Each individual will have his or her preferred way of preparing, mounting and storing stamps. But despite personal choices there are common tools that most collectors will find useful, regardless of his or her own way of working.
 
Most collectors will want to separate newly acquired stamps from the cover (envelope, packaging, etc) to which they [...]

Technology and art often combine in philately. The art aspect is obvious to the naked eye. But sometimes the technology is invisible, as in the case of fluorescent stamps.
Beginning in the 1960s several countries around the world, most prominently those in Scandinavia, employed a curious property of certain compounds in ink.
They used the ability of [...]

Part of the joy of collecting stamps is examining them – to discover their origin and history, or simply to enjoy them as works of art. But a close examination has a practical side as well. It can help detect a forgery or form part of the assessment of the stamp’s value. Part of that [...]