| You may be wondering, "Why do people collect | | | | just sold at an auction for $2.7 Million! The |
| stamps?" Initially, British children saw collecting as | | | | US-made "Benjamin Franklin Z Grill" ones were |
| a fun game, since stamps were inexpensive to | | | | made with a waffle pattern embossed into the |
| buy and had vivid pictures. These days many | | | | paper supposedly to prevent the ink from running. |
| people are prompted to collect because a relative | | | | Only two were printed before they realized this |
| passed down the tradition or bought them a | | | | process was impractical. Now one stamp could |
| souvenir sheet of stamps. Today over 20 million | | | | get as much as $3 Million! |
| Americans engage in postage stamp collecting, | | | | Internationally, collecting postage stamps often |
| making it one of the most popular type of | | | | equates with big bucks. For example, the |
| compilations. | | | | "Treskilling Yellow" one from Sweden was |
| In 1840, Britain introduced the "Penny Black" as | | | | misprinted in the wrong color, placing its value at |
| the first adhesive postage stamp. Little did they | | | | over $2 Million. Historically, Britain's "Penny Black" |
| realize that this would set off a postage stamp | | | | (the first official adhesive stamp) sold for $200 in |
| collecting craze among the youth, otherwise | | | | the year 2000, and unused went for as much as |
| known as "Timbromania" (meaning "stamp | | | | $3,000! |
| madness".) As these little hobbyists aged, they | | | | Or imagine owning the "British Guiana Magenta," a |
| proudly passed their stamp collections down to | | | | rare stamp with a face value of one cent but an |
| the next generation and thus a market was born. | | | | estimated value of $935,000! There is much |
| The US caught on to this Timbromania in the | | | | controversy surrounding this one. |
| 1930s, when the first souvenir sheet was printed | | | | Since there is only one known copy in existence, |
| and the 65-cent "Graf Zeppelin" portrayed a | | | | some say that it was an altered 4-cent one, |
| German blimp. During the Great Depression, many | | | | however these claims were disproved. Others |
| stamps were incinerated since few families could | | | | speculate that another copy was discovered but |
| afford a book of stamps during this time period, | | | | was purchased by Arthur Hind, who owned the |
| since the cost of one would also pay for a family | | | | original and who quietly destroyed the copy so he |
| of four to eat for one week! | | | | wouldn't lose the value. In 1999 a forged copy |
| It became the misprints that became the most | | | | was found in Bremen, Germany. |
| coveted in the world of collecting postage stamps. | | | | Postage stamp collecting is a fun and relatively |
| Most serious collectors will try to seek out a rare | | | | inexpensive way to collect historical artwork. You |
| stamp resulting from a printing error. For instance, | | | | may begin by browsing a catalog such as Scott |
| the "Inverted Jenny" is a US postage one from | | | | catalog (for US postage stamps), or check out |
| 1918 featuring a photo of a Curtiss JN-4 airplane | | | | and for stamps online. |
| where the plane was mistakenly printed | | | | If you're looking to seriously collecting stamps as |
| upside-down! | | | | an investment, you should begin your quest at |
| Only 100 were ever printed and a block of four | | | | the National Philatelic Society. |