Best Stamp Catalogs - An Introduction

Stamp Catalogs attempt to enumerate, illustrate, and evaluate stamps issued by the world’s various postal departments. As with all aspects of philately, choices are aplenty for Stamp Catalogs too. The overwhelming surge in the issue of stamps in recent years along with certain political factors makes it an impossible task for Catalog manufacturers to record all stamps ever issued by all countries of the world. Further, the vast array of stamps issued almost mandates catalog manufacturers to issue different types of philatelic catalogs. The variations between these catalogs are based on one or more of the following:

1. By country and the level of detail – General catalogs spanning multiple countries (usually by an alphabetical range) are the most popular. They cover most stamps issued in their category but are not detail-oriented.
2. By topics and/or year by and the level of detail – The most common and popular topics include Animals, Space, Ships, Trains, Birds, Sports, Olympics, Soccer, Movie Stars and Disney Characters. “Serious” collectors focus on themes that are harder to come by (investment value is higher) such as certain countries (Prince Edward Island, Falkland Islands, Tasmania, Newfoundland, Cape of Good Hope, Vatican, Bahawalpur, Aegean Islands, etc.), and other areas such as Independence Issues, National Flags, World Figures of historical significance (Pope, Queen Victoria, Christ, etc.), and others such as Zeppelins, War Tax Stamps, First Day Covers, Se-tenants, Gutter Pairs, etc.
3. Specialized in some other way – Specializing in stamps released in the first 100 years (1840 to 1940) is especially trendy and several catalogs are dedicated to this period. Country specialized catalogs are also extremely popular among enthusiastic collectors. Specialized catalogs offer much more detailed listings of the stamps in the arena they focus on.

The big three in philatelic catalogs are Scott Publishers Inc. of USA (a subsidiary of Amos press), Stanley Gibbons of UK, and Michel of Germany. Catalogs from manufacturers including names such as Yvert & Tellier of France and others are either not available in English or do not envelop the entire world. Between the big three manufacturers, the popularity is largely determined by the users location – for US and Canada, Scott catalogs and their numbering system is the de facto standard. In the German speaking world, the Michel catalog is favored while for the rest of Europe and other Commonwealth countries, the Stanley Gibbons catalog is preferred. Among the three, Michel has a reputation for the most country coverage and details.

Given all these choices, it is hard for beginning collectors to decide which catalogs to purchase, if any, to start with. Similar to investing in a quality musical instrument, the less spent initially, the better – chances are high that philately could be a passing interest or one might opt to specialize. Availing of the resources at the local library initially is ideal. When the passion is real it is recommended to consider the following:

• Invest in used catalogs as opposed to new ones – the valuations change every year based on exchange rate and other factors but they are minor and for the most part beginning collectors easily acquire a broad sense of the valuation range with older catalogs. One caveat with this recommendation is to choose catalog from the late 90s onwards as opposed to earlier ones as the valuations of certain categories of stamps (CTOs – Cancelled To Order) have changed drastically as collectors recognized the diminished values of stamps issued purely as a revenue source, and
• Prefer alternative media (CDs or DVDs) in place of paper book catalogs whenever possible.

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Last Updated: 07/2011.