A stamp catalog is a catalog of postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 types with descriptions and prices.

The stamp catalog is an essential tool of philately

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 and stamp collecting

Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...

. Stamp catalogs are part of philatelic literature

Philatelic literature

Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history- Background to philatelic literature :...

.

History

The first stamp catalog was published in France by Oscar Berger-Levrault

Oscar Berger-Levrault

Oscar François George Berger-Levrault was a French philatelist. The invention of the stamp catalogue is attributed to him and to the Englishman, John Edward Gray.-Life:...

 on 17 September 1861 and the first illustrated catalog by Alfred Potiquet

Alfred Potiquet

Alfred Potiquet was a French official who was responsible for the first illustrated stamp catalogue in the world.Alfred Potiquet developed his catalogue on the basis of the postage stamp and postal stationery register of the Strasbourg bookseller, Oscar Berger-Levrault...

 in December 1861 (based on the earlier work).

The first catalogs in Great Britain were published in 1862 by Frederick Booty

Frederick Booty

Frederick William Booty was an artist, living in Brighton, England, who was also the author of the first postage stamp catalogue in English, and the first illustrated stamp catalogue anywhere.- Education :...

, Mount Brown

Mount Brown (philatelist)

Mount Brown was an early British philatelist and the compiler of only the second published stamp catalogue in the English language...

, and Dr. John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....

. The first in the United States was The Stamp Collector's Manual by A.C. Kline (a pseudonym for John William Kline), also 1862.

Older catalogs are still widely used by collectors as they may contain information not found in current catalogs and not all collectors are concerned about prices.

Catalogs today

Originally catalogs were just dealer

Stamp dealer

A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in postage stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or official stamps for use on court documents.-Stamps on Approval Basis:...

s' price lists, and in most cases, that is still one of their functions. Over time, as philately

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 developed, catalogs tended to accumulate additional supporting details about the stamps, such as dates of issue, color variations, and so forth. As their use by collectors became widespread, the catalogs came to define what was and was not a legitimate stamp, since many collectors would avoid stamps not described in the catalog. In recent years, the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 has become a common resource for information about stamps. Some catalogs have an on-line version while others are available only on-line.

The following printed catalogs have a worldwide coverage:

• Michel
  Michel catalog
  The Michel catalog is the largest and best-known stamp catalog in the German-speaking world. First published in 1910, it has become an important reference work for philately, with information not available in the English-language Scott catalog.The catalog started out as a price list for the dealer...
  
  
• Scott
• Stanley Gibbons
• Yvert et Tellier
  Yvert et Tellier
  Yvert et Tellier is a postage stamp dealer and a philatelic publishing company founded in 1895 in the northern French city of Amiens, where the head office is still located. The logo is a circle divided into a snowflake and a smiling sun...
  
  

These are large undertakings, since there are thousands of new stamps to describe each year, and the prices of all stamps may go up or down. (In the case of publishers that are not dealers, the prices are estimated by collection of data from dealers and auctions.)

In addition, the catalog publishers usually put out specialized volumes with additional details, generally by nationality: Michel has a specialized German catalog, Scott a specialized US catalog, and so forth.

Many countries have their own "national catalogs", typically put out by a leading publisher or dealer in that country. Postal administrations may themselves put out catalogs, although they tend to be aimed at less-experienced collectors, and rarely provide fully detailed stamp data. Some notable country catalogs include:

• Brusden-White (Australia)
• Edifil catalogs (Spain and her former colonies)
• Facit
  Facit catalog
  The Facit catalog is a specialized postage stamp catalog for the countries of Scandinavia. First published in 1947, it is the most detailed and complete catalog available for philatelists interested in the stamps of Denmark, Faroes, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Åland, and the Danish...
  
   (all countries of Scandinavia)
• Fischer
  Fischer catalog
  The Fischer Catalog of Polish stamps is a yearly publication in catalog form of postage stamps relating to Poland....
  
   (Poland)
• Lamy
  Lamy (and Rinck)
  In Peruvian philately, Lamy refers to a catalogue of cancellations found on classic Peruvian stamps, from the first issue in 1857 to the end of the use of imperforate stamps in 1873...
  
   (Peru)
• Ma catalog (China)
• Sakura catalog (Japan)
• Sassone (Italy)
• Yang catalog (Hong Kong)
• Yvert et Tellier
  Yvert et Tellier
  Yvert et Tellier is a postage stamp dealer and a philatelic publishing company founded in 1895 in the northern French city of Amiens, where the head office is still located. The logo is a circle divided into a snowflake and a smiling sun...
  
   (France)
• Zumstein
  Zumstein catalog
  The Zumstein catalog is a postage stamp catalog from Switzerland. It has been issued regularly since 1909 and is considered to be an important reference work of Swiss philately. It is published in German and French languages....
  
   (Switzerland)
• Phila India - Manik (India)

Online catalogs

Some catalogs have been put online, but not all are free to view. Some most popular ones are:

• Italian Stamps Catalogue
• New Zealand Online Catalogue
• Colnect Worldwide Stamp Catalogue without values
• Find Your Stamps Value - US, GB, Russia, Germany fee based membership

In addition, there is a project to create a worldwide catalogue at WikiBooks:

• The WikiBooks Worldwide Stamp Catalogue

External links

• Extensive list of current printed catalogs