Tariff change, or to give it the real meaning ‘price increase’, came early this year – January instead of March – and we saw the price of a collector strip rise to £13.84, this time last year it was £8.18, writes Stuart Leigh. Of course, the levels o

It had been a long time in the making, as the phrase goes. So long due to the early 1930s worldwide economic depression which caused large scale building projects to come to a halt, with no guarantee of resumption. Working men were ‘laid off ’ from t

This stamp tells four stories. One is of its era. It was issued in 1961, at a time when African nations were breaking free from their former imperial masters. After bruising attempts to hold on to Vietnam and Algeria in the 1950s, France decided to b

In the early 1880s a number of developments in postage stamp usage and production brought about changes in the appearance of issues purchased at post-office counters. The first occurred as a result of continuing attempts by fraudsters to remove cance

Today’s Sultanate of Oman was once known as Muscat, an independent state ruled by the Al-Busaid dynasty. Located in the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Muscat’s postal services were handled by the Indian Post Office from 1864 until 194

Surely keeping the compromising envelope wouldn’t do any good, would it? And hiding it in a sewing box doesn’t sound very sensible. However, that’s exactly what Janette Brown, the recipient of our featured cover did when she received it from James Ho

This month I am using this cover to show how trying to obtain a postmark often results in an interesting item, writes David Gwynn. One way of getting a postmark is to send a cover ‘Poste Restante’ to the appropriate post office, hoping it will be pos

To mark the occasion of Her Majesty The Queen’s 95th birthday, the Isle of Man Post Office will issue six commemorative stamps entitled Devoted to Your Service. Produced in collaboration with ten other postal administrations, the stamps depict some o

Planning has now resumed for London to host an international stamp exhibition in 2022. Originally to be London 2020, the event should have been held last May. Now it will be known as London 2022, and will take place on 19 to 26 February next year. Th

My life-long interest in astronomy was sparked when I saw Saturn and its rings clearly through the eye piece of my father’s telescope at a young age and since then my interest has taken me on a fantastic writing journey and in recent years, indulging

The votes for the latest All About Stamps Competition have been collated, the three finalists confirmed, and the winner has now been decided. Congratulations to Wayne Cox for his winning entry on ‘The other side of GB stamps’! The latest one-page com

We will provide a free, professional valuation of your collection, without obligation on your part to proceed. Either we will make you a fair, binding private treaty offer, or we will recommend inclusion of your property in our next public auction. W

Guernsey Post’s Year of the Rat stamps were recently awarded seventh place in a global competition organised by The Chinese Shengxiao (Zodiac) Philatelic Society, with Hong Kong coming first in the annual event. Now in its eleventh year, the competit

Between 22 and 24 February we celebrated the subject of new stamps and the work of stamp designers and philatelic bureaus around the world, with special articles, videos, and webinars. Highlights included webinars on Europa Stamps and with stamp engr

Stamp collectors are rarely portrayed in popular culture as winners. But the third series of television hit Fargo tells the tale of twin brothers, who are given an inheritance after the sudden death of their father. He leaves behind two items: a red

Most now contentious people who are celebrated on stamps were considered perfectly respectable when the stamp was issued! So, the idea of any nation purposefully celebrating robbers and thieves seems curious, but it does happen, and these make for a

The Postal Museum have revealed details of a new exhibition planned to open on 1 April, celebrating the role the postcard has played in connecting people for more than a century and a half. The ‘Wish You Were Here’ exhibition was originally scheduled

Guernsey Post has announced the launch of Clematis Gold, a new miniature sheet series depicting award-winning clematis, which have been cultivated by world renowned nurseryman and Guernsey grower, Raymond Evison OBE. Each of the clematis depicted on

My name is Charles Epting, and alongside Michael Cortese, I co-host the podcast Conversations with Philatelists. Stamp Collector has kindly granted us the opportunity to review a full month’s worth of episodes in each issue. Michael and I kicked offo