|
|
| you are here: home / records |
Records |
Biggest definitive series |
 The biggest definitive series to appear in one year was the 1938 American Presidential series that was made up of 32 denominations – ranging from 1/2 cent to $5. The values portrayed each of the then 29 Presidents from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge.
Any US Presidents that were still alive were omitted from the series in accordance with the 1866 Act of congress which forbade any living person to be depicted on a USA postage stamp.
The half-cent values (1/2c, 11/2c, and 41/2c) depicted Benjamin Franklin, Martha Washington and the White House respectively. Up to, and including, the 22c denomination each value corresponded with the exact order of the specific President. |
Fastest stamp design |
 The 75th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 provided Gibraltar with the idea of producing the world’s fastest stamp design. In fact, from design to delivery, the celebratory miniature sheet for the monarch’s landmark birthday took just 10 hours and 24 minutes.
At 8am on April 23, 2001 Nigel Fordham, Head of the famous Crown Agents Stamp Bureau, collected artwork from Buckingham Palace for a £2 stamp from Gibraltar to mark the 75th birthday. The portrait was The Queen’s own choice – a personal favourite taken at Buckingham Palace by the Press Association Royal photographer Fiona Hanson.
The artwork was rushed by Fordham to the PA News Centre in central London, and by 8.15am was being transmitted to the House of Questa stamp printers, in Surrey. By noon that day the stamps were ready for despatch, and the first 5,000 were taken by motorbike to Gatwick Airport, for the 2.25pm flight to Gibraltar.
On board was Nigel Fordham, but also the TV and Monty Python personality Michael Palin, who commented: ‘She chose quite a smiley one rather than an austere, severe picture – I think that speaks volumes’.
The flight touched down on Gibraltar at 6.24pm so the record was broken in just 10 hours and 24 minutes. Nigel Fordham explained: ‘We were not monkeying around. This was a serious world record which turned out to be a lot of fun’. The stamps went on sale at one minute past midnight local time, with huge queues formed to buy the record-breaking stamps. |
Largest museum stamps collections |
 The largest collections of philately held in museums are in the Smithsonian Institute (which houses the US National Postal Museum) in Washington DC, USA, and the British Library in London.
In fact, both claim to have the largest collection and it is not clear as to exactly which collection is bigger. However, the collection held in the British Library in London is probably the more important in terms of the scope and the value of the rarities that it contains.
The British Library collection inherited the Imperial War Museum’s philatelic collection in early 2002 and some of its stand-out features include the world famous Tapling Collection which covers philately from all around the world from 1840 to 1890.
Amongst the eight million or so philatelic items within the British Library collections are the unique Gold Coast 1883 1d on 4d magenta; the GB Penny Red from plate 77, unused; Hawaiian Missionaries 2c blue; the Western Australia 4d blue, frame inverted; an unused Post Office Mauritius 2d blue; Spain’s Dos Reales error of colour; and one of the USA ‘inverted Jenny’ errors.
In the public area on the ‘upper ground floor’ of the library there are 1,000 pull-out philatelic frames but this represents just over 1% of the total collection. |
Longest running international postal service |
 The longest running international postal service was operated by the Counts of Thurn and Taxis from 1450 until 1871 – a total of 421 years. The service originated in 1450 when the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III, employed Roger de Tassis to extend the existing courier services of the Holy See to the Tyrol Venice.
This service was passed through generations of the family and the family organised and controlled the European postal system throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the earliest postal rates lists was established in July 1613 for the Antwerp Taxis post office.
At its strongest point the Thurn and Taxis postal system produced an annual profit of 4,000,000 livres, had around 25,000 couriers, and owned many properties. However, events began to chip away at its influence including the Spanish Succession War (1701-14) when the family lost its postal authority in the region.
By 1850 the operation had been reduced to three Grand Duchies and a handful of petty principalities. Between 1852 and 1867 the Thurn and Taxis family issued adhesive postage stamps for the Northern and Southern districts of German states (54 stamps in total). The family had also been responsible for employing the first modern day horse drawn mail coaches (in 1650), and being a part of the first attempt to standardise the colours of postage stamps in 1850.
The family backed Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War and paid the penalty by being forced by the victorious Prussia to sell its long-standing postal monopoly for 3,000,000 thalers. Thus ended over four centuries of a postal system that is still celebrated on stamps today, chiefly those from Belgium. |
most printers used stamps |
 Colombia is the stamp-issuing country that has utilised the most printers – 31 different printing firms have handled the printing of its stamps since 1859.
Amongst the famous printing firms which have produced stamps for Colombia are the American Bank Note Company, Perkins Bacon, Courvoisier of Switzerland, De La Rue, the Government Printing Works in Berlin, the Austrian State Printing Works in Vienna, Enschedé of the Netherlands, and the Japanese State Printing Works in Tokyo.
The first stamps of Colombia were issued in 1859, under the country name of the Granadine Confederation, in a set of six.
A close runner-up to Colombia in the ‘most printers used’ stakes is Ecuador, which has used 30 different printers since its first set was launched back in 1865. |
Newest stamp issuer |
 The world’s newest stamp issuer is the state of East Timor which gained independence in 2002 and issued a set of four stamps on May 20, 2002. Design and printing of the stamps – a process worth around $150,000 AUS – was done free by Australia Post, and all proceeds have gone to the country’s new government.
East Timor had been under the rule of a United Nations transitional authority and the new set of stamps came 29 years after the last set of East Timor stamps, which were issued under the Portuguese administration.
The island was annexed by Indonesia in 1975 and this sparked a long period of warfare which claimed thousands of lives and has only recently been settled.
The new set of four stamps feature the country’s name, written as ‘Timor-Leste’, and bear the inscription ‘Independencia 2002’. In 25c, 50c, $1 and $2 values the designs are based around the tais (a traditional East Timorese woven cloth).
Each stamp in the set also features tiny Portuguese text which tells the legend of the crocodile – this tells of a crocodile which is grateful for a boy’s kindness, and changes itself into the island of Timor to give the boy, and his descendants, a safe place to live. |
Person on most stamps |
 The person who has appeared on most stamps is Sir Winston Churchill, who has been the subject of at least 474 stamps.
Following his death in 1965 there was a spate of Churchill memorial issues, and in 1974 there was a further slew of issues to mark Churchill’s birth centenary. Despite holding such a clear anti-German stance during World War II Churchill has actually appeared on Nazi field postcards during that war and he was also featured on a West German commemorative of 1968.
Prior to Churchill’s emergence as a much-featured portrait on stamps the record for being the most featured individual on stamps was held by the Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus. In fact, over 700 stamps have been issued for Columbus, but many have pictured his ships, memorial lighthouse, or places named after him, rather than featuring an actual portrait of Columbus. |
|
 |
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.
|
|
|
|
|
