Perhaps you're curious about these things called covers. If you're a new stamp collector you might think they have something to do with first day covers. Although these are sometimes a topic here, the covers I write about are more related to the culture and art that is revealed through the mails, a valuable part of philately, which you probably know is the fancy name for stamp collecting.
There are many ways to enjoy covers, the most serious being through postal history. It is most popular among advanced philatelists, which if you visit About.com Stamps, is a category you may feel doesn't describe you. Like any other area of interest that has practitioners that go from beginner to intermediate to advanced, to call yourself a serious postal history collector is to distance yourself from the beginner and intermediate stages of collecting, where we current users of this site find ourselves.
I am comfortable with my place in the hobby and have discovered how to enjoy the benefits the postal historian realizes without diving into an area which requires study and research, sometimes seeming to preclude fun. Not that the true postal historian misses out on the fun - it is just more serious fun, if you'll forgive that oxymoron.
Learn more by searching this site with the query "covers."
Comments