Stamp Collecting

Topical Reference Page
22c 1986 Presidents Minature Sheet single

The Museum celebrates the beauty and lore of stamps. A stamp is much more than the physical evidence that postage has been paid. Stamps can be miniature works of art, treasured keepsakes, and rare collectibles.

a variety of about 20 early U.S. stamps
About Philately
Exhibition

Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

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3.50e Vasco da Gama's Route to India stamp
Allan Lee Collection of Map Stamps: Volume 6
Exhibition

Maps and Their Elements
Allan Lee’s collection of maps on stamps represents thirty-four years of collecting passion. The intensive historical and cartographic research that he and his assistant, Wilfrid Webster, conducted took years to compile, document, and authenticate. Lee traveled to 110 countries and corresponded with their national libraries and archives in this pursuit.

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sixteen round "Have A Ball!" postage stamps featuring eight different sports balls
Baseball: America’s Home Run - Collecting
Exhibition
Postal authorities all over the world market baseball stamps and postal items, and baseball souvenirs resembling postage stamps, complete with collecting albums, were commonly published in the twentieth century.
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A World map with 13 superimposed stamp images
Collecting Ancestral Homelands
Exhibition

Collecting stamps of your family’s ancestral homelands offers insights into your own family’s past and experiences, and so they teach you something about your own heritage. Collectors share their stories here.

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Interactive screen in gallery
William H. Gross Stamp Gallery - Connect with U.S. Stamps
Exhibition
In this highly interactive area, visitors are immersed in examples of how stamp content, design, and production have changed over time and how modern U.S. stamps reflect the nation’s identity. Here, too, visitors explore...
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Curator Q and A
Baseball: America’s Home Run - Curator Q&A: What Do You Think Will Resonate With Visitors the Most?
Exhibition
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Glossary
Glossary: A
Glossary terms from "A" to "Z" related to stamp collecting and postal operations.

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3kr Franz Josef stamp
Hunting for Wiesenthals
Exhibition

The world knows Simon Wiesenthal as a Holocaust survivor who tracked down Nazi war criminals for more than half a century. What many do not know is that he spent his evenings on a very different quest: searching for vintage postage stamps.

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55-centime Europa Globe stamp, Monaco, 2006
International Philately
Exhibition

This virtual exhibition includes approximately 950 stamps and mail-related items, one or more from every country in the world that has produced stamps and many countries that no longer exist.

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Stamp Collecting stamp
Introduction to Stamp Collecting
What can you call a hobby which teaches so much—in addition to providing fun and pleasure?

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The New Zealand stamps Lennon obtained through correspondence with relatives.
John Lennon: The Lost Album
October 6, 2005 - April 6, 2006
Exhibition

Before John Lennon traveled the globe playing music with The Beatles, this boy from Liverpool, England saw the world in a whole different way−through stamps.

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Benjamin Miller sitting at a desk
Rarity Revealed: The Benjamin K. Miller Collection
May 27, 2006 - January 12, 2009
Exhibition

Called the “crown jewels” of U.S. stamp collecting, Miller's collection was donated to the New York Public Library in 1925 where it was displayed for more than 50 years. But after a theft in 1977, the collection was locked away until the National Postal Museum exhibit.

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Related Blogs

Two similar postage stamps; right has image of woman holding baby, left has image of woman holding dog
Between Stamp Art and Quarantine: Recreate the Stamp Challenge
05.07.2020

The National Postal Museum invites you to partake in a new quarantine challenge: recreating a postage stamp using items from your home!

Learn more About Between Stamp Art and Quarantine: Recreate the Stamp Challenge

A stamp album opened to two pages with several stamps from New Zealand
The Untold Story of How the National Postal Museum Acquired John Lennon’s Childhood Stamp Album
09.04.2018

Having worked at the National Postal Museum before it even opened in 1993, Registrar Ted Wilson is replete with knowledge and stories about the museum and its objects. In anticipation of the upcoming exhibit of musician John Lennon’s childhood stamp album, Ted describes how this extraordinary item became part of the museum’s collection. “John Lennon: The Green Album” opens on September 7th, 2018, at the National Postal Museum, the same day USPS releases the new John Lennon commemorative postage stamp.

Learn more About The Untold Story of How the National Postal Museum Acquired John Lennon’s Childhood Stamp Album

32-cent Frankenstein stamp
October is Stamp Collecting Month!
10.22.2013

October is Stamp Collecting Month! If it’s been a while since your childhood collecting days, or if you’ve always wanted to get into the hobby, now’s the time to do it. The National Postal Museum has a wealth of resources to get you (re)started – come learn more about this fun and rewarding pastime!

Learn more About October is Stamp Collecting Month!

Un Effet du Japonais, Alexander Calder stamp
Celebrate Stamp Collecting Month with Style
10.02.2009

Stamps shed their stuffy reputation this month as stamp fans around the country celebrate Stamp Collecting Month with style.

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Related Link

USPS.com: Stamp Collecting

Stamp collecting can be a lifetime hobby. It's fun and educational for all ages and it's easy to start without a big investment. The study of stamps and postal materials is called philately and collectors are sometimes called philatelists.

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