How postage stamps are made. When did postage stamps appear? Why are postage stamps issued?

(based on materials from the site http://www.wonderslist.com)

Postage stamps are a repository of the past. They provide a unique opportunity to look at the history of the country and era. Philately is known as the "Mother of Hobbies". Thanks to some bugs or other “features,” some brands have achieved superstar status in their own right. These stamps are highly sought after by collectors and are worth millions of dollars. Here is a list of the 10 most valuable and rare postage stamps in history.

10. Basel pigeon

The Basel Dove is a stamp issued by the canton of Basel in Switzerland on July 1, 1845. It was the first tricolor stamp in the world, with a face value of 2.5 rappen. Basel was one of three Swiss cantons that printed postage stamps. The Basel Dove features a white dove carrying a letter in its beak. The image was created by the architect Melchior Berry. The colors used are black, crimson and blue. In total, approximately 42,000 stamps were printed in the series until it was withdrawn in 1854. The Basel Dove costs approximately at least $20,000.

9. Penny Black

Penny Black, the world's first self-adhesive postage stamp, was issued in Great Britain. The man who came up with the idea, Rowland Hill, is known as the “father of postage stamps.” The "black penny" depicts the profile of Britain's Queen Victoria. The brand got its name due to its color and value. First issued in 1840, it was withdrawn within a year because the redemption was almost unreadable on a black background. Stamps in this series are difficult to find and are estimated to cost around $3,000. Several outstanding sheets of these stamps are kept in the British Postal Museum.

8. The whole country is red.

This Chinese stamp was issued in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. With a nominal value of 8 fen, it went down in history due to a printing error. This stamp was intended to symbolize the spread of communism in China. Designed by Wang Weisheng, it showed a map of China in red and a photograph of a worker, a farmer and a soldier holding a book of Selected Works of Chairman Mao (The Red Book). However, the map of Taiwan, which was controlled by China, was not red, but white. The editor of SinoMaps Press noticed the error on the afternoon of the release date, and the stamps were immediately recalled, although some copies did find their way into the hands of collectors. They are now among the rarest postage stamps.

(In 2013, at one of the auctions, the price of the stamp was $77,350, translator’s note).

7. Hawaiian missionaries

Issued by the then Kingdom of Hawaii in 1851, they are among the rarest postage stamps in the world. Stamps were printed in three denominations: 2 cents, 5 cents and 13 cents. They came to be called "missionaries" because most of them were used in correspondence between missionaries working in Hawaii. All stamps were made on cheap quality blue paper. The design consisted of the denomination number in the center and the denomination in words below. The phrase "Hawaiian/Postal" was written on the 2 and 5 cent stamps, and "H.I. & U.S./Postage was printed on 13 cent stamps. The 2-cent version is the rarest of the three, with only 15 left now.

(In the 2000s, the Scott catalog valued the outstanding 2-cent missionary at $600,000, translator's note).

6. Edward VII, who became posthumous

The posthumous Edward VII stamp is one of the rarest postage stamps in the UK. It was issued in 1910 to replace the existing two-colour two-pence stamp of King Edward VII. A new stamp with a similar denomination also bore the image of the king. A total of 24 million stamps were printed, but after the unexpected death of the king in May of that year, almost all of the stamps were destroyed. Several examples of this stamp exist today, although their actual number is unknown. The only known example is in the Royal Philatelic Collection.

(Its approximate cost is $130,000, translator's note)

5. 12-penny “Black Queen of Canada”

The Black Queen of Canada was issued in 1851 and is one of the rarest available today. The stamp depicts the profile of Queen Victoria. It is based on a portrait of the Queen painted by Alfred Edward Chalon. This design is called Chalon Head. Although more than fifty thousand copies were printed, very few were sold. In 1857, the remaining stamps were confiscated and destroyed. It is believed that only slightly more than 100 stamps of this kind currently exist. The cost of one copy is estimated at approximately $500,000.

4. "Inverted Jenny"

Also known as the Upside Down Jenny, the Upside Down Jenny is a United States postage stamp with a face value of 24 cents. It was first issued on May 10, 1918. This printing error made it one of the rarest postage stamps in the world. It shows a Curtiss JN-4 aircraft upside down. It is believed that only 100 stamps with the error now exist. Although at least three more sheets were printed incorrectly, they were all found and destroyed. One reverse Jenny stamp sold for $977,500 at auction in 2007.

3. Blue Mauritius

These stamps were issued in Mauritius in September 1847, when the island was a British colony. The stamps came in two denominations: one penny in orange-red and two pence in dark blue. The stamp featured Queen Victoria. Thanks to the erroneous inscription “Post Office”, this stamp became rare.

