New Journeys for Old Stamps

With the cost of sending a First Class letter or card now £1.80, here’s a way to make posting something a little more interesting and, potentially, quite a bit cheaper.

Many dealers at Charing Cross Collectors Market sell unused older commemorative stamps in quantity for around half their face value. And although they may have been issued decades ago, these special stamps can still be used for postage today.

Simply combine enough valid stamps for their printed values to add up to the postage required.

It’s something stamp auction houses have long done when sending out their catalogues, but there’s no reason collectors can’t have a bit of fun with it too.

A birthday or Christmas card covered with colourful old stamps immediately looks more special than one carrying a single modern stamp. Better still, you can choose designs that mean something to the person receiving it.

Someone interested in naval history might appreciate an HMS Warspite stamp. A music lover could receive one featuring Elgar, Handel or Holst. Others might recognise old British Council designs, textiles, Scouting or a host of other subjects commemorated by Royal Mail over the years.

It turns the envelope into part of the present and gives those unused stamps a purpose beyond sitting in a stock book.

And who knows? An interesting stamp arriving through the letterbox might even be enough to start a new collector off.