03Nov

A History of Royal Mail Stamps

The Royal Mail issued the world’s first adhesive postage stamp on the 6th of May 1840.  The now most sought after stamp for avid collectors, The Penny Black came into existence that year displaying a design of Queen Victoria without the country’s name, however it laid the foundation for future British stamps.  Once in production British stamps were then known as definitive and issued with a portrait often in profile or semi profile of the...

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03Nov

Famous People on Royal Mail Stamps

Over the years the Royal Mail has used images of many famous people on their stamps. This has delighted stamp collectors in the UK and around the world.  Generally, until 2005 the Royal Mail’s policy was that only identifiable living people from the monarchy and other members of the Royal Family were depicted on British stamps.  This policy was occasionally broken with the first exception being of Winston Churchill in 1965.  The ruling was changed...

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03Nov

Top 3 most valuable stamps in the world

Stamp collecting is a very serious hobby and some stamps are worth life changing amounts of money, one of these such stamps is the Red Revenue Small One Dollar Surcharge which is currently valued at US$333,382. So what makes a stamp so valuable, I hear you ask: one of the main contributing factors is the age of the stamp. Typically, the older it is, the more valuable it will be. The amount of known pieces...

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03Nov

Stamp Collecting for Kids

Stamp collecting is a great way for kids to learn about history and to develop the skills needed to build and look after a collection. You don’t need to invest in specialised equipment to get your kids started in this hobby, an old photo album or even a shoe box can be a starting storage option for the stamps. It is advisable to buy a pair of stamp tongs as opposed to fingers or tweezers,...

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03Nov

Top 5 most common words used by stamp collectors and their meanings

Stamp collecting is one of the world’s most popular hobbies and the correct terminology for a stamp collector is philatelist. There are quite a few important pieces of equipment required by philatelists, one of which is a magnifying glass or a hand lens as it is known in laboratory terms. This is used for examining stamps in close detail and identifying any potential marks or flaws. You will also need some stamp tongs, which are...

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03Nov

How to find the value of a stamp

There are quite a few contributing factors in determining the value of a stamp and the first one is age. You can usually determine the age of a stamp by the type of picture and the grade of paper used, if you are having difficulty then take a photo and ask for help on a stamp collectors forum such as http://www.stamp-forum.com/ Where was the stamp produced? The political or social history of that country may...

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03Nov

What is the difference Between 1st Class and 2nd Class Royal Mail Stamps?

When it comes to postage stamps in the UK, there has long been an ongoing dialogue regarding the relative merits of the 1st Class Royal Mail Stamp when compared to its poorer sibling, the 2nd class stamp. While there are differences in price, there are many people who will tell you that the value proposition that separates the two classes of mail is tenuous and flimsy at best. For the sake of argument, let’s take...

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