The caption was changed to "Post Paid" in the next episode. There is a legend that the wording was erroneous, but philatelists claim that this is not the case. The brand first attracted the attention of collectors in 1864. Currently, only 26 copies of the stamp exist. Their value is estimated at approximately $4 million.

2. Triskilling Yellow

The second place in the list of the rarest postage stamps is occupied by the Swedish Treskilling Yellow stamp, issued in 1855. This stamp once held the world record for the highest price paid for a single postage stamp at auction. It was sold at auction in 1996 for $2.3 million. And in 2010 it was resold, but the exact price did not become publicly available. The brand is one of a kind. Its fame is due to a printing error. Three-skilling stamps were printed in blue-green, and eight-skilling stamps in yellow. By mistake, several three-skilling stamps were printed in yellow. The only known surviving example was discovered by a schoolboy and philatelist named Georg Wilhelm Bachmann in 1886 while he was examining his grandparents' attic.

1. British Pink Guiana 1 cent

A stamp that was sold at auction in 2014 for $9.5 million. USA, British Guiana Pink colour, is considered the most valuable and rarest stamp in the world. Now there is only one copy of it, carved in the shape of an octagon. The stamp was issued in limited quantities in 1856 by former British Guiana. It depicts a sailing ship along with the colony's motto "Damus Petimus Que Vicissim" (We give and expect in return). It was discovered in 1873 by a Scottish schoolboy named Louis Vernon Vaughan among his uncle's letters. The brand has been mentioned more than once in various films and books as “special”.

What don't people collect in modern world! One of the most popular areas of such activity - Many believe that this is the most harmless and cheap hobby. However, some are willing to pay a fortune for this or that rare stamp. What are the features of this type of collecting? What is the most expensive postage stamp of the USSR? All this is discussed in our article.

A postage stamp is...

A postage stamp is special sign, which serves as confirmation of the fact of payment for the postal service and has its own. This tiny piece of paper with ribbed edges has become almost the meaning of life for many collectors.

In addition to the denomination, postage stamps often contain the number and name of a specific postal administration. Any stamp, as a rule, has a certain design, inscription and decor.

All postage stamps are divided into several types:

• official (state standard);
• unofficial;
• stamps produced by private mail.

In Soviet times, many people were fond of collecting stamps. Even today, postal stamps remain a central object of interest for a number of philatelists. For many, this activity is a great way to feel nostalgic about the Soviet past.

Philately as a way of life

Many philatelists begin to get involved in this activity from early childhood. First, they collect the most common postage stamps of the USSR, and then they begin to hunt for rarer specimens. Over time, in adulthood, such people already have at their disposal a substantial collection of various postage stamps.

The term “philately” itself comes from two Greek words: “philos” - “love” and “ately” - “collection, duty”.

It is worth noting that philatelists collect not only the stamps themselves, but also envelopes and postcards with postage stamps pasted on them. The first philatelic catalogs appeared in the middle of the 19th century, in England. IN modern Russia There is a so-called Philatelists Union. The country also regularly publishes a thematic magazine under the laconic name “Philately”.

Postage stamps of the USSR and their cost

The most expensive postage stamp in the world is considered to be the so-called Mauritius stamp of 1847. The price of one such thing at auction reaches up to 20 million dollars! In total, 28 of its copies are known.

USSR postage stamps vary greatly in value. For example, the collection price of many Soviet postage stamps from late years of issue does not exceed 50 rubles. However, some of them cost several thousand dollars. And what is most surprising is that there are many who want to give such huge days for a small piece of paper.

On the Internet you can find many offers for the sale of entire sets of Soviet stamps. So, for example, a complete annual set of “postage stamps of the USSR 1974”, which includes 109 stamps and 8 blocks, can be purchased for 1,700 rubles. The price of such sets is largely determined by the year the stamps were issued. Thus, sets of stamps from the 40s and 50s are much more expensive.

Five most expensive postage stamps of the USSR

Which USSR postage stamps are the most expensive today. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the list of five such items.

1. "Blue Gymnastics" stamp from 1959. It was sold a few years ago for $13,800. The history of this stamp, which was never released, is very interesting. The fact is that the brand was dedicated to the 40th anniversary. However, it was not possible to establish in what year it was founded.
2. Stamp "250 years of Poltava victory" 1959. There is only one copy of this amazing brand in the world, which was sold in 2013 for $28,750. The circulation of this stamp was not released due to the planned visit of N. Khrushchev to Sweden.
3. Stamp "Transcarpathian Ukraine" 1965. There are only a few copies of it, its price reaches $30,000.
4. Stamp "Consular fifty dollars". Despite the circulation of about 70 copies, the collector's value of this stamp is $65,000.
5. Stamp "First All-Union Philatelic Exhibition" 1932. Only one example is known to exist. And it was sold to one collector for $776 thousand.

