Philately

Philately is the art, study & collection of Postal stationaries including Postal stamps, postal cards, stamped envelopes, postmarks, first-day covers & other material relating to postal delivery.

The term philately was coined in 1864 by a Frenchman, Georges Herpin, who invented it from the Greek philos, “love,” and ateleia, “that which is tax-free”; the postage stamp permitted the letter to come free of charge to the recipient, rendering it untaxed.

History of Postage stamps: In the year 1840, the first postage stamp was issued in England. This was the innovation of Mr. Rowland Hill. He proposed this in 1837 in the report of post office reforms.

Prior to the reforms, the postal charges were determined by the distance & weight of the letter & were collected from the recipient of the letter. Often the recipients refused to accept the same & the letters were to be returned. This led to two-way costs being borne by the postal department. Hill proposed a reforming step of prepaid postage & letters to be carried at a fixed price all over England. He further proposed prepaid envelopes & prepaid adhesive postal stamps for those who like to use their own stationery. A one-penny design in black and a two-penny one in blue, both bearing a profile of Queen Victoria, went on sale to the public on May 1, 1840.

The postage stamp was adopted in New York in 1842 & in Brazil in 1843. Then slowly in the next few years, the postage stamp was in use all over the world.

In October 1854, the first postage stamp was introduced in India.

Philately as a hobby:  The stamp collecting hobby began soon after the stamps were introduced in England. With the adaptation of postal stamps in various nations, the hobby became popular & widespread. The public became curious & fascinated with the design & diversity of places and themes depicted on the postal stamps.

Soon, stamp producers realized a growing market beyond the original purpose of prepaid postage and began creating customized stamps solely for hobbyists. Commemorative stamps were issued, for the first time in the year 1876 during Centennial Exhibition in the US and later in the year 1893 Columbian Exposition.

 Private businesses began to accumulate and sell different stamps to customers before 1850, less than ten years after their first appearance. Later, the idea of the “first-day issue” stamp with envelopes with special cancels became widely popular, and for some, as separate hobby.

 Philatelist:  Is One who not merely collects stamps, but studies in detail about stamps, their history, apprises their value basis the design, quality, topicality, novelty & scarcity.

Philatelic clubs: There are thousands of stamps collectors’ clubs worldwide known as philatelic clubs. They organize exhibitions wherein not only the collection is displayed, but a lot of knowledge sharing also happens through seminars, lectures, etc.

The international philatelic federation was formed in 1926. There are national-level clubs & city-level clubs in almost all countries.

In these exhibitions, the sale & exchange of all philatelic material also happens. The rare the stamp or material, the more amount it fetches.

Some rare stamps are worth a fortune. It is not only old stamps, but some even recent stamps are very expensive based on the rarity.

The most valuable stamp in the world is the one-cent British Guinea 1856 that was sold for the US $ 2,60,000 in 1970. The Mauritius first day cover with copies of the 1847 ‘Post Office’, fetched the US $ 1,58,000 in New York in 1971, a world record for any single cover. The world’s first perforated stamp was issued by England in 1854.

Grades of stamps:  Stamps are graded as mint, single used stamps, stamps used on first-day covers, canceled stamps, misprinted stamps. For the collection, it is ideal to get the mint & in excellent condition stamps. Defective stamps are more valuable than regular ones, as the entire lot is rejected once the mistake is identified. Any such stamps that are already released for sale before identification of mistake are very rare & hence very expensive.

The ‘inverted Jenny’ series of stamps with the inverted image of JN 4 plane released in the USA in the year 1918, is one such example of a misprint. The most expensive stamp in the world is one with fascinating history & rarity. The stamps released between 1840 & 1875 are now more valuable ones because of historical significance & rarity.

Type of stamps: The stamps that are available in the post office on a regular basis are known as definitive series of stamps. These are meant for day-to-day use as a token of payment of postage on mail articles. These incorporate less complicated design inputs, entailing minimum expenditure in their manufacture, and are printed in large quantities over longer periods.

