Cool Timeline
Author’s surprising discovery
The first country to allow commercial printing of advertisements on the back of its stamps was New Zealand. The year was 1893 and almost 100 ads for everything from pills, pickles, tobacco and coal to chocolates and soap, were printed on the gummed side of seven definitives featuring a portrait…Read More
We’ve Got You Covered
You probably know by now that Freestampmagazine comes under the umbrella of PostBeeld, along with our other freely-offered service for stamp collectors, Freestampcatalogue. Accordingly, now and then we like to inform our readers of items recently added to PostBeeld’s already enormous and extremely varied stock. Among recent additions is a…Read More
The History of Stamp Collecting Part 10 – Mount Brown
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…Read More
Islands in the Stream
This year’s SEPAC theme is ‘Seasons’. SEPAC stands for Small European Postal Administration Co-operation and consists of the following group of small European postal administrations: Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Åland, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican.
A Miracle in the Making
Well, it’s only 2,500 miles!! It is now almost 158 years ago that one man’s dedication and perseverance bore fruit. Cyrus W. Field, a retired American paper merchant, formed a company in 1854 with the intention of improving and speeding up communication between North America and Britain. The idea was…Read More
Less could be best? – Part 2
One of the biggest frustrations for many stamp collectors is the enormous amount of new issues. The question can then become: “How much of my ready cash do I spend on new stamps and how much should I spend on old items that will give me a more varied collection?”…Read More
Wages Paid in Birds?
Guatemala is the only country in the world with its currency named after a bird. Rather a shame that other countries haven’t followed suit. If you live in America you might have Cuckoos in your bank account, in Britain you could pay your rent in Robins, in France your shopping…Read More
Less could be best? – Part 1
One of the biggest frustrations for many stamp collectors is the enormous amount of new issues. The question can then become: “How much of my ready cash do I spend on new stamps and how much should I spend on old items that will give me a more varied collection?”…Read More
COMING SOON
In February the United States of America will release the stamp sheet shown below. This issue commemorates the 250th anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, British legislation that galvanized and united the American colonies and set them on a path toward revolution.
On the right track
Trains and railways have always been a popular topic for stamp collectors. Recently issued by Malaysia is this stamp set, called Trains in Sabah, featuring a Hitachi diesel locomotive (60 sen), as well as a railbus (70 sen) and a diesel multiple unit (80 sen).
