|
|
| you are here: home / rarest |
World's rarest stamps |
Spain's Dos Reales |
 The Dos Reales of 1851 – whose error of colour is well known as Spain’s most rare stamp – has had a strange existence. Although the value was needed right from the start of issuing stamps for Spain it wasn’t considered necessary. In 1850 the Spanish government preferred to print first the cheapest values (6 cuartos and 12 cuartos) and higher values to entertain regular correspondence with Belgium and France. Almost every stamp depicted the head of Queen Isabella II, who reigned from 1833 for 35 years.
|
|
The ‘Abnormals’ stamps |
 A few GB stamps from the reign of Queen Victoria were rare from the outset – these are known to collectors as ‘the Abnormals’ because they were printed from certain plates which were never put into regular use. These stamps were produced by De La Rue between 1862 and 1880 and they arose from the practice of De La Rue submitting to the Board of Inland Revenue the first six sheets of stamps produced from each plate. These stamps were imperforate, but gummed and watermarked. The Board retained one sheet as the Imprimatur (Latin for ‘let it be printed’) and the other five sheets were either destroyed or returned to De La Rue who then perforated them and put them into circulation in the usual manner. |
|
The Major GB Rarities |
 A select few Victorian stamps are very rare for the obvious reason that they had a high face value. In an age when the average take-home pay of a working man was under £1 a week, it stands to reason that few stamps of that value would be purchased solely for inclusion in collections. In this group we find the 10s and £1 stamps of the 1867-83 series.They were first released in 1878, with a Maltese Cross watermark, and in mint condition they now have a catalogue quotation of £28,000 and £32,000 respectively. At the same time, the £5 stamp was added to the series and, it rates £24,000. |
|
The USA ‘Inverted Jenny’ |
 When the US Post Office Department began developing airmail routes in May 1918. To pre-pay the relatively high rates of postage on internal airmails the Post Office issued a set of three stamps that month depicting a Curtiss Jenny bi-plane. The 6c and 16c stamps for short haul flights were printed in orange and green respectively, but the 24c pre-paying letters on the New York to Washington route, via Philadelphia, was printed in two colours - the centre in blue and the frame in carmine. The stamps were printed in intaglio at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. Being in two colours meant that each sheet had to be passed by hand through a press twice. One sheet was inadvertently passed through the press the second time upside down, with the result that the aeroplane appeared to be looping the loop. |
|
The Hawaiian Missionaries |
 An Act establishing a postal service was passed by the Hawaiian Assembly as early as 1846, but nothing was done to implement this until 1850 when a subsequent Act laid down an external postal rate of 10 cents per letter (reduced the following year to 5c on the introduction of adhesive stamps). |
|
The £1.4 million Swedish record breaker |
 At Christmas 1885 14-year-old Swedish schoolboy Georg Wilhelm Backman visited his grandmother and, due to his passion for stamp collecting, asked her of she had any old letters with stamps on. Several of the stamps he steamed off envelopes were the 3 (Tre) skilling banco denomination for the local letter rate. These stamps were normally green in colour but one that Georg found was yellow. He later recalled that he damaged some of the peforation when removing the stamp and later ironed it out. In Stockholm the schoolboy, who had no idea of its rarity or value, sold the stamp in a batch to the dealer Heinrich Lichtenstein for seven kronor. |
|
Pioneering flight rarities |
 Lord Northcliffe, the newspaper tycoon, had offered a number of prizes before the war, for the first flight from London to Manchester (1910) and round Britain (1911). In 1913 he announced a prize of £10,000 for the first successful flight across the Atlantic. The project was shelved on account of the outbreak of war, although there were no aircraft in 1914 that were capable of such a long flight. Early in 1919 Northcliffe repeated his offer and, by the end of March, six entries were received. The men who actually achieved success were John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown, both knighted for their achievement. The Postmaster General of Newfoundland authorised the overprinting of the 15c stamp with a $1 surcharge for use on the small quantity of mail carried on the converted Vickers Vimy bomber. Although flown covers are very desirable, the mint stamps are not scarce and can be picked up for around £100. |
