Philately

The Philatelist, work of François Barraud (1929).

Stick collecting is the hobby of collecting and classifying stamps, envelopes and other postal documents and studying postal history. The stamps represent part of the national or regional history of the countries through figures of famous people, monuments, paintings, flora, fauna, postal history, etc., matters of interest to collectors (philatelists) and the people involved in this matter.

Etymology

The word philately is due to the French collector Georges Herpin, who proposed it in an article written for the newspaper Le collectionneur de Timbres Poste, of Paris, which was published in on November 15, 1864. The word was formed from two Greek words: philos, which means lover, love, hobby, and atelia, itself derived from ateles, which means prepaid or paid in advance.

History

Pre-philately

Historians agree that in Egypt, in the VI century B.C. C., there was already an official correspondence transport service. Egyptian manuscripts, written on papyrus, were mainly transported by special boats that sailed the Nile River.

China, in the III century B.C. C., was the first country that had an organized postal service and was also the first to use paper in its correspondence.

In pre-Columbian America there was also a relay system to carry messages and reports to the tlatoani (ruling lord) of the Mexicas from the confines of their territory, through runners called painani. The chasqui fulfilled the same function for the Inca of the Quechuas.

The Persians, during the reign of Cyrus the Great (555 BC), established a postal service. All these services were only for the transfer of official correspondence; the general public did not have access to them.

In the last years of the XVII century practically all countries had official post offices and also private post offices organized by merchants for the transfer of your correspondence.

In 1625, during the time of Cardinal Richelieu, France was the first state to directly take charge of the organization and operation of postal services.

The first postage stamps

Sir Rowland Hill was the creator of the prepaid postal system. Before his system, the postal service was paid for at the destination, which led to innumerable inconveniences, such as the recipient refusing to pay for the service or not having the funds to do so, and fraud, which ranged from keeping the money of the service to the use of the system to simply notify that a person was well or that they should do something when they received the notification, without having to pay for it.

On September 14, 1839, the Treasury Office of Great Britain held a competition to submit proposals for an adhesive postage stamp. 2,700 projects were submitted and the one for Rowland Hill was finally selected. The stamps were issued on May 6, 1840, and the Penny Black was the first adhesive postage stamp to circulate in the world. 68,158,080 copies were issued.

After the "Black Penny", the Swiss canton of Zurich was the second largest issuer of stamps: on March 21, 1843, it issued the famous 4 and 6 rappen. Then followed Brazil, which on July 1, 1843 issued a series of stamps called portholes, due to their resemblance to the metal frames of ship windows, in values of 30, 60 and 90. laugh. Spain did so on January 1, 1850.

All the countries were successively implementing the modality. In 1843 they began to be used in Switzerland, and the first American nation that used them was Brazil in the same year. The United States of America followed in 1847, Chile in 1853, Mexico and Uruguay in 1856, Peru a year later, Argentina in 1858, Colombia and Venezuela in 1859, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in 1862, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ecuador. in 1865, Bolivia in 1866, El Salvador in 1867, Paraguay in 1870, and a year later Guatemala, Panama in 1903 and Cuba, now an independent nation, in 1905.

The first stamps, which already came in sheets, were cut with scissors, so they had straight edges. Later (1854) a series of lines with perforations were added that allowed them to be separated cleanly, without auxiliary tools, and the toothing appeared.

The first press advertisement dedicated to stamp collecting appeared in 1841 in the London Times and is from a young collector "desiring to paper her dressing table with used stamps". Collecting soon spread and the first catalogs or lists of stamps, with an agreed value, appeared in 1860 (Berger-Levrault) in Strasbourg and Poliquet in Paris). The first album with holes or boxes to place the stamps was published by Lallier in Paris in 1862, and the first philatelic magazine was The Monthly Intelligencer of Liverpool (England). The hobby continued to spread: nuclei of philatelists were formed in all nations, many of whom distinguished themselves by their studies, their superb collections or by the commercial companies they founded related to the stamp. Important associations dedicated to the philatelic exchange also arose in the cities, and public sales and auctions began, in which high prices were reached.

