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| Be Wise Being A Philatelist |
- What is Philately - Philately is the collection and study of postage stamps, postmarks, stamped envelopes and related materials. A philatelist is someone who collects or studies stamps. Hundreds of countries all over the world continually print different stamps allowing for a stimulating, interesting, profiatble and educational hobby experience.
- Stamps have the following characteristics:
- Printed on different kinds of paper and have different watermarks (or none) embedded in the paper.
- Different perforations.
- Various color shades and overprints.
- Printed with errors/faults.
- Classified as definitive (everyday postage), commemorative, express mail, military, official mail, occupation, postage due, war tax, etc.
- World famous postage stamps:
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| The World's First Postage Stamp Issued (without perforations) - The One Penny Black was issued on Wednesday 6th May 1840 and the Two Penny Blue was issued on Friday 8th May 1840 early in the reign of Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837-1901. The Penny Black is not that rare a stamp and about 68 million were issued in 1840-41. Prices depends on the condition and good used stamp can be bought for around $120. |
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| First British Empire stamps produced outside of Great Britain the Mauritius "Post Office" stamps. On 21 September 1847, Mauritius issued 500 orange-red One Penny and 500 deep blue Two Pence denominations stamps. They are amongst the most sought after and the most famous stamps in the world. and only 27 stamps are estimated to be still around with an estimated value of 1 million pounds sterling each. |
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| First USA stamps - Engraved 5-cent red brown stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin (Scott #1) (the first postmaster of the US) and a 10-cent value in black with George Washington (Scott #2) issued 1847. You can purchase a used copy of the 5-cent stamp for $700 and an unused one for about $4,000. The 5¢ Benjamin Franklin stamp paid the ½-ounce rate for a letter traveling less than 300 miles. The 10¢ George Washington carried a ½-ounce letter more than 300 miles. |
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| World's first triangular shaped postage stamp - Legendary Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) 1 penny red and 4 penny blue stamps on blued paper issued September 1, 1853. The stamps were printed by Perkins Bacon in London and periodically shipped to the Cape of Good Hope. The Potuguese was first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope (explorer Bartolomeu Dias) in 1488. |
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| One of the most Valuable Stamp in the World – Three Skilling Banco. The Yellowish "Treskilling” one of Sweden’s first stamps printed in 1855 as part of a set of a five stamp series that depicted the Swedish coat of arms. The 3-skilling banco value was normally printed in a blue-green color, while the 8-skilling was printed in a yellowish orange shade. By mistake some of the 3-skilling banco was printed in the yellowish orange shade and are valued at around 2.5 million Swiss Francs. |
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| Rareset and most valuable USA stamp - These stamps depict a portrait of Benjamin Franklin and are embossed with a "Z-Grill" (pattern of tiny squares embossed into the paper and visible on the back of the stamps). The stamp was issued in 1868. Just two of the Z Grill Stamps are known to exist with an estimated value $2.97 million of which one is in the New York Public Library. |
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| Famous printing fault/error - Best known rare American stamp is the Inverted Jenny - airplane in the center accidentally printed upside-down. Just one pane of 100 stamps was ever found each with an estimated value of $525,000 US Dollars. |
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The United States Post Office made a number of experimental trials of carrying mail by air, and decided to inaugurate regular service on May 15, 1918 between Washington, Philiadel-phia, and New York City. The Post Office set a rate of 24 cents for first-class mail and depicting a Curtiss Jenny, the biplane that shuttled mail at that time. |
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- How to start collecting stamps:
- Decide on a focus point/specialization field (see below).
- Decide if you want to collect mint or cancelled stamps or both.
- Decide to collect old or new stamps.
- Get supplies needed.
- Get familiar with philately terms.
- Get familiar with stamp dealers.
- Collect/trade/buy stamps
- Choosing your area of interest:
- Region/country such as Australasia, Asia, France and colonies, Portugal and colonies, Arab world, Africa, USA and Caribbean.
- Specific time periods e.g. Great Britain and Commonwealth during Reign of King George VI (1938 to 1952).
- Commemorative stamps to commemorate events, anniversaries etc.
- Revenue stamps - stamps issued to pay tax in small amounts.
- Sheets - Miniature sheet (typically include additional artwork or information), souvenir sheets, corner blocks or plate blocks usually of four stamps, etc.
- First day covers (FDCs) - Envelopes with stamps attached and canceled on the first day that the stamp was issued.
- Thematic - such as birds, insects, sports, butterflies, dogs, cats, flowers, art, sports, and famous people.
- Pictorials - stamps printed with images of a country's scenery or lifestyle.
