SYD KRONISH| Stamps Yearbook, guide are perfect gifts

Thinking of buying a gift this holiday season for your stamp-collecting friend or family member? Here are a couple of suggestions:
The U.S. Postal Service has just released its 2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook and the 2003 Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps.
The 2002 yearbook features an array of this year's commemoratives, not only depicting the stamps but presenting a comprehensive record of the designs and stories behind the stamps, as well. They range from the first stamp of the year honoring the Lunar New Year to the holiday specials at year's end.
Designed and illustrated for collectors of all ages, the 64-page hardcover yearbook captures the excitement of the year's stamp program.
The 2003 Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps features nearly 4,000 stamps, from the first issues of 1847 to the present, including detailed listings, catalog numbers, dates of issue, used and unused prices and a glossary of terms.
Useful information
Special information tells the beginner how to start a collection, what type of stamps are available, how to start collecting first-day covers, how to organize a collection and even how to put a stamp in an album.
There also is information about what kind of albums to buy and how to tell what a stamp is worth. It shows how to remove stamps from envelopes, and reviews what kinds of stamps are available -- definitives, commemoratives, specials, airmail and coil stamps.
The hardcover 2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook, which includes an insert card for ordering the 72 stamps featured in the book, and the softcover 2003 Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps are available at major bookstores and stamp dealers.
The yearbook complete with the stamps is $49.95, and the guide is $18.95. They are also available by phone, toll free, at (800) STAMP-24.
The USPS says that they soon will offer the two at larger post offices and by online order at www.usps.com/shop.
Listings
The 2003 edition of the Scott Specialized Catalogue of U.S. Stamps and Covers is now off the presses. Included in the listings are values for postage, air post, plate blocks, first-day covers, postal stationery, revenue stamps, Confederate States, U.S. possessions and United Nations.
More than 18,500 value changes, mostly upward, are noted. "The market for high-quality and scarce U.S. stamps remains vibrant," says editor James Kloetzel.
The cover price is $44.99 and is available at stamp dealers or by calling Scott at (800) 572-6885.