Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and 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 stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
In philately, a cinderella stamp is a label that resembles a postage stamp, but which is not issued for postal purposes by a government 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.
A local post is a mail service that operates only within a limited geographical area, typically a city or a single transportation route. Historically, some local posts have been operated by governments, while others, known as private local posts have been for-profit companies. Today, many stamp collectors operate hobbyists' local posts, issuing their own postal stamps known as "locals" or "cinderellas" for other collectors but rarely carrying any mail.
A charity label is a label resembling a postage stamp, sold by charities to raise funds. They are generally intended to be used on mail, as a way of advertising the sender's support of the charity's cause.
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".
Illegal stamps are postage stamp–like labels issued in the names of existing independent countries or territories used to defraud postal administrations, stamp collectors, and the general public. Often, but not always, a member nation of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) will have asked the UPU to issue an "International Bureau Circular" advising others of the illegal stamps. According to the UPU, the market is estimated to be at least $500 million per year.
Irene Harand was an Austrian human rights activist and campaigner against antisemitism.
L.N. and M. Williams were a philatelic writing partnership made up of brothers Leon Norman Williams and Maurice Williams (1905–1976).
In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.
The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamps issued by the state of Israel, and its postal history, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.
The Tuvan People's Republic issued postage stamps between 1926 and 1936. They were popular with stamp collectors in the Western world in the mid-twentieth century because of the obscurity and exoticism of Tannu Tuva and the stamps' quirky, colorful designs. The validity of many stamps purportedly issued by Tannu Tuva has been questioned by philatelists.
Hotel Post was a service offered by remote Swiss hotels for the carriage of mail to the nearest official post office.
Gaston Aime Camille Fontanille, also known just as Delandre, was a French entrepreneur and conman born in Valence, the son of a magistrate.
Bahrain first used the postage stamps of British India before eventually issuing its own stamps in 1960.
Béla Székula, also Bela Sekula (1881–1966), was a Hungarian philatelist, stamp dealer and forger who lived in Hungary, Switzerland and the USA.
The Chinchen Collection is a collection of stamps, proofs, artwork and covers from Lundy Island donated by Barry Chinchen to the British Library Philatelic Collections in 1977 and is located at the British Library.
The Campbell-Johnston Collection is a collection of poster stamps that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It consists of 30 large green albums.
Wolfgang Baldus is a German graphic designer, artist, and philatelic writer. He is known for authoring and publishing books on cinderella stamps in the series History and Background Stories of Unusual Stamps and for his works on the philatelic forgeries and propaganda parodies produced by both sides during the First and Second World Wars.
John Barefoot is a British philatelist, stamp dealer, and publisher, best known for his catalogues of revenue stamps which are known collectively as the "Barefoot catalogue".
