COLLECTIBLES

Collectibles

Hobbies can often become an important part of anyone’s life. The idea of gathering collectibles as a hobby is not a new one. From small, seemingly worthless objects to large prizes and golden cups, throughout the decades, people have been collecting virtually everything one can possibly imagine.

Where to Start?

The first thing you may want to do (if you haven’t already) is to figure out just what exactly is it that you want to collect. If you haven’t made this choice yet, you may use the internet or take a look at various magazines to gain some insight and inspiration about hobbies from the ideas of other people. The most popular collectibles are stamps, post cards and old coins. You will often see that there are special sections for them in newspapers, on virtual shops and hobby websites, because so many people collect them.

If the idea of collecting stamps and coins might not be exactly what you are looking for, there are always many other things you may want to consider: books, magazines, various cards, posters, pottery or CDs are only a few of the numerous collectible objects you can choose from.

In case your financial situation permits it, you can also try collecting more expensive items such as jewelry, paintings, gemstones, electronics or even bikes and cars.

What You Will Need

First of all, after you have chosen the types of collectibles you want to gather, you need to find as much information on the subject as possible. If you want to collect stamps, for example, you can search for rare stamp catalogs where you can find practically any type of collection stamps that has ever been issued.

Catalogs also have an important and very useful aspect: all the collectible items are presented in detail and organized based on themes or categories. You can use this to your advantage, by deciding on a specific theme or niche to focus on, instead of just adding random items from every category to your collection. As a hobby, you can do that too, of course, but if you want to earn some money with your collectibles some day, it is a good idea to think things through as thoroughly as possible.

The internet offers us a great advantage over those who have made a hobby of collecting items in the past. Back then, it was much more difficult to connect with like-minded collectors and you often had to put ads in the local paper and wait for weeks until someone contacted you with information about the items you needed.

Nowadays, there are hundreds of various sites where you can find information and forums, blogs or advertising sections where you can place an ad concerning your specific interest. Letting others know what you want is a crucial step if you want to find people who may have the items you want to collect and who are willing to sell them to you.

The Most Well Known Types of Collectibles

• Stamp collecting: This is quite probably one of the most popular hobbies in the entire world. With the number of stamp collectors reaching an estimate of over 20 million only in the United States, it is safe to say that this is the most loved collecting activity of all.

Stamp collecting is just about as old as the first stamps that were ever made. Ever since the first stamp was issued in Britain in 1840, numerous stamp dealers and collectors have started to emerge in what was to become the start of a world wide movement that still continues to thrive to this day.

The great advantage of stamps is that, out of all other collectibles, they are not only some of the least expensive ones, but are also considered by many to be an art form. A large variety of themes and patterns were depicted throughout the years, ranging from the portrayal of historical figures like kings and presidents, to the reproduction of famous paintings or photographs of landscapes, airplanes or various historical scenes.

It does not cost much to become a stamp collector. The equipment only consists of a stock book with plastic pockets for the safe storage of your stamps, a magnifying glass and a catalog where you can find information about the collectibles you are interested in. It is also a good idea to keep some stamp tongs handy so that you may avoid handling the items with your hands.

• Numismatics: This activity represents the study and collection of coins, paper money and other types of exchange that have been used throughout history. It can be considerably expensive to be a successful coin collector, mainly because of the “collector value” of the currency items. This implies that the older the items get, the greater their value will be – so, for example, a 5 dollar bill from 1910 is considered to be considerably more valuable than a contemporary one.

Even though they are not quite as popular as stamps, these collectibles are sought after by many people. As in the case of stamps, there are many catalogs that were put together to present all the various coins even from hundreds of years ago. By using them, you can study the collector value of practically all the coins belonging to the age period you are interested in, so that you can create valuable coin collections.

Selling Collectibles

Whatever your area of interest, you may find that you can make quite a good profit in the long run, by buying individual items and putting together a collection that may prove to be far more valuable than the sum of its parts.

For example, if you are able to collect all the stamps belonging to a specific theme and from a particular period in history, this collection, if complete, can already be seen as extremely valuable.

Of course, it is not an easy task to gather so many collectibles and sometimes you may find that you will need years for it. Many people however have made fortunes over the years because of the patience and dedication that they have invested into their hobby.