|
Queen Elizabeth II rarities |
 In Jamaica a King George VI £1 definitive – in a design of ‘Tobacco Growing & Cigar Making’ – had been put on sale on August 15, 1949. Then in 1954 the basic design was repeated for a new £1, but incorporating the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Once printed these stamps were placed in storage, and Jamaica continued using the KGVI version. Soon it was decided to issue a completely new QEII definitive, complete with £1 value showing the Arms of Jamaica (issued in August 1956). As collectors might object to two different £1 definitives being issued in quick succession, the QEII Tobacco Growing stamps were incinerated. |
|
The USA Postmasters series |
 By an Act of Congress of March 3, 1845 which came into effect on July 1 that year, postal rates throughout the US were revised. There was a time lag between the passage of this Act and an Act of March 3, 1847 which permitted the Postmaster General to issue stamps. In the intervening period it was left to the Postmasters of various towns and cities to produce their own provisional stamps. Most of the truly great rarities of US philately come from this ‘Postmasters’ period.
|
read more |
|
 |
Tales by Mail - Book 1, by Karen Cartier
 Tales by Mail is for children of all ages, perhaps up through 60 or so. It brings together stories literally from around the world ... from Botswana to Denmark, from New Zealand to the Faroes, from Saar to Israel.
The stories are short, each with a message, and each illustrated by a stamp issued by the country of the story's origin. Each who reads this book no doubt will develop a different favorite story, which is to be expected. Formatted simply, each story is preceded by a full-color illustration of the commemorative stamp that no only is impressive in its own right but also serves through its design to set the stage for the story that follows.
For those who wonder of the relationship between a stamp design and what is "behind" the design, this book serves as an excellent example.
Teddy Bears Celebrate 100th Anniversary
 Teddy bears, enormously popular symbols of human caring and loving, are being honored by the U.S. Postal Service with the issuance of the Teddy Bears commemorative stamps. The 2002 issuance of the stamps coincides with the 100th anniversary of teddy bears.
The Teddy Bears pane of 20 self-adhesive stamps depicts four lovable, cuddly teddy bears. Photos of the bears appear in the header; details of the photos appear on the stamps. The four stamp designs are repeated five times each on the pane. All four teddy bears were manufactured in the United States and are now owned by private collectors. The Ideal bear dates to circa 1905, the Bruin bear from circa 1907 and the Gund bear from circa 1948. The unlabeled "stick" bear dates from the 1920s. Mass- produced stick bears were characterized by their short arms, thin legs and upright posture. The Ideal bear, the Bruin bear and the stick bear belong to Paul and Rosemary Volpp of Carson City, Nev. The Gund bear belongs to Helen Sieverling of Pasadena, Calif.
The idea of the teddy bear was born in 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive bear during a hunting trip. Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman depicted the incident on the front page of the newspaper, and soon toymakers began to manufacture the "teddy" bears associated with the president's name. People in all walks of life love teddy bears, and enthusiasts—known in the teddy bear world as arctophiles—pay top dollar for the collectibles.
Today there are teddy bear magazines, clubs, collector shows and programs, both educational and medical, that feature these little stuffed companions. Teddy bears have had endless books, songs and poem written about them. Widely viewed as symbols of security and comfort, teddy bears are often used by police officers and hospital staff to calm the young and old alike in traumatic situations
Second Set Of Penguin Stamps
 British Antarctic Territory has issued its second set of penguin stamps on a miniature sheet and in a booklet from the Port Lockroy Post Office.
The 12 airmail postcard values feature photographs of Chinstrap, Emperor, Adelie, Gentoo and Macaroni penguins, including juveniles.
All the photographs were taken by members of the British Antarctic Survey.
|
|
|
|
|
