The First Issues catalog is an attempt to document the first postage stamps issued by any nation, province, city, army or other stamp issuing entity.

The catalog currently boasts entries for 1,515 stamp issuing entities with a total of 15,542 individual stamps (including 4,736 high-resolution images and 18,881 catalog listings). In addition to simply providing an index of first issues, the catalog also provides an inventory/want list capability as well as detailed information on known forgeries, die types and variations.

Guests will see symbols instead of actual catalog values. The individual symbols represent the following values: