What Can Be Done: Collecting the stamps of Great Britain is one of the most popular philatelic specialties. GB issued the first stamps and the country offers many exciting specialty opportunities. The classic stamps were all printed with check letters which means that each stamp can be obtained in 240 different combinations of check letters. […]
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What Can be Done: The popularity of stamp collecting began a rapid trajectory in the 1860s. And nowhere did philately catch on quicker than in France (the very word for our hobby—philately—was coined by a Frenchman). The classic stamps of France can be specialized in to a high degree. There are shades and cancellations, and,
What can be Done: El Salvador is an excellent country to collect. The classic stamps are accessible and the number of varieties manageable. The twentieth century has numerous long and interesting sets. Airmails are completeable, and the Officials have a great deal of interest. Further, since 2001, El Salvador has used the US dollar as
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What Can Be Done: The first issues of Ecuador are primitive and interesting to collect. Americans tend to think of Latin America as one more or less geopolitical area. As you learn the history, the differences in these countries become apparent. And nowhere are the differences and the mental distance among these countries more apparent
What Can Be Done: Costa Rica on the west coast of Central America, bordering the Pacific Ocean, is the wealthiest country in Central America. The country has long been a profitable exporter of agricultural products, especially coffee. In recent decades, tourism, especially ecotourism, has benefited the economy. Costa Rica has aggressively protected its natural resources,
What Can Be Done: Colombian philately is the jewel of Latin American philately. The nineteenth century stamps have an allure like few others. They combine both primitiveness and beauty, and almost all are scarce and hard to find yet fairly modest in price. The classic imperfs are highly prized, but it is the later nineteenth
What Can Be Done: Chile is the wealthiest country in Latin America and, with a highly educated population, has the highest per capita number of stamp collectors of any nation in that region. The philately of Chile is very interesting and, after making allowances for the first issues (called “Columbus Heads”), rather straightforward. The Columbus
What Can Be Done: Bulgaria is an excellent country to collect. Until 1878 Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and used the stamps of Turkey. Specialists collect these stamps by identifying the Turkish stamps that were used in Bulgaria by the cancellations on the stamps. This is a thriving specialty. After independence Bulgaria
What Can Be Done: Brunswick is one of the more interesting and manageable of the German States to collect. It has a limited number of stamps and, though several of them are scarce, none are rare. There are some forgeries, but they don’t present nearly the problem that they do for several of the other