Our flagship product
Big Sky Stamp Collecting Kits
Everything a stamp collector needs-in one place. When I started collecting stamps, I didn’t even know what I needed, much less where to source things. Our kits contain everything a collector will need, including some of those hard to find items. Hand-packed in Helena, Montana.
What’s inside
Our premium kits include the following quality items, all thoughtfully chosen:
1A curated mix of at least 250 stamps
Quality mixture, off-paper, ready to explore. These stamps have been sourced solely from estate auctions, un-sorted, not picked through. Sorting bulk stamps is not in our business model. We buy, we pass on to you. Included in every kit is at least one hand-chosen stamp from the pre-1920 era (potentially very valuable).
Buy separately →
2A perforation gauge
The little ruler that measures how many holes are punched along a stamp’s edge — one of the first things you’ll use to identify a stamp’s variety. Our Perf guages are custom made to fit right to your stamp, quickly identifying value .
Buy separately →
3A lighted magnifier
One of the most valuable tools in a collectors kit. This helps to make identifying easy.
Buy separately →
4The Big Sky Stamps pocket field guide
A printed, laminated reference to the most valuable variants of common stamps — what to look out for, in your kit and elsewhere. A US or World edition to match your kit, sized to travel in the box and designed to live next to your sorting table.
Buy separately: US edition →
5A set of storage envelopes
Acid-free, archival material for safely storing valuable finds. Sort by country, era, or ‘to research’ without mixing things up.
Buy separately →
6Stamp tongs
Fine-tipped and angled, for lifting stamps cleanly out of a pile or an envelope. Touching stamps with your fingers transfers oils which can be damaging to the antique stamps. A lot of stamps you will handle will be over 100 years old!
Buy separately →
7An introduction to stamp collecting
A short, friendly pamphlet covering all of the essentials of stamp collecting, and of stamps. Perforations, watermarks, color shades, and some of the basic how-to's
Buy separately →
8A quality sealed box
To keep your tools together and your stamps in a sealed, protected enviornment. Made for taking with you; to inspect an estate sale collection, to a stamp show, or anything in between.
Buy separately →
Who it’s for
Beginners, returners, and gift-givers.
If you’ve never collected before— this kit is everything you need to start. You won’t have to try and source things from twelve different listings or wonder what your going to get.
If you’re returning to the hobby after years away — at Big Sky Stamps, we have made some improvements to your craft. Skip the rebuying scavenger hunt, we have everything you need; all together.
If you’re shopping for a gift — for a loved one or a friend — this is the kit we built specifically with giving in mind. It arrives ready for a bow.
Order yours
Available kits.
Designed to grow with you
A kit, but also a starting point.
Big Sky Stamps is built around a single idea: every collector deserves the same care, whether they’re holding their first stamp or their thousandth. The kit is where many of our customers start, and the marketplace is where they go next.