Manufacture, characteristics of postage stamps and their philatelic interest

In the manufacture of stamps, all graphic procedures are used (typography, lithography, engraving, rotogravure and photography); but the most beautiful, without a doubt, is the burin engraving on a metal plate with the printing by means of the press called torculum, called chalcography. This procedure is also the most difficult to falsify. First the engraving is done with a burin, then the paper is wetted and then passed to a press, where -still wet- it is printed sheet by sheet in chalcographic machines or automatic presses. The sheets are then passed on to reviewers who examine the sheets and separate those found to be defective. Once the print is dry, the sheets go to the numbering machine -if they are numbered-, then to the gummer, and when they are dry, to the one that does the climbing or perforation, which is the last operation. This system, of very beautiful impressions, is slow; For this reason, for large number issues, rotary gravure and photolithography are used, very fast procedures, in which the drawing is made on paper and the image is transported to metal by photomechanical procedures.

On paper, apart from color and thickness, the special watermark or watermark must be taken into account that can be distinguished by holding it against the light or using a watermark, which consists of a small tray with a flat black bottom, in which the seal is deposited face down; it is moistened with a drop of benzene and immediately the sign or letters of the watermark become visible. Depending on this, the stamp may belong to one issue or another. The filigrees are very varied and some very curious.

Drilling or climbing constitutes another distinctive element, since there are different types of teeth (comb, line), and they are classified according to the number of teeth of the seal per 2 cm. The old ones were not perforated, although the same is true of some modern emissions.

Centenary of the Declaration of Independence of Mexico.

The shape of the seals is very varied; there are square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, rhomboidal, etc., and within these shapes the dimensions are very varied, from the gigantic North American newspaper postage stamp of 1866, 99 by 55 millimeters, to the tiny one from the British colony of Victoria. As for colors, there is a very extensive range. One way to collect is to gather color varieties. Up to 400 different shades have been distinguished.

The face value is the one that bears the stamp of the currency of the country to which it belongs, and that ranges from insignificant values (such as the Spanish stamp of a quarter of a cent of a peseta) to values very high (like Kenya's £100). The circulation of each issue also fluctuates greatly: there have been dozens of copies and others of many millions.

The waste of inventiveness, talent and art of the designers of the cartoons is wonderful; curious details are found in the borders or inscriptions, harmonious and balanced compositions, boasts of conception, successful colors. Many constitute true works of art due to their subject matter, the delicate print, the harmony of color and the beautiful drawings.

There are the type seal and the varieties. The first is the one projected, with characteristics, price, etc., well determined; but suppose that once the issue has begun the climbing machine is rendered useless and another one has to be used, the result will be to have stamps with different serrations, which will constitute a variety. As will be understood, the varieties of each type may be many or few. Another modification that alters the stamps of an issue in whole or in part are the surcharge and the authorization, which consist of those overprints that are printed after the general printing. They can be used to alter its face value -overload-, modify the use for which it was intended -qualification-, or to indicate a change of regime in the nation to which it belongs, such as those who had the HPN or &# 34;Enabled by the nation" in Spain, after the reign of Isabel II.

Stamps with errors or defects generally reach great value due to their small number. Color errors may occur, if they appear with the wrong color. Other times a part of the stamp appears printed in reverse, like the famous North American air stamp with the plane inverted. The pair of seals in which one is totally invested is called tête-bêche. If the plate deteriorates due to unforeseen accidents, some defective stamps come out, and when the plates are repaired and the print run continues, the so-called retouched appear. Other errors are those of origin, due to the artist's mistake, such as the stamp on which Columbus appears using a telescope that was invented 200 years after his death.

The rarities and curiosities of the world of stamps are endless; We will limit ourselves to mentioning a few. The British Guiana one-cent stamp ("Magenta 1 cent"), from 1856, owes its high value to an oversight by the British administration, which forgot to send the stamp sheets to that colony. So, the governor was forced to make a modest print run, in which he put his signature on the stamps to avoid forgeries. In Russia, an issue bearing the effigy of the tsar was withdrawn, considering it disrespectful that the imperial figure was trampled by the postmark. Another highly sought after stamp is the Brazilian one that commemorates the visit of King Carlos I of Portugal.

