One of my hobbies is to collect stamps. I concentrate on southern African Commonwealth countries, past and present from 1952 onwards. This e-collection also reflects my “collection strategy” and therefore is not the complete philately field of this region.
What I collect and what not...
I collect mint stamps, preferably never hinged (MNH). I collect changes in design, but not paper or perforation. This does not mean that I ignore the paper type used or the colour of the gum or the number of perforations. I have to distinguish between them, because I collect the first issue of a particular design. I do not collect varieties or misprintings. And I definitely do not collect miniature sheets, although if the design is nice I might be tempted to buy a few to use on letters or sell later.
I have a few first day cover (FDC) collections. I do not collect them actively.
A word about catalogues and “Cat. Value”
Probably all collectors in South Africa make use of the South African Stamp Colour Catalogue (SACC). It is a comprehensive catalogue, but... Only two of the countries included are active postal authorities, which means the catalogue does not expand meaningful with each new edition. This probably explains why it is now published biennially. For reasons unknown, new countries are not added and remain sorely lacking, like post-independance Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Zimbabwe. I also get the impression that the values listed are basically that of Stanley Gibbons multiplied by the exchange rate at publication time. We saw a huge increase in “cat. value” with the 28th edition due to the weakened Rand at that time. I can but wonder what will happen now that the Rand has strengthened and stabilised. Another problem with the listed values is that it doesn’t take into account the old economic principle of supply and demand. Everybody as Homeland stamps to their ears in mint condition, but very few have postally used examples. Yet the mint examples are worth more than the used stamps, as dictated by tradition. The “cat. value” in SACC is more of a guideline than an actual price to be paid. I was once told by one of the older stamp dealers in Houtbaai that one should never pay more than 50% of the value listed in SACC, except for the “King’s Head” Union stamps which are undervalued. On auction, about 35% of “cat. value” is a good price.