Month: February 2021

Anyone starting out as a collector of stamps is often advised to specialise in a particular theme. Because the field is so vast, it is easy to flounder and lose one’s way. Choosing a theme for one’s collection is a much more certain way to master your field and even gain a degree of authority.

While some philatelists focus on the postal output of a particular country, properly speaking, this isn’t thematic or topical collecting. Often a collector will look to his or her existing interests to decide on a specialism. Cats, dogs, ships, spaceships, stamps on stamps, windmills, plants, chess, elephants, poets, war…the scope is enormous. And, in fact, such is the popularity of certain themes as subjects for stamps (birds, for example) that it’s probably a good idea to narrow the field further – flightless or aquatic birds perhaps. More offbeat ideas include crash mail (salvaged from airplane crashes), rocket mail (exactly what it says on the tin!) and stamps issued by an occupying power.

In the end, no matter how niche your choice, it is unlikely that you will be the only interested philatelist in this, the world’s most popular hobby. However, the chances are good that no-one else in the Dog and Duck this Friday will be in a position to argue with your contention that the 1930 USPS Zeppelin airmail issue remains the gold standard for stamps featuring airships.