Peeps at Postage Stamps

ADHESIVE.--A stamp which is kept in position by moistening the gummed under-surface. Most stamps are adhesives. Postcards, envelopes, and wrappers which have the stamp printed o...

Most philatelists drift into stamp-collecting--that is to say, the start is made unconsciously, and without any definite planning. Probably the first specimens are obtained thro...

As a rule it takes but a few months for the young collector to discover that he much prefers the stamps of one particular country, or group of countries, to any of the others fi...

So far these talks have dealt almost entirely with ways and means of stamp-collecting, but now our attention must be centred on the stamps themselves. We naturally turn to the i...

What a curious thing it is that some stamps--mere scraps of paper--cost over a sovereign apiece to buy! It is still more wonderful, however, that quite a number sell for over £1...

Each postmaster in the early years of the States designed and printed his own stamps, and some weird and curious effects were produced as a result of this arrangement. The maste...

From the above list it will be seen that all but three of the adhesives are of the penny value, or its foreign equivalent. The presence of the French three-halfpenny (15 c.) sta...

Most stamps as they repose in their rows on the pages of the album look very sober, matter-of-fact, little squares of paper. Some appear travel-stained, others are in the pink o...

Stamps are forged for two purposes, first to cheat philatelists, and second to cheat the postal authorities. The former kind of trade is fairly lucrative, but in England, at any...

In a previous chapter we spoke of the penny black of 1840 as the first postage label to be given to the world. The reader must not suppose from this remark that the appearance o...

In recent times it has become fashionable, in certain countries, to celebrate national events by means of special issues of stamps. The idea is a very acceptable one so long as...

That the picture stamps reposing in our collections are highly instructive as well as interesting needs little argument. We can sit in an armchair and learn the geography of hal...

What a wealth of history is recalled by a glance through the pages of our stamp albums! The romantic changes which France has undergone, the efforts made by Germany for securing...

Among the most interesting stamps which figure in our collections are those which owe their origin to the stern necessities of war. Stamps which fall into this division are of t...

The ardent philatelist is not only interested in his own collection, but is ever keen on inspecting those of other people. A great treat, therefore, for the reader who lives in...