Finally...

Postage stamps of the USSR are an object of interest for many modern philatelists. For some, collecting these stamps is nothing more than a harmless hobby. And someone devotes all their free time to this and is ready to pay a lot of money for a rare copy.

Pay attention to the age of the brand. Unlike coins, stamps most often do not indicate the date of manufacture, so it is much more difficult to find out their age.

• In some cases, the age of a stamp can be determined based on the design and drawing depicted on it. For example, if a stamp was issued in honor of some historical event.
• Older stamps are made from different types of paper than modern ones.
• Stamps have been used for various purposes. For example, sea mail stamps have their own history, which means it will be easier to track their age (knowing the history).

Find out the city in which the stamp was issued. The history of a country and its place in the world can influence the value of a brand. Each country issues stamps in its own language. It could be simple foreign language, or not even the Latin alphabet. If you come across a stamp in an unfamiliar language, you can use an online translator and thus determine the country where it was issued.

Pay attention to how well the design on the stamp aligns to the center. It is not the design itself that is important, but its position on the stamp canvas. You can determine how well the image is centered by turning the stamp upside down and looking at it that way.

Note the vintage sticker. Old postage stamps are likely to no longer have them if the stamp was affixed to an envelope or postcard. The stamp sticker itself is a thin strip of gummed paper, with the help of which the stamp was glued to the surface of the envelope, or pasted into the album. The condition of this sticker also has an impact on the quality of the stamp.

• Philatelists value the mint gum sticker the most (even more than smokers of mint chewing gum).
• What is most appreciated is the uniform distribution of the adhesive over the entire surface of the stamp.
• Old albums with pages held together by hinges also reduce the value of stamps.

The very first postage stamp appeared 175 years ago – on May 6, 1840 in England. Moreover, we are talking specifically about the stamp that was glued to the envelope. Previously, revenue stamps were used in various countries around the world and were used as proof of payment of taxes and duties.

The use of stamps as postage was suggested by the English astronomy teacher Rowland Hill. On his advice, postal authorities began to use “a piece of paper large enough to serve as a mark, and coated on the back with an adhesive substance.”

This idea came to Hill in Scotland, where he witnessed an interesting incident. One day, a postman came into the tavern where Hill was at that time with a letter for the maid. The girl was clearly delighted, but refused to receive correspondence. At that time, according to postal rules, the recipient had to pay for the letter.

Hill paid the postman three and a half shillings, which was the cost of delivery at that time, but the girl said that she did not need the letter because there was nothing in the envelope. As it turned out, she and her brother, who lives in London, have been carrying on such strange correspondence for a long time. My brother sent her an empty envelope, which meant that everything was fine with him. The sister refused to accept the letter, and it was sent back to the sender. Having received his letter back, the brother understood that his sister was also doing well.

Hill later found out that this was far from an isolated incident. Many residents of Great Britain used such “silent” correspondence. The postal service suffered considerable losses.

That's when Rowland Hill came up with the idea of ​​using postage stamps. Interestingly, the English postal department generously thanked Hill: a few years later he was appointed postmaster general, and later received a knighthood. A monument was erected to him in London, and the postmaster is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Black penny

The first postage stamps, called "penny black", featured the profile of Queen Victoria and also included the inscriptions "postage" and "one penny". The Englishman J. E. Gray is considered the world's first collector of postage stamps. Immediately after the release of the "black penny", he purchased stamps not for use in sending letters, but for a collection.

Gradually, Hill's invention spread throughout the world. In 1843, postage stamps began to be used in Zurich, Geneva and Brazil. In December 1857, the first postage stamps were issued in Russia. They began to be used on January 1, 1858.

The stamp originated as a unit for paying for postal services. In appearance, postage stamps are ordinary small rectangular pieces of paper. They usually depict the sights of countries, cities, beautiful landscapes, famous paintings and sculptures. There are collectors who collect stamps. These people are called philatelists.

By what principles are stamps collected? Philately and its area of ​​interest

The word "philately" came to us from the Greek language. Translated, philéo means love, and atéleia means liberation. The term was first introduced by the collector G. Erpen.

