Philately

I started collecting stamps when I was nine years old. Five decades later, and I still collect. I am probably more involved with philately now than I have been cumulatively across the rest of my existence.

Over the years, my level of collecting activity has fluctuated from “watching the albums gather dust on the book shelves” to “burning obsession keeping me awake into the wee hours of the morning.” This is not uncommon among stamp collectors. “Life happens” is a very common expression that comes into the conversation when I speak with people about their own history in philately.

My collecting interests these days:

• Iceland, 1873 – 2003.
• A subset of world-wide postage stamps, issued between 1840 and 1963 that defies description.
• Stamps and other philatelic items that depict bees, including … but not limited to honey bees (Apis mellifera).

My biggest passion with stamps these days is support for Stamps for the Wounded (SFTW). I have been a volunteer with them since 2019. SFTW is a 501(c)(3) public charity that receives donations of stamps, supplies and other philatelic materials in order to share them with U.S. veterans. The veterans use the donated materials for their own collections, art projects, and they share their stamps and knowledge with other collectors, including retirees, other veterans and youngsters. I also run their web site … which should have everything you need to know about the organization. Please consider donating cash, collectibles, or volunteering your time to this worthy charity.

Many years ago, when dinosaurs walked the Earth, and the web was very young, I wrote some crude web pages about stamp collecting, including philatelic resources in the DMV (Washington DC Metropolitan Area). Much of that content is obsolete or useless, but a snapshot is available in the Internet Archive.

Posts About Philately