From a stamp collecting standpoint, modern warfare is boring. Beginning with the American Civil War, war has always brought us interesting postal issues, covers, rates, locals semiofficials. Today’s war is not only fought high tech but communications are far less often by the postal route. WW II was a philatelist’s delight. Tens of thousands of…
Steve Jobs died this week at the very young age of 56. While many different people have been instrumental in the electronic transformation of the last thirty years, few have had more impact on how, when and why people use computers than he was. Information technology has changed all fields including philately and Jobs’ death…
Readers of this blog are aware by now of how fashions change in philately. Used stamps were comparatively more popular fifty years ago than they are today. Covers and postal history were essentially uncollected until about 1920, had their peak around 1980, and have since fallen to a secure but niche collecting status. Blocks and multiples were once…
Confederate States regular issues consist of fourteen Scott issued stamps that were issued over a period of four years during which the Civil War was fought. There are only two scarce stamps and both of these issues occurred when the Confederate States Post Office decided to change issues in 1863 . The new stamps were originally…
German States stamps are synonymous with classic philately. Before 1870, what we today call Germany was a confederation of numerous independent states, ten or more of which operated their own postal services and issued their own postage stamps. From about 1850 on the German states issued stamps, and even the earliest collectors vied for them…
When Rowland Hill invented the postage stamp, an integral part of his design was a “wash of mucilage applied to the back, which, when moistened would allow the stamp to adhere to paper”. In the very early years of stamp collecting, collectors primarily collected used stamps. After all, the reasoning went, why spend good money…