Stamps: types of stamps, rare collection items

Since the middle of the XIX century, one of the collectibles of steel brands. Types of stamps always reflected the social and political life of states, as well as the history of world mail.

Such different brands

At first it was a vertical rectangle. Then it became horizontal, and the image was located in the oval (philatelists know such brands as "bull eyes", they were released in Brazil). Following them, British Guiana, India, Romania, Afghanistan, Russia began to make round stamps. A little later, England and North America invented a square stamp with a base on the top. Also known brands are triangular, hexagonal (Belgium), octagonal (Turkey) shape.

For all time of existence there was a most diverse form of the brand. Types of stamps reflect man's fantasy:

• Geometric figures: squares, rhombuses, triangles, trapezoids, irregular geometric shapes, circles;
• Outlines: a faceted diamond, geographical borders of states, an eagle, an oil rig, an athlete;
• Form of various fruits: cola, banana.

These are just some examples of what form the brand could have.

Postal payment sign

The first postage stamp appeared in London in 1840. It was an image of Queen Victoria on a black background valued at one penny. "Black Penny" - by this name is known this invention of Roland Hill, later a postal worker in England. This mark was performed by the role of the postal payment sign.

Industry and trade in Europe developed at that time at a rapid pace and required rapid postal communication. The volume of postal shipments was large, and the fee for mail services was high. Therefore, only rich people could use the services of the post office. The recipient paid the correspondence.

Hill's mother worked for a long time at the post office, so he knew about these shortcomings. And then a wonderful thought occurred to him: the delivery of the letter should be cheapened, and the sender, who will receive a small receipt for the payment of the service, must pay for it. The receipt is stuck on the letter and is quenched with a stamp that prevents its reuse.

So there were postage stamps.

Advantageous investment of money

From the time of appearance to today, postage stamps remain one of the most popular areas of collectibles. They are released in large quantities, you can buy them without problems. Specialty stores offer postage stamps, the prices of which start from tens of rubles to several hundred thousand dollars. Therefore, we can confidently consider such a purchase as a profitable investment, a way to save money.

In addition, the indicator of the culture of the people is the collection of items such as stamps. Types of brands, for example, unite people interested in an era, serve as a source of information for them, form their aesthetic tastes.

Valuable marriage

Philately is a very lucrative hobby. Followers of this type of collecting have the opportunity to constantly get expensive brands, the cost of which grows every year. Such instances are usually the highlight of the collection. Famous collectors must have expensive postage stamps, the prices of which are explained by the fact that some kind of marriage was allowed during printing. This significantly increases their cost.

Now the world's top 10 is famous, which includes the most expensive brands.

Favorable investments

Investing money in postage stamps is reliable, safe and profitable. They are in demand always. Moreover, if the specimen falls into the category of rare. Rare stamps are such specimens that exist in a certain amount. The less of them, the higher the price for such a brand, respectively.

This uniqueness is most often explained by the negligence of printers. Will get a sheet of the wrong color, what you need, and now a rare brand is ready. Or the image is printed upside down. Or the size is the biggest. Or there are no teeth on the edges.

Here are the most famous rare brands:

• "Perm brand". Released in St. Petersburg in 1879 on paper containing a watermark "bee honeycomb". And then there was an incident. Extinguished in Perm, it became the basis of the myth, according to which the city became the birthplace of the brand. Today, only two such specimens are known.
• The Tiflis Brand. It was issued in 1857 in Tiflis, printed on yellowish white paper with five strips. Three copies are known;
• "British black penny." Released in 1840 in Britain. The very first brand.
• "Saint Mauritius". Released in 1847, has an error in the inscription.
• "Holy Grail". The rarity is explained by the fact that only two copies are known.

The cost of these brands does not decrease with time, and, therefore, buying a rarity of philately, a person makes a profitable investment. Any specimen can become a collector's dream.

Valuable marks

The price of any brand is rather arbitrary. Its nominal value is often equal to several rubles, pennies, dollars. Valuable it makes some circumstance or the desire of some person to acquire it.

One and the same brand can fall into different categories, depending on what position it is to look at. Rare copies, named in the previous section, will be included in the category of valuable ones, since any collector is ready to pay any amount to get such a copy of himself.

The most valuable brands of the world can enter the next top-10:

1. "Aspidka", the USSR, 1931.
2. "Baden color error", Baden, 1852.
3. "Basel goat", Switzerland, 1845, the only brand.
4. "British Guiana", Guyana, 1856, one brand is known.
5. "Be a Hero!", USSR, 1941.
6. The Bull's Eye, Brazil, 1843.
7. "Bull's head", Moldavian principality, 1858.
8. "Hawaiian missionaries", Hawaiian principality, 1852.
9. "Blue Alexandria", USA, 1846, the only specimen in the world.
10. "Blue and pink Mauritius", Mauritius, 1847, cost 15 million dollars.

Expensive hobby

Among the great number of brands are collectors. Such specimens are sometimes valued at a very high price, for which you can buy several mansions. As a rule, these are very rare and expensive brands, already named above.

Therefore, if you decide to start collecting and want to buy something of value for yourself, you have to understand that it costs a lot of money.

Buying collectible marks, you, in addition, will enter the circle of very famous people, communication with which is always interesting. Therefore, collecting can be called an intellectual hobby.

Collections of Soviet Philatelists

Philately in the USSR was very popular. Numerous private collections are known, which are now on sale. In general, the brands of the Soviet Union are expensive, but, since the demand is less than the number of collections themselves, their price is also low.

The cost of stamps of the USSR today is this: everything that was released in the second half of the twentieth century costs, on average, 5 rubles per copy, and the brand must be in perfect condition and without any stamps; The earlier ones cost 10-20 rubles.

Low prices are explained by the fact that the material for collections is freely available at the post office, the circulation of the stamps is large.

Usually brands are resold by albums consisting of several hundred pieces. The price of such a purchase is not very high, the album is intended for another purpose: to attach the owner to the world of collecting, to appreciate this hobby.

The most expensive brand of the USSR is the so-called "Kartonka". This is a souvenir sheet for each participant of the First All-Union Exhibition of Philately. On the sheet four stamps are printed, some have the inscription "The Best Drummer". Valuable these sheets became after one of them was sold at auction in New York for 766 000 dollars.

It is interesting

In 1840, the world learned about the invention of the brand. Types of brands have since been numerous, but they are united by one - it is a sign of postal payment. The philatelist means "lover of postal payment signs."

Such signs cost 10, 20, 30 cents have appeared in Russia in 1858, later in circulation there were post cards, that is letters which were not sealed. The first Soviet brand tells about the agricultural exhibition.

The distinctive rule of all brands of all nations is not to portray still living people on them. But this rule does not apply to the philately of the Soviet Union.