Stamp Collector

Stamp Collector gives you all the information, news, expert advice, market insight and inspiration you need to build your stamp collection and get the most from your hobby. Every issue features the latest prices, expert collecting advice, in-depth guides giving you the lowdown on classic stamp sets, new stamps, postal history, first-day covers and much more. Our stamp stories shed light on intriguing stamps and why they were produced, and our stamp sidelines pages provide an insight into postmarks, first-day covers, Cinderellas, Post & Go and Europa stamps.

This is How The Stamp Trade Works • Philatelic Expert Lets You into his Selling Secrets so you can benefit from a totally different (and New) Selling Experience

Stamp Collector

WELCOME TO STAMP COLLECTOR

WRITING IN THIS ISSUE

STAMP UPDATE

Christmas 2022 • For the Christmas 2022 special stamps issue – the last to feature the profile of Queen Elizabeth II – Royal Mail has drawn on the timeless imagery of the Nativity and provided a festive surprise as well

Time for change? • The change of Monarch on our stamps gives we collectors a chance to pause and reassess our approach to collecting GB stamps. So is this a good time for Royal Mail to review their own issuing policy?

MARKET INSIGHT

New Orleans Postmaster Provisionals • Our philatelic private eye spies another stamp set that’s likely to go up in value

LATEST INTERNET SALES • Your quick reference guide to recent online sales, in association with delcampe.net

German Colonials • Ed Fletcher sketches the background to late-19th and early-20th and used in German colonies; territories century stamps issued later lost with the humiliation of defeat in WW1

COLLECTORS’ CORNER

The last predecimals • In the second of his three-part guide, Ed Fletcher continues his illustrated list detailing the final sterling stamps issued before most former colonies opted for decimal values on their stamps

The man who bought Alaska • William H Seward, who brokered the United States’ purchase of Alaska, was involved in other pivotal events in US history, including the anti-slavery movement and an attempt on his life because of his links to President Abraham Lincoln. Chris West explores the pioneering statesman celebrated on this stamp.

Stamps of the Iberian Peninsula • This month, David Bailey heads across the Pyrenees, finding two embattled Queens and dodgy dealings in a British naval base

Jersey 1987: William the Conqueror • David Bailey discovers how a short set issued to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the death of William I tells a long story, using techniques developed nearly 1,000 years ago

A remarkable rescue • Devlan Kruck describes the incredible story behind this Newfoundland overprinted stamp

EXHIBITION NEWS

World Refugee Year 1959-1960 • In 1960, 74 countries simultaneously issued stamps in support of World Refugee Year, in a bid to find a permanent solution to displaced communities. Richard Tarrant looks back on the interesting, challenging stamp designs issued half a century ago, many of which still seem relevant today

K is for Keys • In her latest thematics guide, Paula Hammond unlocks the mysteries of collecting stamps on the theme of keys

Booze on stamps • After the excesses of Christmas, many of us start the year with a month-long detox. As a displacement activity, why not investigate the various ways alcohol crops up in philately, and think about adding it to a thematic collection?

NEXT MONTH IN STAMP COLLECTOR

5 ISSUES FOR £5!

George VI at work • We often admire stamps nestled safely in our albums, but what about those that travelled far and wide enabling communication? In the first of his two-part guide on solo usages of...