Do's & Dont's

DO’S:

1. Use stamp mounts to put your stamps in your albums or use a hinge-less album.
2. Do have a stock-book to store your stamps until you mount them on your album pages
3. Label your stamps with numbers. It makes them so much easier to identify later. Of course, do not write on the stamp. Instead write the number on the album page or put the stamp in a glassine and write the number on the glassine. Or simply prepare a synopsis of stamps and album page number and past the page in side the front cover of the album.
4. Flag the very valuable stamps in your album. If you can’t stand the thought of writing in the album, you can keep a list somewhere.
5. Number or label your album sets especially when you have more than one album for a country or group of countries. Number the volumes 1, 2, 3... Or A1, A2, A3...B1, B2, B3, etc.
6. Try to organise your collection as organised collection looks good and values more. Remember your stamps can bring you a fortune, only when you care to maintain its condition. It does not matter if it is a mint or used stamp. Maintenance makes the difference
7. Buy stamps because you like stamps :)
8. Spend time on putting your purchases in their respective places. Just don’t buy them or collect them and store them somewhere.
9. Always use blotters for storing your mint stamps and avoid the direct contact of your stamps with either cellophane or P.V.C. Duplicate mint stamps carefully in tin boxes with blotters and Silica - gel crystals
   
10. Use the guidance of the SPECIALISTS before speculating on any odd or new stamps
11. Always try to use good quality accessories like album or tweezers. 
12. Now-a-days a worldwide collection is an impossible task. So pick one country or group of countries either political or geographically related. Or you can pick a theme that interests you like history, art, literature, birds, animals and space. Your theme can be anything that you choose. But at the end its up to you what you want to collect. 
13. Join a local stamp club or group. The senior members will always be ready to answer your basic questions about philately and guide you in the art and science of this hobby. Make use of the library of your stamp club. Here you will find vast amount of philatelic literature, which will be useful in acquiring knowledge in improving your collection. Or Internet is the best option.
14. Attending stamp exhibitions is also very important; where you will learn to know the material better. At most of the stamp exhibitions you will find dealers selling philatelic material, which can be bought at reasonable prices.
15. Once you start collecting, it becomes necessary to have a check-list. Do list all the stamps, Miniatures, se-tenant FDC that you are aware of. As you buy, tick off the items you already have as this will save you the problem of buying unnecessary duplicates.

DONTs:

1. Don’t past your stamp in album. Pasting stamp ruins it.
2. Don’t Use hinges to mount mint stamps (ideally any stamps) in an album. Hinges decrease the value of your stamps. If you must use hinges, use peelable hinges and only on used stamps. 
3. Don’t split sets of stamps between albums.
4. Don’t mount stamps all over the edges of a page. If there is no space for a particular stamp, try to put it on a blank page for that country. Mounting stamps around the margins of the page can cause damage to the stamps. 
5. Don’t try to save every stamp you ever see. Join a stamp club, then try selling some duplicate stamps, or trade them for ones you don’t have already, or give them away to a new collector.
6. Never buy STAMPS from a dealer without knowing more about them through Books, Periodicals & Catalogues.
7. Do not put direct sunlight or do not expose stamps to moisture.
   
8. Do not peel off hinges from your stamps unless you are an expert.. Always peel stamps from envelop or any other paper by soaking then in clean water. Then dry them on blotters under a small weight and then mount them in the albums. Remember some old stamps should not be washed in water like all other stamps. 
9. Don’t soak stamps cut from colored envelopes with others – the paper dye might run and ruin other stamps.
10. Don’t handle stamps with your fingers more often than you can help: Always use tweezers.
11. Don’t cut stamps from envelopes before you know the cover has no significance.
12. Don’t mount damaged or dirty stamps in your collection. They spoil the appearance of an album page and are nearly always valueless.
13. Don’t mount your stamps haphazardly. Arrange them neatly and according to some definite plan
14. Don’t mount a stamp until you are sure of its country of origin. Ask a more experienced collector to identify it for you if you cannot do it yourself.
15. Don’t class a stamp as a duplicate until you have checked on every detail of its design, perforation, watermark and paper.

Above are from my understanding and knowledge, but they are not the end of it. You are most welcome to give more suggestions to others and me as well…..