How To Wreck Your Stamp Collection

In an old Refresher Course column by Janet Klug that appeared in Linn's, she writes about 12 ways you can "wreck" your stamp collection.

No. 1. Keep your collection in your basement.
No. 2. Keep your collection in the attic.
No. 3. Cram as many stamps as possible in your albums and stock books.
No. 4. Pick your stamps up with your fingers.
No. 5. Leave your stamps where they will be in direct sunlight.
No. 6. If you use hinges to mount your stamps, slobber all over the hinges before sticking them to the stamp and album page.
No. 7. Store your albums horizontally rather than vertically.
No. 8. If you use mounts, use the wrong size.
No. 9. Use your stamp albums as filing cabinets.
No. 10. Write on the backs of your stamps and covers (see above).
No. 11. Children love to draw and color in books with their crayons and markers, so be sure to leave your stamp albums where your kids and grandkids can get to them.
No. 12. If you leave your collection where the youngsters can get to it, presumably any household pet can play with it too.

To read the entire article, click here.

BTW - Be sure to check out Janet's new book, "Guide to Stamp Collecting." Amazon calls it, "...the definitive guide to becoming a smart and savvy stamp collector, with information on everything from the history of stamps to surprising celebrity philatelists to the best way to remove stamps from envelopes."