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105 Show & Tell Posts Today

Collectors Weekly

The world’s first adhesive postage stamp was the Penny Black, printed for the British postal service by an American named Jacob Perkins on May 6, 1840. Two days later, a blue two-penny or “Tuppeny blue” stamp came off the Perkins, Bacon & Co. press. Both stamps featured an engraved portrait of Queen Victoria, as would the Penny Red, which replaced the Penny Black in 1841. 

Now you might think the Penny Black would be worth a small fortune, but more than 68 million imperforate versions of the stamp were printed, and it’s estimated some 21 billion Penny Reds were produced, none of which were perforated before 1854. If you want rare, go for the Tuppeny blue—only six-and-a-half million of those beauties were printed.

Thanks to their ubiquity, Penny Blacks and Reds are relatively affordable. Less attainable are stamps such as the 1918 Inverted Jenny, a 24-cent U.S. stamp depicting a Curtiss JN...

For many philatelists, these stamps are impossible Holy Grails. More attainable are the countless pieces of postage from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, and China. Each piece of postage produced by these nations tells a story about their unique histories.

Collectors of U.S. stamps might try for commemorative and special issue stamps, such as a set of all four horizontal Zeppelin stamps, printed between 1930 and 1933, or the set of 10 National Park stamps issued in 1934. Definitives, or regular issue stamps, are also popular—many bear portraits of presidents from Washington to Kennedy, while others depict the likenesses of scientists (Albert Einstein), architects (Frank Lloyd Wright), and playwrights (Eugene O’Neill).

Formal portraits of royalty grace most British stamps, but the imagery gets more picturesque as one moves away from the country’s main islands to current territories such as Gibraltar and former ones like Malta. The rise and fall of the Third Reich can be followed on German stamps, which are littered with swastikas before and during World War II. French stamps frequently honor intellectuals and art expositions, such as the one in 1925 that gave rise to the term Art Deco, while Australian stamps naturally feature numerous depictions of indigenous animals such as the kangaroo and platypus.

Chinese stamps are also steeped in their country’s history. Pre-Mao-era stamps reveal the hyperinflation of the early 1930s, as seen in the 500-yuan stamps of that period. During the Mao era itself, the chairman’s smiling face, as well as compositions celebrating the country’s military might, were common, but there were also stamps meant to encourage exercise, such as the series of 40 stamps printed in 1952, when millions listened to, and exercised along with, a daily radio program promoting fitness.

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Top eBay Auctions

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Great Britain 1882 Victorian 1840 Penny Black Plate 6, Block Of (4) On Piece (royal Cert.) Rare! (m1719)China Old Republic Junk Stamps Collection Unused Original Gum 1913 !!Switzerland Zu#1s Used Zurich Certificate Cv Chf 20,000 ($21,000) Red CancelTaiwan China Old Stamps Book With High Value 1952 !!Germany Reich 1933-1945 Complete Collection SignedDealer's Stock Page Of Columbians, Mostly Nh To $5 Scott 245. Cat $14,760Germany States Groschen Error Stamps Very Rare Se Scan $$$$$$Denmark 1851 2 Rbs Blue Thiele Print (1) Vfu $2000Pr China Stamp1967 W2 Set Rw2 1935 Federal Duck Stamp Print By Frank Benson Scarce Print No ReserveUs Stamp:#292 $1 Black 1898 Trans-missVictory Of Chairman Mao RevolutionChina First Stamps 1878 Large Dragon Thin Paper 1c 3c MnhPr China Stamp 1968 W5 1 Set Complete Nystamps Portugal Large Old Stamp Collection Album Page $6500Ryukyu Islands, Complete Second Revenue Set, Scott R9-16, Mint, No Gum As Issued1913 1840 2d Blue Pair Plate 1 Lettered Na-nb (sg 5) Very Fine Used With Orange/red1880 Rare 2/- Brown Sg121 Fine Used Sg Cat Russia Stamp1934-vasenko-sc#c51a -perf.14-size 33*36mm-cv-$3,500 (kazan Stamped)Wurttemberg 1857 9kr Car Rose (sc17) Mlh $1275Pr China Stamp1967 W3 Set Rare Favorites Peoples Republic Of China 1626-1627 Mnh Sheets Of 12, Scarce Item.China - Gate Of Heavenly Peace 200,000Us Stamp:#263 $5 Dark Green Marshall 1894 Mh/og Stamp $4,500The Living Treasures Of Asia 23 Karat Gold Stamp Collection Complete 30 StampsChina 1980 Monkey Stamp UsedUs Sc#42 F/vf Ngai Fresh&brite-1875- Re-issue 5c-scarce W/certificate -$1200+Group Of Early Mint Classics Including Scott 15, 68, 120, 150, 152. Cat $18,800Us Stamp:#o69 $5 Green 1873 State Official Used Stamp $13,000 Rare!+certificateQueen Victoria 10p Embossed Pair 1848 Sg 57 Scott 6 Rare Uk Great BritainFrance Classic Mint CollectionChina 1915 First Peking Print Hall Of Classics $5 O.g Fine 1840 1d Intense Black Pair Lettered Ni - Nj (sg 1) Full Margins Very Fine UsedLot Of Muh Decimal Stamps ,face $806.Nystamps Us Stamp Scott 101 Mint With Gum $14500Us Stamp:#j58 50c Carmine Lake 10p.1914 Postage Due Mh/og $12,500 Rare!+certifi1850-1852 France Stamps Lot, Very Rare Items, Cv $7500.00, No Reserve PriceSweden Scott 15 Mnh.United States Imperf 5c Sc 1. Used. Scott $1200.Us Stamp:#2 10c Black Washington Imperf 1847 Used Stamp Red Grid CancelGb 1866 Scilly Islands 1d Red Tied Horiz Oval 610 With 'scilly' Cds On ReverseUnited States Pictorial 90c Sc 132. Hinged. Scott $3750.1935 Russia,sc C58-67,mi 499-508,mnh,famous Cheluskin Rescue Fantastic Centered!1901 Registered #78 Austrian Cover With Scott #89 & 2- #98 Dec. 23 Look! (rm114)Russia 1858 Sc 4/mi 4 Coat Of Arms, Watermark Shift, RareUs Sc#459 Xf Lh Og Scarce Fresh&brite 2c Imperf Coil Pair W/certificate 1914-Ckstamps: Us Stamps Scott#c15 $2.60 Graf Zeppelin Airmail 1930 Mint Hr Og Cv$575Pr China 1967 W1 Thoughts Of Mao Complete Set Used Sc#938-948United States Franklin 50c Sc 440. Never Hinged. Scott $1175.China*republic 1914*uprated Postal Stationery Card From Kashing To SwitzerlandNystamps France Old Stamp Collection Scott Album Page Us Stamp:#16 10c Green Type Iv 1857-61 Imperf. Used Stamp $1,650 + CertificateUs 2002 .925-999 Silver 25 Pc =17.79 Oz Stamps With Coa & Box RareGermany Reich Mi#block 2 Mint Nothilfe Cv *540 Top Pb Of 50,nh!, Scott $1,585.00, Low Opening Bid $299.00United States Marshall $5 Sc 263. Never Hinged. Scott $15000.Germany Sc#671a&#675a Vf+ Nh Booklet Panes In Unexploded Book Sc$900+as Panes

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Source: Google News

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