Georges Herpin was a French stamp collector who in 1864 coined the French word ''philatélie'', which in English became "philately". Herpin stated that stamps had been collected and studied for the previous six or seven years and a better name was required for the new hobby than ''timbromanie'' ("obsession with stamps"), which was disliked.Williams, L.N. & M. ''Fundamentals of Philately''. State College: The American Philatelic Society, 1971, p.20. He took the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

root words φιλ(ο)- ''phil(o)-'', meaning "an attraction or affinity for something", and ἀτέλεια ''ateleia'', meaning "exempt from duties and taxes", to form "philatélie".Sutton, R.J. & K.W. Anthony. ''The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia''. 6th edition. London: Stanley Paul, 1966, p.232. This etymology stems from the function of postage stamps: the introduction of official, paid stamps meant that the reception of letters was now free of charge, whereas before stamps it was normal for postal charges to be paid by the recipient of a letter or package. In 1866 he sold his stamp collection to

Frederick Adolphus Philbrick Frederick Adolphus Philbrick, KC (13 June 1835 – 25 December 1910)http://www.rpsl.org.uk/frederick_philbrick/index.html The collection of Frederick Philbrick by Dr. Andreas Hahn 1 March 2008Report of death in ''The Bulletin'', Fiscal Philate ...

.Birch, Brian. (2013)
Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers
''. 13th edition. Standish, Wigan: Brian Birch, p. 1227.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing 19th-century French people French philatelists {{France-bio-stub