There are three aspects to the study of philatelists:

• The quality of the paper on which it is printed, the shape and size of the copy, watermarks, defects, errors, type and form of perforation, how the stamp was cancelled.
• Historical. Political and economic conditions in which the brand was released. The reason for its withdrawal from circulation.
• Thematic collections. They are divided chronological and special. Chronological stamps are presented in the order of their release. They are divided into general (collections of copies of all countries or within one power); specialized (stamps that were sent to the office of the Universal Postal Association; they could be overprinted “sample”). Specialized collections contain rare stamps of air mail from the origins of its development (pigeon, catapult, balloon, glider, rocket, helicopter, airplane).

Classification of brands

Not many collectors know that stamps have their own classification. Postal currency is divided into:

• Official - issued by the state.
• Semi-formal. They were issued as an additional payment for early delivery, for example, by air. These types of stamps were usually canceled with a postmark.
• Unofficial brands. First of all, it is the currency of private mail. In England, such stamps circulated during a long strike by postal workers. Today they are used in Holland. Such post offices carry correspondence to places where the state postal service cannot reach. Unofficial stamps have another purpose - charity. Additional stamps can be purchased and affixed as a sign of the volunteer's goodwill. The money goes to help people who suffered from hostilities, to purchase medical equipment, and the like.
• Private mail stamps.

Types of official stamps:

1. Stamps that act as currency in post offices.
2. Stamps, which are used as the internal currency of the post office. They are not available for free sale. Very rarely the Post Office may offer them for sale to philatelists.
3. Copies to cover taxes.

Official stamps are divided into several types:

• Brands "Standard". Everyday copies that are needed to pay for the rest of the correspondence. The images on them often do not change for 20 years. If necessary, their circulation is increased. Because of this, varieties appear.
• Anniversary, holiday and themed stamps. Types of stamps that philatelists hunt for. Instances that were produced for a specific type of transportation.

The first postage stamp in Russia

The first postage stamps were issued on December 22, 1857. The circulation was without perforation, that is, there were no characteristic teeth on them. A special machine was ordered from Vienna for this purpose, but it arrived very late. The drawing for the sample was created by senior engraver Franz Mikhailovich Kepler. The stamp featured postal horns and indicated the price: “10 kopecks. per lot." Copies with this image were produced until 1923.

USSR stamps

On November 7, 1917, the Great October Revolution took place. The first Soviet stamps were issued in July 1918 by the Perm Soviet of Deputies. These are the first Soviet copies in Russia. There were exclusive brands in the USSR. We will consider further the types of USSR stamps that were sold for huge amounts of money.

"Blue Gymnast"

A unique and expensive brand is “Blue Gymnast”. It was supposed to be put into circulation in honor of the holiday - the fortieth anniversary of the Soviet circus. Since there was confusion over the exact date of birth, the copy was never published. “The Blue Gymnast” remained in a private collection, and philatelists began hunting for it. Its price is 13.8 thousand dollars. The stamp was sold at auction in 2008.

"Limonka"

In 1925, as a result of the machine running out of paint and the perforation machine breaking down, an unprinted rare copy of a fifteen-kopeck stamp appeared. It belongs to the “Gold Standard” category. The estimated cost of "Limonka" is about 20 thousand dollars.

Unissued stamps (types of stamps that have not entered into circulation)

A famous issue in philatelic circles, which was withdrawn for political reasons, is the stamps dedicated to the Poltava victory in 1709. 40 copies have survived to this day. The price of one copy is twenty-eight thousand dollars.

Also, the Soviet government did not allow the release of a stamp called “Flight of Peace and Friendship.” The estimated cost of the rare specimen is 10-20 thousand dollars.

Stamps with printing flaws

There are copies that are especially prized due to typographical errors. This feature makes them exclusive. These include the “Levanevsky with overprint” brand. The series in which it is included was called “Saving the Chelyuskinites.”

The postage stamps of this edition contain a photo of the pilot Levanevsky. In 1935, a stamp appeared with the overprint “Flight Moscow - San Francisco via North. Pole 1935". Because of the small letter f and the inverted plug, the super value of the stamps, which were placed on two sheets, was determined. Rare stamps are included in a special catalogue. The types of stamps are described in detail here, there is their history and photos.

There were also rare varieties among airmail copies. In 1923, they were first issued for the delivery of correspondence by air. The first edition was very small and consisted of 4 colorful copies. They were marked with an image of a Fokker F-111 aircraft.

In this article we wanted to draw your attention to such an interesting object of study of philately as stamps. The types of stamps (rare items) that collectors study help historians gain a deeper understanding of our glorious past. This postal currency is very convenient not only in terms of payment, but also helps sort letters much faster. Each country and region has its own identification marks.