- Get supplies needed:
- Stamp albums to protect, display, and organize your stamps.
- Hinges and Mounts to affix/mount stamps to an album. Mounts are preferable for mint stamps (the gum is not damaged) and valuable stamps.
- Tongs - stamps should never be touched with your fingers.
- Magnifying glass/lens to examine the quality and features of the stamps.
- Stamp catalog to identify the stamps, see all the stamps in the set, identify variations/faults and provide an estimate of their current value.
- Sources to get stamps:
- Request neighbors, family and friends to save stamps from their incoming mail.
- Befriend someone that works in an office that receives a lot of mail.
- Get a pen pal in the country that you are interested in collecting stamps and exchange stamps.
- Online dealers, auctioneers and specialty shops - preferably dealers who belong to the American Philatelic Society.
- Traded/exchange your duplicate stamps with other philatelists.
- Some common philatelic terms include:
- Authentication Mark - tiny mark appearing on old and rare stamps approving the stamp’s authenticity by an expert.
- Cancel – postmark indicating the stamp has been used.
- Centering - relative position of a stamp’s design in relation to the margins influencing the value of the stamp.
- Crease - fold in the stamp.
- Fade - lightened ink from natural causes.
- Imperforate - sold without perforations.
- Mint - condition as when it was issued and purchased at the post office.
- Original gum - with gum applied by the manufacturer.
- Perforation - holes between stamps in order to aid in their separation and measured with a perforation gauge (Number of holes per 2-centimeter distance on a stamp's edge).
- Plate Block or Plate Number Block – corner block of stamps with plate numbers from the printing process.
- Pre-cancel - overprint applied before the stamp is used on mail.
- "Specimen" - overprinted "Specimen" and distributed to member countries of the Universal Postal Union.
- Watermark - A machine-applied, deliberate thinning of paper during its manufacture, to produce a semi-transparent pattern or design of some kind.
- Commonly symbols when buying/selling stamps – be sure you get what you pay for:
- Used (O) - Cancelled stamps are used stamps.
- Unused (* - Unused and ** - Unused never hinged) or Mint (M)
- Centering within perforations or edge of the stamp - Most significant feature in judging a value of a stamp in addition to catalog value. Superb (S), Extremely Fine (XF), Very fine (VF - off center still away from edges), Fine (F – not centered but does not touch perforations) and Average (AVE - image on stamp cuts into by the perforations).
- Faults can either increase or decrease the value of the stamp depending on the nature and rarity of the fault.
o Faults dealing with perforation include; Short Perforation (SP), Pulled perforation (PP - perforation tip is missing), Straight edge (SE), Re-perforated (RP).
o Other faults include Printing Faults, Gum Bend/Crease/Wrinkle, Thin (partly or fully), Face Scrape, Inclusion (foreign piece in paper during manufacturing), Creases, Tears, Stains, Pinholes - Corner missing, etc.
- Gum Condition for mint stamps – Significant factor in determining the value of the stamp. Never hinged (NH), Lightly hinged (LH), Hinged (H), Heavily hinged (HH), Hinge remnant (HR), Disturbed gum (DG), No gum (NG - unused but with no gum) and Re-gummed (RG - to mislead buyers).
- Gem - extra high quality stamp
- Space filler - seriously damaged stamp.
- As is – What you see is what you get - no guarantees.
- Tips for the novice philatelist:
- If you have a limited budget, collect used stamps; they have value and may cost you nothing.
- Choose recent stamps which are more readily available and less expensive.
- Join stamp clubs like The American Philatelic Society for trading, social and educational interaction.
- When buying a set of stamps, only buy a complete set. (The few high value stamps in the set could cost you 90% of the total set and they are difficult to buy separately. You could end up paying too much for the lower values and find out that buying the high values individually cost you more than buying the whole set).
- Invest in a stamp catalogue – Essential tool in organizing and valuing your collection such as Stanley Gibbons (Britain), Scott (USA), Michel (Germany) and Yvert (France).
- Watch Out for fake/counterfeit/forged postage stamps – Postage stamps is one of the most collected items in the worldwide but are also the most faked and counterfeited. Look out for re-gumming, reprints, forged overprints/cancellations, altering stamp color, adding perforations and much more. Seek expert advice/certificate before purchasing a rare and valuable stamp for which there is any doubt as to authenticity. Consult with U.S. Philatelic Foundation and the American Philatelic Society.
- When buying online, watch out for delivery cost as it could be more than the value of the stamps – try to consolidate orders by seller.
- Make sure that your homeowner’s insurance policy covers the value of your collection – you may need additional insurance.
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