Stamp

When you want to put a different spin into your stamp collection, start focusing on Olympics stamps. As the name suggests, these are the stamps that were inspired by the Olympic spirit.

The Penny Black holds a special place in philately – as one of the first adhesive postal stamps, it is one of the most prized items available. Due to its popularity, it is worthwhile to understand how to collect this 1d stamp. Here’s a short guide on how to collect this kind of stamp.

Sarawak is the largest Malaysian state, one of two states situated on the northwest part of the island of Borneo. Sarawak was ruled by the White Rajas for more than a century. One of the rulers was Charles Brookes, the second among the three successive rajahs of Sarawak. He was born Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke on June 3, 1829 in England. His parents were Emma Frances and The Rev. Francis Charles Johnson. He received his education from the Crewkeme Grammar School and soon enrolled at the Royal Navy.

The independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire was officially announced in November 1912, immediately after the Second Balkan War. Albania may have been a newly independent state back then, but territorially, the country was scattered and partially controlled by Serbian, Montenegrin and Greek forces that set stations in the contested border areas. The new government, on the other hand, was taking control of the southern region of the country. A postal service was also in existence, but it was run by foreign providers, including Austro-Hungarian and Italian Post Offices.

Did you know that the life story of one of Britain’s most popular heroes can be told by Transjordan stamps? Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, or as he is affectionately called ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, was a trained archaeologist who participated in numerous expeditions and excavations throughout his life. But his trip to the Middle East was considered the most significant, occurring in conjunction with the onset of the First World War. He was a well-known archeologist at that time, and was thus commissioned to lead the military survey of the Negev Desert.

Government-issued stamps, particularly those that are issued to commemorate new governments or the development of a new postal office often make use of portraits of leaders and important figures. But this is not the case with Australian Commonwealth - for its Australian Commonwealth stamp; the authorities took on a more novel approach. For the first edition of stamps, the authorities decided on a kangaroo embedded within the Australian map. Its debut was met with great interest, discussions and loads of controversy.

The Sultanate of Oman, one of the well-known sultanates in the Middle East, was formerly known as the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, named after the Capital and most important city in the Sultanate. Found on the east of the Arabian Peninsula, the sultanate is composed of two regions known as Oman (or the interior part) and Muscat - the coastal region. For years confusion was widespread regarding the distinction and location of Muscat and Oman and what these places stand for.

At the height of the Siege of Mafeking (1900), considered a decisive British action during the Second Boer War, the government issued special photographically produced 'local' stamps done in blue - the 3d Baden-Powell stamps and the 1d Cadet Sgt-Major Goodyear ‘Bicycle’. A similar procedure was used to creat siege banknotes.

Stamp collecting among enthusiasts traces a long history dating back to the early 19th century.  The art of collecting and studying these postage stamps is called Philately, taken from the Greek word ‘atelia’ which means ‘exempt from tax’.

Stamp Collections are commonly grouped based on their country of origin, and arranged based on date of issue. But there’s another creative way of collecting and saving the items that you have collected. One thing that you can do is to group these items according to a theme - this is known as a Thematic Collection. The idea behind ‘thematic philately’ is to group the stamps by theme so that the whole catalogue can tell a story.