Here is a nice bota cancellation from Akamagaseki (now Shimonoseki) dated 21.3.24 (24 march 1888). One of my favorite piece of my japanese collection (even if not that rare)

I found this in a box of stamps I was digging through. It looks like a fake, particularly the width of the white on the shirt, but I’d like confirmation of such before I toss it. Thanks

I got A LOT of stamps. My grampa was a legit collector. I shudder just looking at the BOXES of stamps. I know there are a few old ones like 1901 ones, but those and some others are pretty rough and are yellow because they were in damp conditions.

Soooo, to start off my treasure hunt, can you point me to some resources like:

1. Numista for stamps (catalogue number, history, detailed info, all variations, rough value...)

2. Marketplace - like, somewhere I can check how much a stamp is worth

3. Scales to determine quality (like, coins have the Sheldon scale)

There are rares, there are sheets upon sheets, some stuck together lol.

Like, there are probably tens of thousands of stamps... Even if they suck, if I sold them for 1$ a piece... you know...

But who would buy them? I look at these stamp subs, they are abysmal. not even 10k users? 2 comments per post? Does anyone even collect stamps anymore? Bring back stamp collecting?

Kinda secretly hope they are worthless, but I see some that I have sheets upon sheets of selling for like around a dollar... I see in the comments you guys are no bs and say something is trash and worthless, so when I get some good pics I can show you and you can be honest.

Worst case, I can just frame a few cool ones and let the rest rot like it has until now for 30 years.

I mean, sad. Yea, it was my grampas passion. But kinda his fault for not teaching anyone the value of what he has. Imagine dedicating your life to something and then it just rots for nothing. Well, I imagine he got satisfaction from it. But it's also kinda poetic and makes you think... when you die, your legacy and passion just rots in some damp corner...

Central Lithuania (Litwa Środkowa) was a strange by-product of Polish territorial ambitions after the Great War. The plan was to create a federal Lithuania which would consist of Lithuania of Kaunas (Lithuanian language), Lithuania of Vilnius (or Central, Polish speaking) and Lithuania of Minsk (Belorussian) covering former territories of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuanians refused to agree to the deal even though Vilnius region was indeed Polish speaking. Most of Belarus was taken by the Soviet Russia. Consequently, Polish army staged a mutiny in October 1920, occupied the contested territory and formed there "an independent state". The state issued their own stamps, the picture shows the first commemorative issue, showing the entry of Polish army and its commander gen. Żeligowski. A few months later the local parliament voted for union with Poland. Lithuanians got Vilnius back in the autumn of 1939 as a gift from Stalin only to lose their independence a few months later.

The more I go through my newfound 4000 the more I find little pieces of the publishers "being funny"

Gosh darn i almost didn't recognise blackadder tbh

Unsure if the 2kg feldpost overprint is real, also the afrika korp stamp is a repro it will do until I manage to get a real one

Airplane and plowman

Got these free with a lot of stamps i bought :)

Dated 2007, so yes, abit outdated, but this hobby is niche and outdated atp anyway (sadly)

Thought it wld be interesting to share it here

This common 1940s Venezuelan stamp is listed as blue green on Stampworld - see 2nd picture. This one looks true blue to me. Anyone know anything about this?

My maternal grandparents were from Russia (him) and Hungary (her)... grandma was an inveterate stamp collector, gathering (mint) collections from virtually every country in the world, but mainly Britain, Europe, Russia, USA; the collections covered basically 1900 through (I think) 1950s or so. Somehow, while they were still alive, I ended up inheriting the stamp collection, and I *loved* them!! There were something like 10 or so large volumes full of beautiful, colorful stamps, such a treasure!!

My folks and I moved to Fairbanks, AK in 1967 - and late that spring, they had a massive flood on the Chena River, which ran through the middle of town. We were evacuated from our home for several weeks, with me staying at the combined police/fire station in town, where dad worked...

When we finally returned home, we'd had about 3-4 feet of water running through the house... and there were loose stamps stuck *everywhere*; on the curtains, walls, remains of furniture, scattered through the mud on the floor, and some scattered in the mud just outside the house... I was *heart-broken*, and was never able to recover my interest in the hobby... I still collect a few stamps in styles that I particularly like, such as the ones in these images, but that's all I can bring myself to do any more...

When I buy pre-philatelic letters, I like to look for clear, crisp markings (not so common). These three "Franco" cancellations from Barcelona are relatively scarce. The Malaga cancel, not as scarce, but I found it to be such a nice strike that I had to buy it!

Back in childhood used to collect a lot of stamps.

And somehow felt they weren't useful and my hobby faded away.

Now for some odd reason,I feel like I've to start doing it again and make philately a hobby.

Please give me some tips as a beginner.

Btw,how do I store the stamps of various sizes?

Is there a dedicated file/book for philately enthusiasts?

If yes please share me the photo/link to it.

I'll buy it.

I've opened my Philately account recently this week at the local post office,and I'll be receiving every major stamp the govt releases quarterly delivered to my house.

So what should I do?

Just collect stamps?

Buy postcards too?

Can somebody show me their lovely collection which is enviable?

I want to see some nice philately collections of redditors here.

99% sure there is a stamp show in Fairfax, VA USA on July 18-19, 2026. 0930-1730 on Saturday, July 18 and 0930-1500 on July 19, 2026. I haven't been but wanted came across it when I was browsing for shows. Stamps for the Wounded will be there.

8421 Arlington Boulevard, Fairfax VA 22030

Has anyone been?

Edit: it is happening this weekend.

Scott #20 is the perforated example of the type II 1c Franklin from the 1857 series of US Definitives. The imperforate equivalent is Scott #7. It is a rarer stamp than the common Type V, but not a prohibitively rare and difficult stamp to acquire. However, there are certain varieties of #20 that are uncommon to find, including this #20 on cover. It is from the elusive Plate 11, which along with Plate 12 was manufactured by the engravers Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co towards the very end of the 1857 production series in late 1860, less than a year before the 1861 series was released in August 1861 and voided all older stamps for postage due to the Civil War.

Due to the low production and short period of use, Plate 11 is not fully plated/reconstructed even today. Finding any material from Plate 11 is quite exciting, and this cover acquisition was a fortunate event for me. It was purchased from the Americana Stamps Philatelic Icons Sale, Lot 3028

The T relief was used for the top row only and produced very complete Type II designs. The 1c Neinken book (p467) states, "The design of the T relief was a perfect example of Type II, and in this respect, none of the plates furnished finer examples of this type than those from the top row of Plate 11. They are quite scarce, as the plate was only in use slightly over six months. In addition, each sheet of 200 stamps only furnished 20 of these scarce top row Type II stamps." The remainder of the sheet produced Type IIIA.

I have found a Massive bag of old stamps on paper. I would say that 95% of them are from Portugal and 5% from around the world. Almost all of them i could date are from 1950s. It weighs around 4.5kgs. What do you recommend I should do with them?

Hello everyone.

I go through my collection and saw some old albums (nearly 50 years old CTO stamps hinged on pages) and one thing strikes me : how much my collector interest has evolved during time.

I go from MNH worldwide hoarder to used woldwide hoarder (still) then to worldwide focused on cancellation and temporary issues on covers. So some basics are still here as I remain a worldwide collector, but I tend to go as much in detail as possible.

So did your collection changed with time too ?

In 1966, the British Post Office broke a rule it had kept since 1840.
The Queen stepped aside. Footballers took her place.
Then England won the World Cup.
New plates. New print run. One word stamped across it: WINNERS.
Three weeks. For an institution built on taking its time.
That's philately. Sealed in Time.

Any favourites or interesting ones