As for themes, they are infinite. There are cartographic stamps, with maps, like some from Ireland (Eire) and the Turkish issue of 1922. Others show mountains, like the Ecuadorian stamps, on which Chimborazo appears. The rivers are heavily reproduced, as on the 1928 Canadian stamps as the St. Lawrence. Lake Amatitlán appears on several Guatemalan stamps. Among the waterfalls we will mention the Argentine emission of the Iguazú. Animals are recurring themes: the Nyassa giraffe, the camel in those of Touva, and the orangutan in those of Borneo, are good samples.

Print runs for high values are limited, ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 copies. There are countries that are very fond of broadcasts, such as Turkey. Philatelic values can be huge. The aforementioned stamp of English Guiana has been sold at auction for a value of 9.5 million dollars.

In philately stamps are grouped according to the class of service for which they are intended. Thus we have those for air mail, regular mail, urgent correspondence, charity (to provide donations for humanitarian works), war (patriotic and military occupations), rate (to replace insufficient postage), telegraph, official correspondence etc.

Finally, there are other less collected stamps: for forms, certificates, postal packages and parcels, telephones, franchises of official organizations and stamps or fiscal or tax stamps.

As stamp collecting has grown in importance, more counterfeit stamps have appeared, clever imitations for which large sums have been paid.

In addition to the loose seal, the pair is also used, which can be vertical or horizontal. If there are three, it is called a strip or band. A set of four or more stamps, with at least two in one band, is called a block; the most common are four and nine. Destined for fans, the sheets are issued today, consisting of several different stamps in the center of a sheet of paper, with allusive inscriptions in the margin. Until the first years of our century, killed stamps were preferred, that is, stamped by the postmark; today there are many collectors who prefer new stamps, claiming that the appearance of the stamp is more attractive. However, there are cases in which the postmark increases the value of the stamp because it is more difficult to find it in circulation than new.

Collectibles

Beginnings

The count of Villayer introduced in Paris in 1653 the sale of some uniform envelopes for correspondence -which were offered for two sous- but failed in his endeavor. It was not until the XIX century, in 1839, that the idea resurfaced again, rescued by an English schoolteacher, Rowland Hill, progressive and enterprising. He proposed to the government a plan for prepayment of postal transportation by means of stamps or affixed stamps, which was accepted, and was put into operation on May 6, 1840. A year later there is already news of the first collector: a certain Dr. Gray, whose hobby provoked ridicule from his contemporaries.

Collecting and its influence

The educational influence of philately is great, since all collectors significantly increase their wealth of knowledge, without the need for painful and long hours of study. The knowledge of history, geography, is treasured, and the desire to know more and more about countries, men, landscapes grows, to which we look through those little windows of the world that are the stamps. Already in the early days of philately, its pedagogical capacity was sensed and it was officially introduced in British schools in a regulation of 1855, as a sport and culture. The stamp generally tends to increase in value as the number of copies of each issue decreases due to losses and deterioration; This increase in value is sometimes astonishing, multiplying its initial value by a thousand or two thousand. If the selection of the specimens is done correctly, it always constitutes an investment and an economic guarantee for tomorrow. The exercise of philately develops qualities of order and care, neatness and care. Develops the analytical and observation spirit.

Philatelist Activities

Large philatelic exhibitions have been held, such as the one in Berlin in 1930, the one in Buenos Aires in 1950 and the one in New York in 1956. In the big cities, philatelic bags meet in the open air, where philatelists talk, exchange, they buy and sell. The one in Buenos Aires in Parque Rivadavia and the one in Barcelona in Plaza Real are famous. There are also philatelic clubs, with numerous members, who exchange friendly correspondence, stamps, postcards, magazines, etc., and many publish interesting publications.

Many advanced philatelists specialize in commemorative, air, Spanish-American, British Colonial, etc. stamps, given the impossibility of covering all the enormous number of stamps issued today.

