In the late 1970s a fascinating series of articles written by Mr. K. Kouwenberg about the history of Stamp Collecting, appeared in the Dutch magazine Philatelie. This series has been the source of inspiration for PostBeeld owner Rob Smit to rewrite the history of stamp collecting in instalments. This is Part 1: Introduction and The First Stamp.
The Pacific Ocean island Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, went into the history books as the first country to issue self-adhesive stamps in 1963. The series, circular in shape, was printed on embossed gilt-foiled paper and commemorated the 1962 first issue of gold coins by Polynesia.
The copper printing plate for the famous Mauritius 1847 “POST OFFICE” 1d and 2d stamps has been found after being missing, thought lost, for 80 years, and will be displayed at the London 2015 Europhilex Stamp Exhibition, which will be held at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London from 13-16 May 2015. This is a special event, held to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the first postage stamp, the Penny Black.
Day after day new postage stamps are issued depicting a variety of topics. Here are some examples of recently issued stamps featuring a variety of topics.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled a stamp last Tuesday to honor the late poet Maya Angelou. The presentation was attended by Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
Maya Angelou is depicted on this stamp with the quote ‘A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song’. Unfortunately this quote is not one of Angelou’s.
The Cayman Islands Postal Service issued a stamp series entitled ‘Anchors’ in 2013.
The stamps feature the anchors of local shipwrecks with illustrations of the ship type. The series highlight the anchors of the Mathusalem (20c), Topsy (25c), Inga (25c), Tofa ($1.50) and Glamis ($2). The first day cover features the HMS Sparrowhawk.
To use postage stamps as propaganda material is not unusual. Many countries have issued these kind of stamps in the past and in all likelihood some will continue to do so in the future.
This is certainly the case in times of war, when propaganda can be deployed on all fronts, including postage stamps. In the ‘Cold War’ much propaganda was used, especially as it lasted so long.
You have possibly seen certain stamps and wondered: “Who gave the authority for these stamps to be released?”
Stamps whose design or illustration is so poor that you think they might even make an amusingly-collectible topic.
Some people are interested in ancient mythology and love the stories handed down through the years about the Gods the Romans and Greeks worshipped.
Certain philatelists also collect stamps for this topic and many countries have issued stamps over the years commemorating the Gods.
As long ago as 1966, Belgium issued a stamp with a dinosaur on it. Very revolutionary for the time. On May 28 of that year, a stamp was released with a picture of the skeleton of an Iguanodon.