Postage stamps are used primarily for prepayment of postal charges. The value of the stamp is normally printed on its face. Once the stamp is used it is marked by postal services and cannot be used again to cover postal charges. However, when this stamp goes into the hands of a stamp collector its value can increase tremendously. For example, a one-cent British Guiana magenta stamp of 1856 was sold for $280,000 at an auction in 1970. The hobby of stamp collection has become a serious business for many people.
The use of stamps started in England in 1840. They were the brainchild of Rowland Hill. Earlier, postal charges were based on distance of delivery and weight of the letter. The postal charges were collected from recipients of the letters. Often the ‘recipients’ refused to receive the letters and the letters had to make a two-way trip for no revenue. Rowland Hill was able to show that the cost of handling of letters was much higher than the cost of actual transmission. In other words, the distance of delivery did not have much impact on total postal expenses. Rowland Hill introduced stamps, which were used as prepayment for delivery of the letters. The rates were kept same for delivery of letters all over Great Britain, irrespective of the distance.
Gradually other countries started using stamps. In the USA, although the use of stamps started in 1842, the government first issued 5 cents and 10 cents value stamps in 1847. The usage of stamps grew at phenomenal rate from the time of its inception. Soon there were specialized stamps such as special delivery stamps, semi postal stamps, airmail stamps, revenue stamps (used primarily for tax or cess collection), and commemorative stamps. The first commemorative stamp was issued by New South Wales in 1888, on the 100th anniversary of it’s founding.
The commemorative stamps are regular postage stamps that are issued to honor some event, activity or a person of national importance. These stamps are printed only once and are allowed to go out of circulation as their supply is used up.
The collection of stamps started soon after they were first introduced. Probably the earliest reference to stamp collection is an advertisement in The Times of London, which appeared in 1841 and was placed “by a young lady, being desirous of covering her dressing-room with cancelled postage stamps”. As interest in stamp collection grew, publication of stamp catalogues started. The first list of stamps appeared in 1861 in Strasbourg and Paris. Usage of albums for keeping stamps started in 1862.
Stamp collecting has become a hobby all over the world. For many people stamp collection has become serious occupation frequently involving huge amounts of money. Stamps issued between 1840 and 1875 are among the most valuable because of their rarity and historic significance. The stamp catalogues are published regularly and feature hundreds of thousands of stamps.
Due to the sheer volume of stamps the collectors often turn to specialized fields. For example there may be collectors who collect stamps of particular countries, events, time period, or some other themes.
Stamp collection is a popular hobby. There are clubs, societies, periodicals and various interest groups all dedicated to philately (study and collection of stamps). Sale and auctions of stamps are held frequently in many parts of the world. Even on the Internet there are numerous forums, societies, ezines and other publications. Many countries have organizations at national levels for philately and public display of stamps.
Public interest in stamp collection has given rise to production and circulation of fake stamps. One would do well to verify authenticity of costly stamps before procuring them. There are many stamp organizations that can help in this area. The most prominent of such organizations in the US are the Philatelic Foundation and the American Philatelic Society.
What is the future of stamp collection?
The growing popularity of emails has adversely affected the volume of mail, which is delivered by the postal services. Now the mail delivered by post is often termed snail mail. Courier companies are also expanding their business and are in direct competition with the postal services. With more and more people using the Internet and growing automation it is expected that volume of postal mail will decrease.
The production and issue of stamps are likely to decrease in the future. However the hobby of stamp collection does not show any signs of tailing off. As long as the stamps remain collectors’ items the hobby is here to stay.
Read more about Stamp Collecting as a hobby at HobbyNook.com!
John
