Editing Collecting (section)

==Types of collection==
[[File:Stamp album sleeve.jpg|thumb|alt=text|Stamp album used for [[stamp collecting|collecting postage stamps]]]]
[[File:Numismatic items or specimens on display at an exhibition in Ballygunge, Kolkata.jpg|thumb|Numismatic and philatelic collectable specimens on display at an exhibition in India]]
[[Image:NutcrackerCollection.JPG|right|thumb|A collection of [[nutcracker doll|nutcrackers]]]]
{{See also|list of collectables}}

The most obvious way to categorize collections is by the type of objects collected. Most collections are of manufactured commercial items, but natural objects such as birds' eggs, butterflies, rocks, and seashells can also be the subject of a collection. For some collectors, the criterion for inclusion might not be the type of object but some incidental property such as the identity of its original owner.

Some collectors are generalists with very broad criteria for inclusion, while others focus on a subtopic within their area of interest. Some collectors accumulate arbitrarily many objects that meet the thematic and quality requirements of their collection, others—called ''completists'' or ''completionists''—aim to acquire all items in a well-defined set that can in principle be completed, and others seek a limited number of items per category (e.g. one representative item per year of manufacture or place of purchase).<ref>For example, book collector [[Rush Hawkins]] (1831–1920) sought the first and second books from every European printer before 1501, while illuminated manuscript collector [[Henry Yates Thompson]] (1838–1928) maintained a collection of exactly 100 items, selling his least preferable items to make room for new ones.</ref> Collecting items by country (e.g. one collectible per country) is very common. The monetary value of objects is important to some collectors but irrelevant to others. Some collectors maintain objects in pristine condition, while others use the items they collect.