog timbrofil
Blog timbrofil is authored by a worldwide stamp collector. The blog is written in Romanian, but for us non Romanian speakers Google Translate will take care of that. 😉 The topics covered within the blog vary widely, and I learned a lot after just reading a few.
Of course, there are many other stamp collecting websites, but these are the ones I most frequently visit. I feel that they all offer some real value to collectors, and are all-around excellent resources.
Which stamp websites do you feel offer great value? What are some good ones that I haven’t mentioned? Feel free to share some of your favorites — I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you so much for including my blog on the list of recommendations, along with big names in the world of philately. I will endeavor to make my blog increasingly more useful! Catalin
Catalin,
It was definitely deserved. You’re blog is great!
Ian
The information you have given about Stamp Smarter is a commendable compliment. It is very important to know about the use of the stamp.
Thanks for your information
You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful.
This is absolutely exceptional. Even though variety of article on this topic, this article carries a number of the treasured points which had been never be read in other articles.
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi there, wondering if you’d be willing to add out new website to track your stamp collection and wantlist to the list:
http://stampmates.com
We cover almost 10K stamps in our database and we’ll soon be opening up for our members to submit new entries. Let us know what you think!
Hi Bryan,
I checked out your site (and signed up). It seems like a neat idea, but certain functionalities are missing that I’d like to see implemented. For one thing, I would suggest having the option to create an account other than having to sign up with Facebook. I would also streamline the want lists/collections, perhaps by allowing members to print them as a spreadsheet (or whatever) making it easy for members to take their want list to a stamp show, for example. I would also suggest placing links to these pages (want list and collection) in the menu for logged-in users. And of course, members must be able to submit their own stamps, so I’m glad you’re working on that.
Overall, Stampmates is looking good so far and I will definitely add it to the list once some of these needed features are added. 🙂
Ian
Hello Ian,
I am the maintainer of “Stampforgeries of the World” (http://www.stampforgeries.com).
Forgeries are unfortunately a big part of our hobby, and as such we should work to educate especially new collectors about the dangers herein. I look forward to seeing more about this subject on your website.
Best regards,
Morten
Hi Morten,
I agree, all collectors should familiarize themselves with forgeries. Your site looks like an awesome resource! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely look into publishing articles about forgeries on the blog.
Ian
Hi Ian
I trust that you are well, and thank you for your article, which directed me to some other Philatelic websites.
Much as some people before me, I too have a philatelic website (lol)
http://www.richterstamps.co.za
As I am still in the process of building the website, and have not as yet focused on much marketing, and you being interested in philatelic websites, I kindly request you to take a visit to my site and offer any criticism / comments
Thank you
Regards
Carl Richter
Hi Carl,
Thanks for sharing your website. You have obviously spent a lot of time adding your very impressive collection! Do you have future plans to focus on something specific, such as turning your collection into an online catalog, or something else entirely? Seems like a good foundation on which could be built a valuable tool, for example.
Nice work so far!
Ian
Hi Ian
Thanks for your response.
Indeed yes I have spent much time building our collection, and as yet have not even focused on marketing our website.
You are also correct in saying that this is our foundation for what is to follow.
In terms of turning our collection into an online catalog, I am not sure I have the necessary knowledge & skills yet to do something like this, but I am quite sure that my skills have developed in the last year.
For now, I will be looking at growing an interested following and in time I will be adding related products for purchase (possibly through Affiliate Marketing). I might even looking at a buying & selling of stamps aspect, but find that that may require too much of my time.
Anyways, thanks again.
Regards
Carl
Carl,
As to marketing your website, perhaps you’ll consider listing it on the directory as a start, which is free of charge. You will need an account in order to do so, but that is free as well.
For growing a following, I would suggest getting on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram if you haven’t already, and being active on those platforms. I would also put a lot of focus on SEO for your blog posts in order to increase organic search traffic.
Wishing you success with your website! I look forward to seeing its progress.
Ian
Also check out Stamporama.com
It is a volunteer run website with members from all over the world. Free to join but nonmembers can look through the articles and discussion board. Join and you can take advantage of the fantastic auction and approval books available online. The depth on knowledge and willingness to share information make Stamporama a great resource.
Yes, Stamporama is a great resource! I have visited it many times, and included it in my list of the best stamp forums.
1847USA does not seem to exist any more. I’ll miss it.
Hi John,
You’ll be happy to hear that 1847USA does still exist, and it’s even been improved upon. It was simply moved over to StampSmarter.
Here’s the link: http://stampsmarter.com/1847usa/1847Home.html
Ian
Hello Ian, really enjoyed reading the article, well as a collector i enjoy anything stamp related! I founded dopa-stamps.com which now recently changed to https://www.wopa-plus.com i wanted to offer a platform to collectors and postal administrations to offer / buy new philatelic issues anther official face value prices in order to make the collecting of new issues more affordable and convenient to everyone. The it grew to multilingual, multi currency, almost 50 official postal administrations etc so it has improved ever since and the success caught me by surprise! 30,000 collectors signed up to receive our email newsletter. Have a look please and let me know if you think it would be a worthy addition to your article. Thanks and have a lovely day . Sorry for the long post 🙁
Hi Glendon,
I just had a look. Great site and resource for collectors! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have plans to update the post soon, and will be sure to include your link.
Ian
I would like to advise you to visit https://www.francobolliefilatelia.com. It’s an italian website with a lot of details about the new philatelic issues and news about italian, vatican e stamps of San Marino. An online catalog about italian barcoded stamps is also available in the Francobolli e Filatelia website.
Great looking website! Although I can’t read Italian, Google Translate is my friend. 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, great post! i would like to suggest these blog about Costa Rica Stamps http://www.estampillascr.com
Regards,
Alfonso
Thanks for sharing, Alfonso!
Ian, great job at the Statue of Freedom first day ceremony today! Check out the International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors http://www.iswsc.org when you get a chance. Thank you
Thank you, John! It was nice meeting you at Summer Seminar. I’ll definitely check out your site!
Not sure how you left StampAuctionNetwork.com off this list. It has 1.2 Billion of Prices Realized and current auctions of 95% of the Stamp Auctions worldwide.
You forgot stampcommunity.org. One of the busiest and family friendly forums out there. Don, owner of StampSmarter has been a moderator there for years.
Hi Bobby,
I love Stamp Community, and have been a part of it for years. I actually created a post about the best stamp forums (around the same time as this post), and listed Stamp Community as #1. Here’s the link to that post: http://stampcollectingspot.com/7-super-stamp-collecting-forums
Great work Ian. Am I allowed to mention my website, http://www.koalastamps.com where I offer for sale an extensive (although not yet complete) coverage of Pacific (Oceania) countries.
I focus on it being a friendly and easy to use website, with large images and accurate descriptions.
I also have plans to expand with listings for Europe and Asia.
Would love for you to visit the site and review / comment.
Regards,
Rod
Hi Rod,
I do apologize for my late response.
Of course you are allowed to mention your site. I had a look and think you’ve done a fantastic job with it. I am impressed with the number of listings on it! I found it very user-friendly, with clear navigation and useful filters.
Thanks for sharing. I am sure many readers will find it useful, and hopefully purchase something. 🙂
Ian