Philately
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Close examination of the Penny Red, left, reveals a "148" in the margin, indicating that it was printed with plate #148. Stamps printed from plate #77 are extremely rare. |
Philately is the study of
revenue or
postage stamps. This includes the design, production and uses of stamps after they are issued by
postal authorities. Although many equate it with
stamp collecting, it is a distinct activity. For instance, philatelists will study extremely rare stamps without expecting to own copies of them, whether because of cost, or because the sole survivors are in museums. Conversely, a stamp collector may choose to acquire and arrange the little pictures without being much troubled about their origin or usage. In practice, a basic knowledge of philately will save the collector from spending a great deal of money on a stamp that is really almost worthless.
The coining of the word "philately" in its French form has been circumstantially attributed to Georges Herpin in the publication
Le Collectioneur de timbres-postes, Vol. 1,
November 15,
1864. It is formed from the Greek words
philos (friend) and
ateleia (exempt from charge, or "franked"), which is a stretch to relate to the study of stamps, but the alternatives of "timbrophily" & "timbrology" or "timbrologist" never caught on.
The origin of philately is in the observation that in a pile of stamps all appearing to be the same type, closer examination reveals different kinds of paper, different
watermarks embedded in the paper, variations in color shades, different perforations, and other kinds of differences. Comparison with records of
postal authorities may or may not show that the variations were intentional, which leads to further inquiry as to how the changes could have happened, and why. To make things more interesting, thousands of
forgeries have been produced over the years, some of them very good, and only a thorough knowledge of philately gives any hope of detecting the fakes.
One explanation for all the variation is that stamp printing was among the early attempts at large-scale
mass production activity by
postal authorities. Even in the
19th century, stamps were being issued by the billions, more than any other kind of manufactured object at the time.
Basic or
technical philately, then, is the study of the technical aspects of stamp production and stamp identification. It includes the study of
*The initial stamp
design process
*
Paper (wove, laid, etc, and including
watermarks)
*
Printing methods (engraving, typography, etc)
*
Gum*
Separation (perforation, rouletting)
*
Overprints on existing stamps
*
Forensic philately, especially the identification of forgeries
Image:Stamp UK Penny Red pl148.jpg|The Penny Red was used in the UK for many years, and comes in hundreds of variations.Image:Inverted Jenny.jpg|The Inverted Jenny is a famous error; philatelic study explains exactly how it happened.Image:Stamp Tanganyika 1925 10c.jpg|A topical philatelist might be interested in which subspecies of giraffe is represented on this 1925 stamp of Tanganyika.Image:Cover DE 1936 Hinden-800px.jpg|One of many covers flown on the Hindenburg zeppelin, featuring a variety of postal markings.Image:Watermark elephant head.jpg|Early stamps of India were watermarked with an elephant's head.Image:Cover US philatelic 1925.jpg|An oddball philatelic cover that mixes the stamps of several places together.Image:Carcassonne_stamp_2000.jpg|Stamp issued by France commemorating Carcassonne in 2000, uses an unusual panaromic format. Topical philately is the study of what is depicted on the stamps. There are hundreds of popular subjects, such as
*
People on stamps*
Maps on stamps*
Birds on stamps*
Insects on stamps*
Ships on stamps*
Stamps on stampsInteresting aspects of topical philately include design mistakes (such as use of the wrong picture on a
US stamp honoring
Bill Pickett), design alterations (for instance, the recent editing out of cigarettes from the pictures used for US stamps), and the stories of how particular images came to be used (one US stamp from the
1920s shows a
Viking ship apparently flying an American flag, but this was not a mistake).
Postal history concentrates on the use of stamps on
mail. It includes the study of
postmarks,
post offices,
postal authorities and the process by which letters are moved from sender to recipient, including routes and choice of conveyance. A classic example is the
Pony Express, which was the fastest way to send letters across the United States during the few months that it operated. Covers that can be proved to have been sent by the Pony Express are highly prized by collectors.
Cinderella philately is the study of objects that look like stamps but aren't stamps. Examples include
Easter Seals, propaganda labels, and so forth.
The results of philatelic study have been extensively documented by the
philatelic literature, which includes many books and nearly 15,000 different periodical titles.
Philately is basically an activity of reading and study, but the human senses typically need augmentation. The stamps themselves are handled with
stamp tongs so as preserve them from large, clumsy, and possibly greasy fingers.A strong
magnifier reveals details of paper and printing, while the
odontometer or
perforation gauge helps distinguish a "
perf 12" from a "perf 13". While many watermarks can be detected merely by turning the stamp over, or holding it up to the light, others require the services of
watermark fluid, such as
benzine (not to be confused with
benzene, which is toxic),
carbon tetrachloride or
trichloro-trifluoro-ethane that "wets" the stamp without dissolving gum or ink. Other techniques, such as using coloured light filters have been attempted in an effort to avoid the use of toxic substances.
Experts evaluating the authenticity of the rarest stamps use additional equipment such as
fluoroscopes. Some stamps are printed with ink which fluoresces when exposed to ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light sources are also used to examine stamps and postal history for signs of repairs or various types of faults.
*
Académie Européenne de Philatélie*
American First Day Cover Society*
American Philatelic Society*
American Topical Association*
Australian Philatelic Federation*
Fédération Internationale de Philatélie*
Féderación Argentina de Entidades Filatélicas*
National Philatelic Society UK*
Royal Philatelic Society London*
The Rossica Society of Russian Philately*
Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Inc*
Scouts on Stamps Society International*
Welsh Philatelic Society*
Odessa City Collectors' Society*
List of philatelic topics*
List of philatelists*
:Category:Philately*
stamps*
Postage stamp*
commemorative stamps*
Holiday stamp*
Stanley Gibbons* L.N. Williams,
Fundamentals of Philately (American Philatelic Society, 1990) ISBN 0-933580-13-4
* Richard McP. Cabeen,
Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting (Harper & Row, 1979)
*
Encyclopaedia of Postal History*
Philatelic Web Guide*
UK Philately*
Stamp Exchange and Philately Community*
Joseph Luft's famous link collection (While this is one of the largest philatelic links web sites it has not been updated since January 2003, so many links are broken.)
*
Stamp Forgery Guide (Selected web links to forgery descriptions and a comprehensive forgery literature bibliography.)
*
AskPhil (The non-commercial, all-reference site sponsored by the Collector's Club of Chicago.)
*
The non-commercial, all-reference site for stamps and postal history of the Cape of Good Hope.*
Philatelic Archive*
Russian Mail on Near East
