Dear stamp enthusiast and knowledge explorers, we dedicate this page to the art, history, and knowledge of postal stamps. Why are they important to us? Postal stamps were a radical idea that changed the business model of the American nations and the world. Currently, no letter is being sent without buying a stamp first. What is fascinating for us as collectors are the illustrations and stamps from long-gone years.
The Symbolic and Practical Role of the Stamp
Post stamps were not popular for just about 50 years when they embodied the faces of famous singer stars like Elvis Presley. The idea of having post stamps on envelopes came ahead of its time in 1847 from Postmaster General Cave Johnson. His department run under a deficit, so he found the perfect opportunity to sponsor the Post operations through the additional profits they would earn. He sold his idea to the American Congress, but the public was not so impressed. They still used to send letters without the stamp. During the 5 years since the stamps were introduced only 2% were used by the American mail. Though no one could blame them. American was burden with issues like slavery, the Civil war, and progressive urban industrialization. It was common the Midwest lands were used for farming while shipping food to industrial cities in the East, Europe, and Britain. The railroad also developed in a fashion that a long-haul shipping distance across the continent was available.
In opposition to the blooming economy and periods of wars during 1800, the economy had solid growth in the 90s. Perhaps, this explains why stamps were not regarded as something essential 50 years ago. Back in the days of 1800, the federal post system run without the use of stamps. Claiming a letter usually happened at the expense of the receiver, and not the sender. Stamps were the weapon to make the sender responsible for the payment. The early avoidance of stamps was based on the comprehension that a prepaid letter was a way to insult the receiver. The act suggested that the receiver was too poor to pay for it. In 1993, 517mn of the Elvis Presley stamps were sold. The revenues of the postal services at that time were comparable to the ones of Hollywood blockbuster. For the 150th anniversary of the postal services, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum exhibit a small commemorative collection.
The Largest Collection
According to the Guinness World Records, the largest private collection of stamps is held by George Vavvas, a Greek citizen from Ioannina. His collection possessed 7215 total stamps and was evaluated on the 6th of April in 2013. He started his collection in 2005, and the stamps come from 119 countries. Another stamp collection only featuring birds has been awarded a Guinness record in 2018. The owner is Jin Feibao, a citizen of Kunming, China. His collection numbers about 14,558 birds and stamps. The stamps come from 332 countries. Billie Karam is amongst the recent winners of a Guinness Record in the category of car stamps with 3,333 copies. Learn more about his life in the video below.
He started his stamp collection by cutting the stamps his father his received with business correspondence letters. When he grew up, Billie continued his hobby, collecting beautiful stamps by purchasing them. He used to watch Formula 1, and he loved racing. This is how he got a lot of his collection materials. He claims that he achieved his record long time ago but was unaware of it. But Billie is not an amateur recorder. He is awarded the Guinness Record Certificate 5 times so far.
The National Postal Museum Library Collection
On the other hand, if you wish to see a large collection of stamps distributed on few floors, then the National Postal Museum Collection is the one to visit. The museum and its library were opened in 1993. Visitors will find materials from the National Museum of American History involving a rich collection of American research journals on postage stamps and major journals published in other countries.
Their library of postal journals and study of stamps and history is nearly complete. The information that you will find artifacts in English language. Should you consider the international scope of the history of post stamps, the American museum focuses on providing knowledge about Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and France post traditions. The abundant collection consists of 5,000 books, 6,000 titles, manuscript papers, images and auction catalogues. Major companies are represented like the United States Post Office, the Highway Post Office, the Aerial Mail Service, the Railway Mail Service, and the Panama Canal Zone Post Office.
The Major Artwork and Study of Philately
Here, we reveal some of the largest collections the Library in the Postal Museum holds.
- The Post Office Department includes original letters sent to post office officials conversing about the stamps Issues and related difficulties. The collection dates from 1920 to 1970 organized by Scott number and subject.
- Post office publications related to press releases, reports of the heads and officials, papers related to the National Airmail Week and documents recording the development of the zip code system.
- 1000+ images from the Post Office Department and private collections providing a glimpse of the history of mail handling and transportation.
- Artwork designed by the citizens for competitions illustrating postage stamps during the Civil War
- Authentic Album pages of John B. Boker, A.M. Tracy Woodward, Rogers Liberia collection Rogers Liberia collection
- Materials from the National One Cent Letter Postage
Global Stamp Industry
The stamping industry in Europe generates regular healthy profits. The owner of Schwanberger Verlag GmbH which issues the Michel catalogues shares that the company offers an expanded array of 80 catalogues in hard and digital copies via the Internet and thumb drive. Although the declining prices on the internet, the stamp market remains steady. The business model of selling stamps resulted in a structure that allowed buyers and collectors to purchase stamps with minimal competition. The prices in the catalogue were provided by the dealer and sometimes only updated. The Internet, however, leveled the business field by allowing everyone to become a dealer and creating a competitive environment and offering a greater diversity.
Perhaps, one of the reasons for the online market prices to go down is the negative demographics of buyers and collections. According to the laws of the economy, the prices will eventually go down when the sales volume increases. Yet, the limited number of buyers plummets the sales profits. The average price of stamps is stagnant on the German market over the last 10 years. The average price for mint and used stamp is about €22. The value of used marks seems not to be depreciating faster as it is with other countries due to the reason that German market is one of the most mature and largest stamp collection markets where dealing still happens through retail shops.
Stamp Hobbies
Stamp collecting is often a hobby for the appreciators of the stamp graphics. Most of the Guinness Record holders in the stamp category did not do collect stamps to get the award but the hobby of collecting contributed to getting their collections recognized. If you wish to get started with stamp collecting here is how to do it.
- Ask friends and family to save the envelops/ stamps on incoming mail
- Cut the stamp from the envelope
- Ask for any old letter they may have – a love letter or a holiday postcard will do a good job
- Buy a package of stamps to begin your collection – available online or at a stamp dealer
- Get the best deal by buying a large set
- Find your faviourites and collect those – stamps from a certain period, countries, animals, celebrities, presidents, and more.
- Storage – select a place where to store your collection – either in stock sheets or stamp albums
Other hobbies
There are several hobbies in Europe that people like to fulfill. Some they have in common, some they don’t. If we take a look at the UK, they are still a nation of traditionalists when it comes to pastimes – with reading, walking, eating out and gardening among the most popular hobbies. In Germany the most common hobbies are gardening, eating out, hiking, shopping, gambling and many more. Already two hobbies in common but it we take a closer look at gambling we will determine that many European countries count this as a hobby. There are typical forms of online casino sites and also sites specified in roulette and co.! Try to find out more about casinos and online roulette before you play though. There are for example special roulette computers that will help you play these online games. Isn’t this crazy?