Club puts stamp of approval on fair

Alex Leftwich shows a small portion of his portfolio of more than 4000 bird-themed stamps. Photos: Sam Henderson

For many of us, the days of putting a stamp on an envelope is now a rare occurrence.

This has not prevented stamps from remaining a sought-after commodity, often increasing in value over time.

Philatelists will be able to expand their collections this Sunday as the Dunedin Stamp and Postcard Club presents its latest Stamp Fair.

Chairwoman Val Sparrow said the event would include, in addition to stamps, postcards, DVDs, CDs, books and coins.

People who collect stamps often chose a particular theme for their collections.

Alex Leftwich has a collection of more than 4000 stamps featuring images of birds.

His collection has stamps from all over the world, including lesser-known locations such as the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the Middle East and the Republic of Paraguay.

A tip for budding collectors was to leave stamps on the envelope if they were still attached, because postmarks could also be valuable.

Dunedin Stamp and Postcard Club chairwoman Val Sparrow shows New Zealand health stamps including ones from 1931 that were rare because fewer were sold due to the worldwide Depression.

"A lot of the postmarks, of course, are now redundant post offices as well, so they no longer exist."

When buying stamps, forgeries of stamps were something to be mindful of.

If a stamp was on offer for a price that seemed too good to be true, that could be a warning sign it was a forgery.

"One of the other ways you can tell too, sometimes, is the perforations of the stamp.

"There could be 14 perforations down that side and say 12 across the bottom or something like that.

"A forgery might not have the exact number."

Another way was to look at the back of the stamp to see if there was a watermark.

"And then you get mistakes on stamps that have been printed ... the colouring is wrong or there has been a word missed out."

Stamps from the Auckland Exhibition of 1913 owned by Russell Flett show the difference in value between used and mint, with the top used row worth about $1300 and the bottom mint set worth about $2000.

Mr Leftwich’s advice for looking after stamps included using a stock book, an album with pockets of clear plastic that held stamps in place without the need for hinges.

Storing stamp albums in a dry, airy room was important. It was a good idea to flick through albums occasionally to air them.

Mrs Sparrow said people coming to the show would be able to buy and sell stamps. They would also have the opportunity to get stamps valued.

She hoped people of all ages would visit the fair and consider joining the 111-year-old club.

"Our aim is to get some young people back into stamp collecting."