ONLINE FREE STAMP CATALOGUES

As I try to write my information in this blog about the post stamps existing on my covers I need to get an advice from philatelic resources. Mainly my information is coming from online stamp catalogues and the worldwide philatelic services. As an eager philatelist I know that this search is common problem for newbie as well as eager collectors and  I think that is a good idea to present you my bookmarks on this subject.

I hope that giving you the proper internet addresses you will find fun to explore them by yourself. 

The UPU

http://www.upu.int/en.html

Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU), with its headquarters in the Swiss capital Berne, is the second oldest international organization worldwide. With its 192 member countries, the UPU is the primary forum for cooperation between postal sector players. It  helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.

In this way, the organization fulfils an advisory, mediating and liaison role, and provides technical assistance where needed. It sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to stimulate growth in mail, parcel and financial services volumes and improve quality of service for customers.

For philatelists there are 2 basic pages in the UPU web page:

The first is the special page which gives the opportunity to find the web pages of the postal authorities in every part of the world at:

http://www.upu.int/en/the-upu/member-countries.html

The second is an online stamp catalogue per country at:

http://www.wnsstamps.post/en

PHILATELIC BUREAUX & POSTAL ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE WORLD

This service gives you the information you need in order to contact any philatelic bureau worldwide.  You get  website links, email links, postal addresses, telephone and fax numbers.  

If there is an English language version of a website, it directs you to that. If the  philatelic bureau is not known you are directed to the general website for the Post Office of the country.

http://www.philatelicbureau.com/

Postbeeld Freestampcatalogue.com

Freestampcatalogue (FSC) is a world stamp catalogue free for everyone to use. Almost all official stamps issued from about 1920 to the present day are shown in the catalogue. However, this includes only stamps and blocks - no special items, misprints, varieties etc. The stamps are displayed per set, resulting in more than 200,000 series and blocks. By using the filter function on the right side of this page, you can easily find stamps sorted by country, theme or date, or a combination thereof.

FSC is built and maintained by PostBeeld, international stamp dealers located in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Items that are in stock are displayed with a PostBeeld selling price and an order button. PostBeeld uses the reference numbers of various catalogues (e.g. Michel, Yvert, Stanley Gibbons, Scott, NVPH).

In reality the site is a combination of stock lists and buying lists of the largest stamp dealers in Europe. Does not contain philatelic background information (such as perforation, printing methods etc).

http://www.postbeeld.com/en/fsc/home/

stampworld.com

An interesting multilingual online catalogue. Please read faq for more useful info.

http://www.stampworld.com/en/

There are also some interesting online catalogue pages mentioned below for which you can find more useful info at :

http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/best-free-stamp-catalogs.php

• CataWiki

Site address: http://www.catawiki.com/catalog/stamps/100273-countries-regions-territories

• Colnect

Site address: http://colnect.com/en/stamps/countries

• Stamps of the World

Site address: http://www.stampsoftheworld.co.uk

• Stampedia

Site address: http://www.stampedia.net/