Stamp Catalogs : Page 127

The method of using any general catalog of theworld's stamps remains the same. The most helpfulfeature of any such catalog are the pictures. To locateany given stamp, one opens the catalog to the countrywhich issues the stamp and then searches the pages un-til he finds a picture of the stamp he is trying to identify.Many stamps will have the dates of issue incorporatedsomewhere within their design. Such dates are very help-ful in allowing you to turn to the pages of the cataloglisting the stamps of that particular year. Still other mat-ters of help will be the picture upon the stamps. For in-stance, if a stamp pictures the late President Franklin D.Roosevelt, one would not look for such a stamp to havebeen issued prior to his becoming President of the UnitedStates. Most obviously, it would have to have been is-sued at a later date. Pictures of monuments, engineeringmarvels, etc., will, by their very nature, give similar cluesto the general period of their issue.