Collecting
What Equipment Do You Need for Stamp Collecting?
To begin collecting you need very little: an album or stockbook to hold your stamps, stamp tongs to handle them without damage, and a magnifier to see the detail. As you progress, hinges or mounts fix stamps in an album, while a perforation gauge, a watermark detector and a stamp catalogue help you identify and study them. None of it is expensive to start.
At a glance
The essentials
Three items are all you truly need to begin. None is expensive, and together they let you handle, hold and enjoy your stamps from the very first one.
Everything else can be added later, as your interest deepens and you discover what you most want to do.
- An album or stockbook. A stockbook has strips that hold stamps without fixing them, ideal for a beginner, while a printed album has spaces for particular stamps. Either keeps a collection safe and tidy.
- Stamp tongs. Tongs are flat-ended tweezers that let you pick up a stamp without touching it. Fingers carry moisture and oils that harm stamps, so tongs matter from the very first stamp.
- A magnifier. A simple hand magnifier reveals the detail that makes collecting rewarding, and is essential for identification.
Album, tongs, magnifier
A modest kit goes a long way
The hobby rewards care and curiosity far more than expensive equipment. Begin with the three essentials, then add specialist tools, hinges or mounts, a perforation gauge, a watermark detector and a catalogue, only as you need them.
For mounting stamps
To fix stamps in an album, you have two choices, covered fully in our guide to hinges versus mounts. Hinges are small folded pieces of gummed paper, inexpensive and peelable, suitable for used stamps. Mounts are clear protective sleeves that hold a stamp without touching its gum, the right choice for mint and valuable stamps.
For identifying and studying
- A perforation gauge measures a stamp's perforations, often the key to its identity. See our guide to measuring perforations.
- A watermark detector, or simply a black tray and watermark fluid, reveals the watermark in the paper. See our guide to identifying a watermark.
- A stamp catalogue, such as Stanley Gibbons, identifies stamps, gives each a reference number and provides a guide value. See our guide to reading an SG number.
What you do not need
Spend little to begin
It is worth saying that you do not need to spend a great deal, especially at first. Begin with tongs, a stockbook and a magnifier, and add the rest only as you need it. The hobby rewards care and curiosity far more than expensive equipment. Above all, never be tempted to "improve" a stamp by cleaning or trimming it, as our guide to what affects a stamp's value explains.
Frequently asked questions
An album or stockbook, stamp tongs to handle stamps without damage, and a magnifier. These three are enough to begin.
Because fingers carry moisture and oils that harm stamps over time. Tongs let you handle stamps safely, and should be used from the very first one.
Hinges are small gummed-paper folds, cheap and peelable, suitable for used stamps. Mounts are clear sleeves that protect a stamp without touching its gum, the right choice for mint and valuable stamps.
Not to begin, but a catalogue such as Stanley Gibbons becomes very useful for identifying stamps, finding their reference numbers and seeing guide values.
A little kit, a lot of pleasure
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Founder and stamp dealerLast updated June 2026