The stamps released to commemorate an event are “Commemorative stamps”. These are designed and printed with greater aesthetic inputs. They are printed in limited quantities and generate great interest among philatelists and collectors.

The stamps used for collecting fees or taxes are known as revenue stamps.

Philatelic study: The traditional philatelic study involves the technical aspects of stamp production & identification including the stamp design, the type of paper used, the ink & gum used, the method of separation (perforation), the water & security marks in detail.

An estimate indicates about 500,000 unique stamps are issued all over the world by various nations so far. So, collecting all stamps is difficult. Country-wise or topic wise stamp collections are in practice

Thematic Philately:  This is based on the topic or the theme on the stamps Viz: birds, planes, ships, presidents, kings, sports, spacecraft, etc.

Aerophilately: This is the branch of postal history that specializes in the study of airmail i.e development of mail transport by air.

Astro philately: This is the specialized study of postage stamps and envelopes that are connected to outer space.

Revenue philately: This is the study of revenue stamps meant to collect tax or fees on legal, statutory documents & Court fees. The fees for issuing liquor license & in earlier days even the license for cycle & radio.

Various tools used: Stamp tongs or tweezers (to safely handle the stamps), magnifying glass, perforation gauge (odontometer) to measure the perforation gauge on the stamps. Watermark fluid is used to identify the watermark on the stamps.

An album is used to arrange stamps-based chronology, theme or country of issue, or any other special topic.

Philatelic literature: Philatelic magazines, collectible catalogs, stamp catalogs, stamp albums, stamp history brochures are various types of literature that are published worldwide.

Growth of Philately in India: Postage stamp, is a mode of commemorating, celebrating, and promoting national heritage and events. It plays a great role as an ambassador, a brand image of a postal administration, and a statement of sovereignty of a nation.

 After independence, the medium of postage stamps was initially used to highlight the country’s achievements in science and technology as well as its socio-economic Development by depicting themes like the Five-Year Plans, Steel Plants, Dams, etc. Subsequently, the country’s rich cultural and natural heritage came to be showcased and many beautiful stamps were issued in thematic sets on art, architecture, crafts maritime heritage, science, technology, defense, and cinematic. Great leaders of national and international standing have also been honored with commemorative stamps, the most prominent being Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation has been honored with commemorative and definitive stamps. Personalities, who have made immense contributions in areas like painting, literature, science, music, social upliftment, etc., have also been honored.

From where to get stamps? Mint stamps are available at Philatelic Bureau and Counters in the designated post offices, details of which are available at the nearest Head Post Office.

How to get and use albums? Albums are available at leading Book and Stationery stores and with philatelists. Pasting stamps ruins them. Use paper hinges or “havids” to place them in an album. Plastic strip albums are now available and are ideal to use for beginners. Handle stamps with pincers to avoid smudging or damaging them.

What is the Philatelic material available at Philatelic Bureau?
Philatelic material includes –

• Mint stamps (unused stamps)
• Commemorative Stamps
• First Day Covers (FDCs, which are issued with every commemorative stamp)
• Brochure (Information sheet accompanying each commemorative stamp)
• Collectors’ Packs (Year-wise)
• Miniature/Souvenir sheets which are sometimes issued
• What is a Philatelic Bureau, a Philatelic Counter, and an Authorized Office?
• Philatelic Bureau function in 68 Head Post Offices at Circle Head Offices or in major district towns. There are 68 Philatelic Bureau and 1111 Philatelic Counters, which includes all the Head Post Offices or Mukhya Dak Ghars of the country.

To Conclude: Philately is the king of hobbies & is gaining ground among all age groups. The hobby starts as a child with clipping new and interesting stamps. Later as a serious philatelist, the collector will purchase rare or hard-to-find stamps from brokers or fellow philatelists. They may go to stamp conventions to purchase, trade, sell or just learn about different areas to pursue their hobby. It is a very interesting & fascinating hobby.

Are you a philatelist? If not, you can start this hobby any time & in any part of the world.

 I am a philatelist for a long time.

Anil Tadmari