Ways of collecting

The stamps used to be attached to the album with a few seal holders, also called hinges (from the French charnière), gummed and transparent paper that was used folded as a small hinge. However, this is a completely obsolete practice -at least as regards new stamps (unused or cancelled)-, since it causes the loss (more or less depending on the stamp) of part of the value of the pieces due to because when removing the seal fixer it always leaves a mark on the rubber. In the catalogs there are usually three price lists: one for new stamps without a hinge mark; another, with prices that are always lower, for pieces -new- with hinge marks; and the third for postmarked or circulated stamps (usually said "used"), whose price is generally lower, although there are cases in which it is much higher than either of the two types of uncirculated stamps.

It is preferable to use the mounts, which allow the stamps to be inserted and removed from the album in order to examine them and which, unlike the mounts, do not cause them any aggression.

Useful instruments for the philatelist are the filigree scope to which we have already referred; the odontometer, which is a sheet of cardboard or plastic with straight rows of points of different thickness and spacing, which indicate how many teeth of a stamp perforation fit into two centimeters. The margin of the seal is adjusted on these rows until finding the one that coincides with the perforation of our specimen. We will say that a seal is toothed 12, if 12 teeth enter a space of 2 centimeters. The tweezers, used to pick up the seal, prevent it from bending or staining, and the magnifying glass can allow us to appreciate distinctive details that are impossible to see with the naked eye.

The philatelic Catalogues, carefully prepared works in which all the world's stamps appear in order of appearance and issue, are essential for the collector. They serve as the basis for ordering the collections, dictate criteria on which items should or should not be considered to have philatelic value, and set a monetary value for each stamp, which is applied not only to purchase and sale operations, but also to transactions or exchanges. The catalogs appear annually and the most famous and universally sold are that of Ivert-Tellier, French; Gibbons's, English, and Scott's, American.

The best albums for stamps are those that allow you to insert single sheets in which the last issues are attached at the end of each country. Leaf albums suitable for both beginners and serious collectors are available in the trade.

Among the most prominent collectors is George VI, whose collection was started by Edward VII and features numerous rarities. Another distinguished collector was Franklin D. Roosevelt. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy and Tsar Nicholas of Russia were also philatelists. The most famous collection has been that of Philipp von Ferrary, begun in 1865 and sold at auction in Paris in 1923 for two million dollars. Other notable collections have been Castle's, of European stamps; Durin's; that of Baron Rothschild, and that of Hind, holder of the only copy of the famous stamp of British Guiana. Notable collector has been Doring Beckton, president of the Royal British Philatelic Society, who left 154,021 different stamps when he died.

The commemorative stamps issued to celebrate some notable event or important date deserve special mention. They have historical value and have great acceptance among fans. Their pictorial and artistic value is usually exceptional, and they are the most beautiful specimens in any collection. Among the most notable we will cite the numerous North American commemorative series; the Spanish ones by Goya and Monserrat; those dedicated to the Universal Postal Union and the Olympics.

Implications

More than the quantity, it is the rarity of the specimens that gives value to a collection. Some stamps, particularly those with rare but known misprints, have a very high commercial value and are difficult to obtain.

Post stamps, called timbres y estampillas in various countries of Spanish-speaking America, have given rise to one of the most widespread collecting activities in the world and among all social classes. This hobby has originated important industries and businesses, has specialized magazines and even constitutes a source of income for some states.

Philatelic instruments

Catalog to identify stamps.

• Lupa: Essential to see the small details of the seals.
• Dentalmeter: It serves to measure the dentate of seals.
• Trimeter: It serves to measure the thickness of the paper.
• Catalogues: They contain orientation prices and technical information such as dentate, spin, printing type and paper. They are published by specialized companies and originate in the price lists of merchants.
• Brushes: To avoid manipulating the seals with your hands, without damaging or marking them.
• Sorter: Book with transparent bands that serve to place and order seals.
• Philatelic Album: Edited by specialized commercial houses. Annually they publish supplements per country, with the leaves already designed. With the popularization of computing, there is a growing trend in design and printing by each collector.
• Filoestuches: Adhesive bands to support and protect seals on the album.

Modalities of collecting

Band Sorter to store seals.

