Absolutely, collecting stamps from every country and era would indeed be a monumental task, both in terms of space and cost. For this reason, many collectors choose to focus their efforts on specific areas of interest within philately. Some collectors concentrate on stamps from particular countries or regions, allowing them to explore the unique history, culture, and design of those areas in depth. Others may focus on specific time periods, such as the classic era of stamp production in the 19th century, or on more recent issues with innovative designs and printing techniques. Additionally, thematic collectors, known as “topical” collectors, may specialize in stamps featuring specific subjects or themes, such as animals, sports, space exploration, or famous personalities. By narrowing their focus, collectors can build meaningful and manageable collections that reflect their personal interests and passions within the diverse world of stamp collecting.
many collectors choose to organize their philatelic collection on the theme of the stamps, covers, or postmarks. Popular topical themes are animals, dogs, cats, butterflies, birds, flowers, art, sports, Olympics, maps, Disney, scouting, space, ships, Americana (topics relating to the US), stamps on stamps, famous people, chess, Chinese new year, and many others.
- Airmail stamps – stamps may be required for airmail, which is typically more expensive and has special postage rates.
- Commemorative stamps – stamps to commemorate events, anniversaries, etc., on sale for a limited time.
- Definitive stamps – the most common type of stamps
- Postage due stamps are special stamps applied by a post office to mail bearing insufficient postage. The stamps were issued in several denominations to make up different amounts due.
- Postal stationery – includes government-issued postal cards, aerograms, letter card, wrappers, envelopes, etc., that usually have an imprinted stamp.
- Sheets
- Sheetlets – this is a format that is now issued regularly by postal administrations. Instead of issuing stamps in large sheets of 40, 100 or even 200 stamps, smaller sheetlets with 20 to 24 stamps are issued with a large selvedge area which may incorporate part of the stamp design or theme.
- Souvenir sheets – many postal services sometimes release stamps in a format that look like a sheet with a big picture. Various parts of the picture can be torn out and used as postage stamps. See example with 10 stamps in one picture. (Souvenir sheets should be distinguished from souvenir cards, which are souvenirs of a philatelic meeting or exhibition but are not valid for postage.)
- Miniature sheet – is very similar to a souvenir sheet, being in a sheetlet with a single or a number of stamps embedded in it.
- Corner blocks or plate blocks – compose a block of stamps from one of the four corners of the stamp sheet. Collectors usually opt for a block of four stamps, complete with the selvage area which will sometimes have the printing details on it.
- Coil strips – Pairs or more of stamps from rolls, premium ones showing the plate number or a coil line pair which shows the seam between the edges of the plate.
- Revenue stamps – stamps issued to pay taxes.
- Federal Duck Stamps (stamps for duck hunting licenses, mainly U.S. with some other countries such as Canada and New Zealand)
- First day cover (FDCs) – envelopes with stamps attached and canceled on the first day that the stamp was issued. Most modern FDCs bear designs, called “cachets“, related to the theme of the stamp issued.
- Maximum cards – these are postcards where the stamp is on the same side as the picture and they have a close connection.
- Souvenir pages – with first day canceled stamps on a page describing all design, printing and issuing details. These are similar to first day covers except that they are issued as printed sheets of paper instead of envelopes, and the specification of the stamp is printed by the official source. See picture of first souvenir page in the US.
- Cinderella stamps – stamp-like labels that are not valid for postage.
- Postmarks or postal markings in general.
