The number of stamp collectors worldwide runs into the millions. There are thousands of stamp-collecting clubs, hundreds of auction houses and a myriad of vendors producing lists of stamps for sale. As for the catalogues, magazines and stamp-collecting publications in all languages, there are by now too many of them to count.
Philately is a social phenomenon. It makes up a whole world of local shows and displays, national exhibitions and frequent international events. It has its own conventions, and its own trade exchanges. It is a world that has given rise to a robust international market that enjoys the support of national postal services, which will sometimes sponsor major exhibitions. This market has transformed the postage stamp from a simple small object of attraction for collectors into a veritable asset in every sense of the term. A stamp is a store of value that can be liquidated anywhere in the world. Owing to the huge amount of interest and vast amount of capital invested in this market, it was inevitable that, the probity of most commercial operators notwithstanding, parts of the trade became contaminated with products created by skilled forgers. The contamination of the market with forgeries dates back years, and while they have never succeeded in undermining the its basic solidity or prejudicing its development, their unwelcome presence has meant that, since the early twentieth century, valuation experts have become an integral and indispensable part of the trade. Indeed, so crucial have they become that even if a stamp has a certain intrinsic value, it will not be traded, will find no market and therefore cannot be sold unless its authenticity has been certified by an officially recognized expert.
Practice makes perfect. Our expertise is based on long experience. Expertise comes from tradition. Rome was not built in a day.
True competence in the field requires years upon years of study and research, an extensive and well preserved stock of materials for comparison purposes, and plenty of personal experience.