Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, as a never-ending stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide.
Easterseals is an American 501(c)3 nonprofit providing disability services, with additional support areas serving veterans and military families, seniors, and caregivers.
Christmas seals are labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs. They have become particularly associated with lung diseases such as tuberculosis, and with child welfare. Christmas seals are regarded as a form of cinderella stamp in contrast with Christmas stamps used for postage.
In philately, a cinderella stamp is "virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration". There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use by businesses, churches, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.
The American Topical Association (ATA) is a US-based philatelic society and the largest organization devoted to topical stamp collecting. It was established in 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Jerome (Jerry) Husak. It currently serves members in over 60 countries. ATA publishes Topical Time, its bimonthly journal. It also publishes numerous handbooks and maintains many checklists listing hundreds of stamps by topic. The organization runs the National Topical Stamp Show as well as supporting 50+ study units on various topics and 40+ local chapters.
The Cinderella Stamp Club was founded on 5 June 1959 in London, England, and is an association of philatelists, amateur and professional, whose interests lie in local stamps, telegraph stamps, railway stamps, revenue stamps, fiscals, forgeries, bogus and phantom issues, Christmas, Red Cross, TB and other charity seals, registration labels, advertisement and poster stamps and many other items - all of which are the so-called "Cinderellas of Philately".
Telegraph stamps are stamps intended solely for the prepayment of telegraph fees. The customer completed a telegraph form before handing it with payment to the clerk who applied a telegraph stamp and cancelled it to show that payment had been made. If the stamp was an imprinted stamp, it formed part of the message form.
First Issues Collectors Club, or FICC, is an international society for collectors of the first postage stamps issued by any legitimate postal administration.
The United States Stamp Society (USSS) is the largest philatelic organization dedicated to the research and study of United States postage and revenue stamps. The Society is a non-profit collector-based organization with a world-wide membership of over 1700. The USSS is Affiliate #150 of the American Philatelic Society (APS). Since 1930 the Society has encouraged philatelic study through voluntary membership in specialized committees. Some committees specialize in specific stamp issues like the Washington-Franklin heads, the Prexie or the Liberty Series, while other committees study specialized areas of U.S. philately such as Plate Numbers and Marginal Markings, Private Vending and Affixing Perforations, Booklets and Panes, and Luminescence. Research is made available through published books, research papers and articles in the monthly journal, The United States Specialist.
Herman "Pat" Herst Jr. was a writer of philatelic literature, in many cases on the history of the hobby, as well as a stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer. He began his career on Nassau Street in New York City in 1933, moving to Shrub Oak, New York in 1946, remaining there until he finally retired to Florida in 1973.
John Walter Scott of New York City, was originally from England, but he emigrated to the United States to take part in the California Gold Rush. Unsuccessful at the prospecting trade, Scott began to sell postage stamps for collectors and in a short period of time became the nation's leading stamp dealer. During his lifetime, he was known as "The Father of American Philately" by his fellow stamp collectors.
George Ward Linn, of Ohio, was a philatelist who published philatelic literature extensively and was the founder of Linn's Weekly Stamp News in 1928, the philatelic journal for which he is most famous.
Patricia A. (Trish) Kaufmann of Lincoln, Delaware, is an expert on the postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States of America (CSA), and has written hundreds of articles on the subject; she is known as a diligent researcher who brings postal history to life. She is also a speaker on the subject.
The Confederate Stamp Alliance is a philatelic organization dedicated to the collection and study of postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States of America (CSA). It is an affiliate of the American Philatelic Society.
Leo August, of New Jersey, was an American philatelist who, as a stamp dealer and publisher, created interest and awareness in the collecting of first day covers through the introduction in 1939 of "ArtCraft" engraved illustrated envelopes for use as first day covers. He also established the landmark line of "White Ace" stamp albums. ArtCraft became one of the world's most popular cachets.
Health stamps are a long-running series of charity stamp issued by New Zealand which include a premium for charitable causes in addition to the charge for postal service. Health stamps were issued annually from 1929 to 2016.
World Stamp Show-NY 2016 was an international exhibition of stamp collecting held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City from May 28 to June 4, 2016. It was the first international stamp show to be held in New York since FIPEX in 1956.
Green's Catalog of the Tuberculosis Seals, US National Christmas Seals is a seminal philatelic catalog written by Dick Green, a pioneer member of The Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society. Green began his work in the 1920s and portions first appeared as a series in The Western Stamp Collector, a stamp collecting weekly. In 1936 Green's TB Christmas Seal Catalog of the World was published by the Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society.
