Philately

Philately is the study of revenue or postage stamps. This includes the design, production and uses of stamps after they are issued by postal authorities. Although many equate it with stamp collecting, it is a distinct activity. For instance, philatelists will study extremely rare stamps without expecting to own copies of them, whether because of cost, or because the sole survivors are in museums. Conversely, a stamp collector may choose to acquire and arrange the little pictures without being much troubled about their origin or usage. But in practice, a basic knowledge of philately will save the collector from spending 50 dollars for a stamp that is really worth only 20 cents!

Related Topics:
Revenue - Postage stamp - Postal authorities - Stamp collecting

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The coining of the word "philately" in its French form has been circumstantially attributed to Georges Herpin in the publication Le Collectioneur de timbres-postes, Vol. 1, November 15, 1864. It is formed from the Greek words philos (friend) and ateleia (exempt from charge, or "franked"), which is a stretch to relate to the study of stamps, but the alternatives of "timbrophily" & "timbrology" or "timbrologist" never caught on.

Related Topics:
November 15 - 1864

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The origin of philately is in the observation that in a pile of stamps all appearing to be the same type, closer examination reveals different kinds of paper, different watermarks embedded in the paper, variations in color shades, different perforations, and other kinds of differences. Comparison with records of postal authorities may or may not show that the variations were intentional, which leads to further inquiry as to how the changes could have happened, and why. To make things more interesting, thousands of forgeries have been produced over the years, some of them very good, and only a thorough knowledge of philately gives any hope of detecting the fakes.

Related Topics:
Watermark - Postal authorities - Forgeries

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One explanation for all the variation is that stamp printing was among the early attempts at large-scale mass production activity by postal authorities. Even in the 19th century, stamps were being issued by the billions, more than any other kind of manufactured object at the time.

Related Topics:
Mass production - Postal authorities - 19th century

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