Under the term philately several disciplines and modalities of collecting are included:

• Technical filter. It consists of the study and documentation of the process of design, creation and printing of the seal.
• Postal history. Use of the stamp on piece, periods of use, cancellations and complementary marks.
• History of the mail. Decrees, provisions and documents relating to the organization and operation of the mail.
• Prefilatelia. Mail and marks used before the seal appears.
• Theme Philately. Orientated to the collection of the motif represented on the stamp.
• Countries. Collecting specialized in emissions of a given country or territory.

Specialized catalogues

They are publications to identify and classify postage stamps, as well as to know their market value. They reproduce each of the stamps issued and are used as the main tool by collectors. The main world catalogs are:

• Catalogue Scott: editado en Estados Unidos
• Catalogue Michel: edited in Germany
• Catalogue Yvert et Tellier: edited in France
• Catalogue Stanley Gibbons: edited in Great Britain

There are also specialized catalogs for some countries:

• Edifil Catalogue: edited in Spain
• Catalogue Mello Teggia: edited in Argentina
• Online catalog Casandra: from Spain

Philatelic curiosities

• Although it is generally accepted that Sir Rowland Hill, an English postal administrator, was the seal inventor, the first adhesive samples were printed in 1834 by James Chalmers of Dundee (Scot).
• The United Kingdom seals have never taken the name of the country, only the effigy of the sovereign. The first to include an additional illustration was the commemorative of Wembley, issued on 23 April 1924.
• The United Kingdom has never issued air stamps.
• No United States stamp carries the effigy of a living person, although many Americans have been honored in life and have appeared on the stamps of other countries. The only exception was in September 1861, with the broadcast representing Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America.
• Although they are the most abounding forms, not all seals are square or rectangular. There are romboids, triangular and even circular, ovals, hexagonals, octogonals and irregular forms.
• The largest seal known was issued by China in 1913. It was urgent mail and measured 24.8 cm x 7 cm.
• The smallest seal was issued by the state of Bolivar (1863-1866), part of the then-called United States of Colombia. Average 8 mm × 9.5 mm.
• The most valuable seal in the world is Sweden's 1855 yellow Tre skilling. In 1996 it was sold for 2,600,000 Swiss francs (over $2 million). Because of its weight, it is the most expensive object in the world, as it cost about $71 million per gram.
• The most famous and valuable error in a United States seal is the Inverted Jenny; it occurred in the specimen of an airmail stamp placed for sale on May 14, 1918 with the figure of an inverted plane. The collector W.T. Robey bought a leaf that was sold to a merchant for $15,000. He sold it to another collector for $20 000. In 1979 a 4-seal block of the blade was sold at $500,000. More recently, $750,000 per one copy was reached.
• The most curious stamp in the world is probably one that issued Bhutan and which is actually a small musical album that reproduces the national anthem of the country.
• As for materials other than paper, Portugal issued in 2007 a stamp made in cork, as did Ecuador, which made it in 2009.
• Until 1850, when national seals began to be issued, Swiss cities used their own seals. The local letters were only one; those addressed to other cities, two.
• The Universal Postal Union was founded in Bern (Switzerland) on 15 September 1874 to regulate the exchange of postal mail between countries. Today it is a United Nations-dependent entity.
• Some famous fans of the philatelia were Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, George V of England, Carol II of Romania, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Nicholas II of Russia, William II of Germany, Freddie Mercury and Nicolas Sarkozy.
• In the story a secret in the Norma Huidobro window is mentioned to "the lady of Elche", a unique stamp created in the centuryXXI.

Philatelic Societies

• Hispanic Academy of Philatelia
• National Academy of Russian Philatelia
• American Philatelic Society (APS)
• Jalisco Filatélico, the oldest club in Mexico
• Argentine Federation of Philatelic Institutions (FAEF)
• European Federation of Philatelic Societies (FEPA)
• European Academy of Philatelia (AEF)
• Sociedad Filatélica de Chile, founded in 1889
• International Federation of Philatelia (FIP), founded in Paris in 1926
• Sociedad Filatélica Argentina, (SOFIRA)
• Sociedad Filatélica de El Salvador
• Sociedad Filatélica de Madrid (SOFIMA)
• Sociedad Filatélica de Puerto Rico

In Spain, Afinsa (1980) and Fórum Filatélico (1979), entities that collected savings to invest in stamps, were intervened in 2006 accused of being pyramid schemes.