Since the mid-19th century, stamps have become one of the collectibles. Types of stamps have always reflected the social and political life of states, as well as the history of world mail.
So different brands
At first it was a vertical rectangle. Then it became horizontal, and the image was located in an oval (philatelists know such brands as “bull eyes”, they were produced 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 top. Also known are the brands of triangular, hexagonal (Belgium), octagonal (Turkey) shapes.
For all the time of existence there was the most diverse form of the brand. Types of brands reflect the imagination of a person:
- geometric shapes: squares, rhombuses, triangles, trapezoids, irregular geometric shape, circles;
- Outlines: faceted diamond, geographical borders of states, eagle, oil rig, athlete;
- the shape of various fruits: cola, banana.
These are just a few examples of what shape a brand could have.
Sign of postage
The first postage stamp appeared in London in 1840. It was an image of Queen Victoria on a black background worth one penny. "Black penny" - under this name is known this invention of Roland Hill, later a postal worker in England. This brand performed the role of the sign of the postage.
Industry and trade in Europe developed at that time at a rapid pace and demanded speed from the postal service. The volume of mail forwarding was large, and the fee for mail services was high. Therefore, only rich people could use the services of mail. The correspondence was paid by the recipient.
Hill's mother worked at the post office for a long time, so he knew about these shortcomings. And then a wonderful thought occurred to him: the delivery of the letter must be cheapened, and the sender should pay for it, who will receive a small receipt for paying for the service. The receipt is glued to the letter and is extinguished with a stamp that prevents its reuse.
So there were postage stamps.
Profitable investment
From the moment of its appearance to the present day, postage stamps remain one of the most popular collectibles. They are released in large quantities, you can buy them without any problems. Specialized stores offer postage stamps, prices for which start from tens of rubles to several hundred thousand dollars. Therefore, we can confidently consider such a purchase a profitable investment, a way to save money.
In addition, an 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, and form their aesthetic tastes.
Valuable marriage
Philately is a very lucrative hobby. The followers of this type of collecting have the opportunity to constantly get expensive brands, the value of which is growing every year. Such specimens are usually the highlight of the collection. Well-known 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 top 10, which includes the most expensive brands.
The most valuable items| A place | Brand name | Cost in USD | Uniqueness |
| 1 | Holy Grail | 2 970 000 | Denomination 1 cent, only two such brands are known. |
| 2 | "Sicilian color error" | 2 720 000 | Two such brands are known whose value is due to a color error. This stamp was issued in 1859 (of the seven yellow one is blue). |
| 3 | "Yellow trehskillingovik" | 2,300,000 | 3 swedish bankkill skills are printed in yellow-orange, like 8 bankkill skills, and should be blue-green. |
| 4 | "Baden color error" | 2,000,000 | It was released in 1851 in Baden. Denomination brand 9 cruisers. It should be pink and purple, but when printing, a leaf of blue-green color fell on which stamps of 6 cruisers were printed. |
| 5 | "Blue Mauritius" | 1,150,000 | Issued in 1847, face value two pence. Six such specimens are known. |
| 6 | "The whole country is red" | 1,150,000 | 1968 Chinese stamp, not issued, presented at the 2012 China Guardian auction. |
| 7 | "Pink Mauritius" | 1,070,000 | Brand of the island of Mauritius. The marriage is in color (in fact it is orange) and in the inscription (there should be the words "Post Paid" / fee paid /, and on it "Post Office" / post office /). |
| 8 | "Inverted Jenny" | 977 500 | Nominal value 24 cents. The Curtis-Jenny aircraft turned upside down when printed. |
| 9 | British Guiana | 935,000 | Face value 1 cent. It has an octagonal shape. Unique with handwritten signature of postmaster E. White. |
| 10 | "Tiflis unique" | 763 600 | It was released in Russia in 1857. The first Russian brand. Five copies are known. |
Profitable investment
Investing in postage stamps is reliable, safe and profitable. They are always in demand. Especially if an instance falls into the category of rare ones. Rare stamps are copies that exist in a certain quantity. The fewer of them, the correspondingly higher the price for such a brand.
This uniqueness is most often explained by oversight of printers. The sheet will not get the color you need, and now a rare brand is ready. Or the image is printed upside down. Or the size is the largest. Or there are no teeth along the edges.
Here are the most famous rare stamps:
- Perm brand. It was released in St. Petersburg in 1879 on paper containing the watermark "honeycombs." And then there was an incident. Redeemed 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.
- "Tiflis brand". Issued in 1857 in Tiflis, printed on yellowish-white paper in strips of five pieces. Three instances are known;
- "British black penny." It was released in 1840 in Britain. The very first brand.
- "Saint Mauritius". Released in 1847, has an error in the inscription.
- The Holy Grail. The rarity is due to the fact that only two copies are known.
The cost of these brands does not get smaller over time, and, therefore, buying a rarity of philately, a person makes a profitable investment. Any copy can be a collector's dream.
Valuable brands
The price of any brand is rather arbitrary. Its nominal value is often equal to several rubles, pence, dollars. Some circumstance or desire of a person to acquire it is what makes it valuable.
One and the same brand can fall into different categories, depending on what position you look at it. The rare specimens named in the previous section will fall into the valuable category, since any collector is willing to pay any amount to get such a copy for himself.
The most valuable brands in the world can enter the next top 10:
- "Aspidka", USSR, 1931.
- "The Baden Color Error," Baden, 1852.
- "Basel Dove", Switzerland, 1845, the only brand.
- "British Guiana", Guyana, 1856, one brand is known.
- "Be a Hero!", USSR, 1941.
- The Bull's Eye, Brazil, 1843.
- "Bull Heads", Principality of Moldova, 1858.
- The Hawaiian Missionaries, Principality of Hawaii, 1852.
- "Blue Alexandria", USA, 1846, the only instance in the world.
- "Blue and Pink Mauritius", Mauritius, 1847, worth $ 15 million.
Expensive hobby
Among the great many brands, collection ones stand out. Such instances are sometimes valued at a very large amount, for which you can buy several mansions. As a rule, these are very rare and expensive brands already mentioned above.
Therefore, if you decide to engage in collecting and want to purchase something valuable for yourself, then you need to understand that it costs a lot of money.
Buying collection stamps, you will also be included in the circle of very famous people, communication with whom 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 that are for sale today. In general, stamps of the Soviet Union are expensive, but since demand is less than the number of collections themselves, their price is low.
The cost of USSR stamps today is this: everything that was released in the second half of the 20th century costs on average 5 rubles per copy, and the stamp must be in perfect condition and without any stamps; earlier cost 10-20 rubles.
Low prices are explained by the fact that material for collections is freely available by mail, the circulation of stamps is large.
Usually stamps are resold in albums consisting of several hundred pieces. The price of such a purchase is not very high, the album is intended for another purpose: to familiarize the owner with the world of collecting, to appreciate this hobby.
The most expensive brand of the USSR is the so-called "Cardboard". This is a souvenir sheet for each participant of the First All-Union Exhibition of Philately. Four stamps are printed on the sheet, some bear the inscription "Best Drummer." These sheets became valuable after one of them was sold at auction in New York for $ 766,000.
It is interesting
In 1840, the world learned about the invention of the brand. Types of stamps have been numerous since then, but they are united by one thing - this is a sign of postage. The philatelist means "lover of the signs of postage."
Such signs worth 10, 20, 30 kopecks appeared in Russia in 1858, later postal cards entered into circulation, that is, letters that were not sealed. The first Soviet brand talks about an agricultural exhibition.
A distinctive rule of all brands of all peoples is not to depict still living people on them. But this rule does not apply to philately of the Soviet Union.