A philatelist is a person who collects postage stamps. Some stamp collections are of immense value and are just as good a value for money as art collections.
History of the postage stamp
The word philately, derived from the Greek "filio" - "to love" and "atelia" - "exempt from payment", appeared in 1864 in a special magazine for collectors. In the same issue, a person who was in awe of postage stamps was also named a philatelist.
Thanks to these enthusiastic people, stamps have ceased to be boring pieces of paper with a face value, but have turned into miniature works of art. Brilliant artists began to work on their creation. Rare brands gradually turned into capital.
All postage stamps, except for the picture, have service inscriptions: the Latin name of the country of origin, face value, year of issue. The first miniature appeared in 1840, and already in the second half of the 19th century, stamps became collectors' items.
What stamps are collected by philatelists
There are two main types of philatelic collecting areas - traditional and thematic. The classic philatelist collects all the more or less rare stamps and, perhaps, postcards and envelopes. Philatelist-thematic collects materials on plots. These are miniatures in sets about sports, animals, painting or history.
There is also a modern direction of philately - advertising stamps. They belong to commemorative miniatures, as well as artistic ones. Postage stamps of these types are issued in small editions, they are very rarely used to pay for postage. Artistic stamps are issued for various anniversaries, holidays, memorable dates.
Among the single stamps, there are also paired copies - two connected miniatures with the same plot. Often, philatelists collect stamps by couplings - different pictures that are printed on one sheet and do not separate.
The denomination of a collectible postage stamp is written in the picture, but has nothing to do with the actual price of the miniature. The philatelic value of a stamp is determined by the year of manufacture, country, rarity and uniqueness of the series.
Philatelists especially value postage stamps with special cancellation. These are special pieces released for significant days and anniversaries. In honor of the significance of the event, a solemn official cancellation of the stamp is carried out with a special stamp with elements of a miniature drawing and the theme of the issue.
A stamp with normal cancellation (postmarked) is valued less than a blank copy. The exception is postage stamps with "first day cancellation", which is carried out at the main post offices of one or more cities for a limited time. Usually on this day a valuable series of postage stamps is presented.