I'm a U.S. collector. Not possessions, not the Canal Zone, not Hawaii, not Offices in China - the friggin' U-S of A... the fifty states and nothing outside of that. I've stuck to my guns for almost two decades on this point. I've only recently begun putting together a few topical collections - well, U.S. ONLY topical collections.

Over the years I've built I think a nice U.S. collection and some decent US topical collections of late as well but there comes a time when a guy simply has to broaden his horizons. I've decided to add another country to the mix - maybe even as many as five or six specific countries.

I've made my mind up on the first country - Australia. I'm still doing research on others which include Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, Mongolia, Iceland and Hungary at this time.

I chose Australia first based on a number of things...

1) Australia is an English speaking nation so I'll have no language barrier problems. This should aide in finding a trade/swap/exchange partner in Australia.

2) The ready availability of Aussie postage at a reasonable price.

3) I looked at how many stamps a nation has issued through 2007 and then calculated what percentage of that total I could reasonably expect to acquire with a "1000 different" stamp packet. (just over 39% in the case of Australia)

4) The cost of a "1000 different" stamp packet. My research has shown one of the best ways to start a collection is to purchase the largest packet of a given nation my budget will allow for. This is a secondary country collection to me so I don't want to get out of hand with cost up front.

5) The long term cost to build the collection to at least 80% completion of a given time frame (I'm undecided on this matter as of now but thinking in terms of 1913-2000 or so).

6) My ability to acquire a copy of a stamp catalog for Australia. This was pretty easy since I have the six volume 2009 Scott Catalog on CD so I printed the pages I needed to have them handy as a hard copy.

7) Availability of album pages to build my own album. Another pretty easy task to achieve - just this afternoon I printed the pages for Australia from 1913 through 1997 - I'm still looking for 1998-2011 but at this point I'm not looking too hard.

With all that said I've got my catalog pages and album pages printed out and will start doing some homework on my best deal on a packet.

As I proceed step by step I'd like to keep up with it in this thread - one, so others can point me in the right direction or whack me across the fingers if need be and; two, to pass along to new collectors what works and what doesn't, where to get, where to find, how to make whatever is needed to build a reasonably comprehensive national collection!

Wish me luck!

Hungary issued A LOT of stamps during the communist era, so that may sway you against that country. However, Hungary is also one of the cheaper countries for which you can buy large lots. RG Simpson lists 1500 Hungary (including definitives) for $16.00, or 1500 Hungary Commems and Pictorials only, for $32.50. Another thing about Hungary is that many of the early issues are still valued at minimum catalogue value.



Tedski

I would like to wish you more than luck and help you with your new venture - I have many Aussie stamps; both from the pre-decimal and the decimal eras. Do you prefer single copies of the same stamp or a couple (2 or 3) copies?

maybe we could figure out some sort of swap?

I'd be totally cool with a swap of some kind, Perfs... now, the next thing is I have to hit up Wikipedia and read up on the Australian postal history... I keep reading "pre-decimal" and "decimal" eras... I'm lost on that matter - totally clueless...

If it helps any I'm most interested in the period 1913-1988 (the first 75 years as I understand it of the Australian postal system) or perhaps through the end of the 20th century.

I think trying to catch up/keep up with U.S. 21st century issues is a crazy enough task without adding another country to THAT mix!

oh we are going to get you all set up.. i think it is safe to say that to get you started you will easily be able to swap for the VAST majority of what you are looking for..

in fact once i am done helping the better half get through the rest of the stock on hand i am sure you will have a great deal coming your way..

Works for me, Bear... as you know I've always been a U.S. guy... I can help one or two people build a pretty decent American collection which would make me doubly happy to find new, good homes for some deserving stamps!

In Britains pre-decimal days there were 12 pence to 1 shilling. 20 shillings was one pound. So, there were 240 pence in a pound. In 1971 they switched to a decimal system. Now it is 100 pence to the pound. No more farthings and shillings. So if you want a convenient cutoff point to start or end a British (or British Commonwealth) collection, pre-decimal and decimal provide it.

Tedski

Ahhhhhh... thanks, Youpiao - explained in terms I can understand!... I got it now.

There are a number of facets to consider for an Australian Collection. First, there is the pre-Commonwealth period when Australia was not one nation but a number of states each with its own stamp issues (except for the North Territory).

Federation occurred in 1900 but a Commonwealth stamp was not issued until 1913 (The Kangaroo and Map series) which were soon to be replaced (a change in Government) by the KGV series; but it never did happen fully and the K & M actually lasted longer.

All the stamps issued from 1913 to 1966 are in the old currency (Pounds, shillings and pence). In 1967 our currency was decimalized (Australian dollars; where 1 dollar =10 shillings; which explains why we had a $2 note (£1)) and so were our stamps.

Australia Posts like most issuing bodies went crazy in the late 1990's and doubled and re-doubled the number of yearly issues, so that collecting each year is very expensive. My own collection 'stops' @ 1990... although any stamps that come later that i do not have i do keep.

The last couple of years i have just bought the Annual year book, but i will probably stop doing that.

A very useful pre-decimal site is:

http://predecimal.nf/

Another excellent site for Australian stamps is:

http://australianstrampcatalogue.com/index.php?p=1_12_Interim-Index

Hope this helps

Alex

That helps a lot, Perfs! Like I said earlier I like to dig in a little deeper than hinging stamps to album pages - I like the history of the issuing nation's postal service, I like to at least Google faces and events on stamps... for me it's a two-fold thing - a new country to collect and learn something about the Great Land Downunder and its people...

I agree with you 100% one of the best aspects of this hobby is the stuff you learn along the way.

I have said this before: Philately should form part of the curriculum, primary and secondary.

I think that's a great idea! Youth in America think things like stamp collecting are "old fashioned" or "geeky" and few participate in the hobby. I personally know of exactly none.

Another thing that's fallen out of favor with today's youth is Scouting and that's a double shame because one of the nicest looking patches you can earn in Scouting and one of the easiest and most fun to obtain is the Stamp Collecting Patch.

A crying shame...

also do check for antarctic region's Australian stamps.
ohh and the cancelled one coz these are the two issues i recently faced, take lot of my time to figure out why they are not in the catalogue

OK, so it's not exactly hardcore research but I've read the Wikipedia article on Australia Post and its history. I now understand the decimal/pre-decimal thing, the KGV and QEII eras... sounds all kind of cool to me and quite interesting.

Yep, Aamer, I'm going to look into the Antarctic Territories as well if for no other reason than it sounds REALLY cool!

The stamps from Christmas Island (the one in the Indian ocean off Western Australia) and those from the Cocos Islands can also be used for Australian mail; but strangely not those from Norfolk Island...