By KENNETH CAMILLERI

My hobby is collecting stamps. I have about 2000 stamps from all over the world which are in my seven stamp albums.

This is the first page of my collection. I put the stamps in alphabetical order of the country that they come from. Then I put them in order of their value, starting from the smallest value.

In one of my albums I put sets of a particular subject. One of my sets is of colourful butterflies from all over the world.

Some other sets that I have are of trains, cars, aeroplanes, space, tigers and motorcycles.

My favourite stamp comes from India and is the biggest one of my collection. It is 9.5cm long and 4.6cm wide.

Stamp collecting is one of the world’s most popular hobbies. It is estimated that in the United States alone there are about 20 million collectors.

To start collecting stamps you will need a stamp album which has pockets where you can insert the stamps. You will also need a magnifying glass and tweezers.

Two famous people that collected stamps when they were young are Freddie Mercury of the Queen and John Lennon of the Beatles. Their albums are now on display in Museums.

This stamp is called the ‘Penny Black’ and was the world’s first adhesive stamp. It was issued in the United Kingdom on 1st May 1840.

This stamp is called ‘Inverted Jenny’ and is very rare because the aeroplane was printed upside down in error. When they realised what happened they printed others with the plane the right way up. The few that remain today are worth a lot of money.