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Topical or thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds, trains and poets on stamps, to famous physicians and scientists, along with historical people and events on stamps, which is often a standard theme for many stamp issuing countries.
The earliest stamps simply depicted busts of reigning monarchs, important figures, or coats of arms, but as time went on stamps started to have a wider range of designs. Bears appeared on provisional stamps of St. Louis in 1845, while the beaver was featured on the earliest stamps of Canada. More than 150 years later, the variety of designs on stamps is enormous, giving topical collectors plenty of scope to find stamps for their chosen theme. In fact, so many stamps have been issued that some popular themes, such as ships or birds, have become nearly impossible to complete, and topical collectors may specialize further, such as by looking for only square-rigged sailing ships, or only flightless birds.
Some topics include:
*
Bicycles on stamps
*
Handbooks of the American Topical Association.
American Topical AssociationLearnAboutStamps.com
A resource for stamp collectors ;Websites for particular themes
CatstampsScouts on Stamps Society InternationalStamps on Stamps Collectors ClubBird stamps by country
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topical Stamp Collecting Stamp collecting Philatelic terminology Stamp collections
Topical or thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds, trains and poets on stamps, to famous physicians and scientists, along with historical people and events on stamps, which is often a standard theme for many stamp issuing countries.
Background
The earliest stamps simply depicted busts of reigning monarchs, important figures, or coats of arms, but as time went on stamps started to have a wider range of designs. Bears appeared on provisional stamps of St. Louis in 1845, while the beaver was featured on the earliest stamps of Canada. More than 150 years later, the variety of designs on stamps is enormous, giving topical collectors plenty of scope to find stamps for their chosen theme. In fact, so many stamps have been issued that some popular themes, such as ships or birds, have become nearly impossible to complete, and topical collectors may specialize further, such as by looking for only square-rigged sailing ships, or only flightless birds.
Collecting
Since most types of stamp designs are commonly available and inexpensive, acquiring them is mostly a matter of poring over thestamp catalog
A stamp catalog (or stamp catalogue) is a catalog of postage stamp types with descriptions and prices.
The stamp catalog is an essential tool of philately and stamp collecting. Stamp catalogs are part of philatelic literature.
Similar catalog ...
looking for relevant types, and learning enough about the topic to recognize subtle connections. The American Topical Association and others have published handbooks and lists of larger topics.
Online marketplaces and trade platforms are the most common way of collecting new stamps.
Competitions
Topical collecting is a recognized category for competitive exhibitions and has its own Commission with the FIP ( Fédération Internationale de Philatélie).Topics
Some topics include:
*Birds on stamps
A bird stamp is a postage stamp that illustrates one or more birds. It is a popular theme in topical stamp collecting.
Birds started appearing on stamps by 1875, when Japan issued a series of three stamps bearing stylized illustrations of the th ...
Bicycles on stamps
*
Fish on stamps
Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
*Insects on stamps
Many countries have featured insects on stamps. Insect related topics such as the mosquito eradication (anti malaria) programme of the 1960s as well as graphic designs based on insects have also appeared. Many stamps also feature butterflies.
Ins ...
*Dinosaurs on stamps
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
* People on stamps
* Presidents on stamps
* Ships on stamps
*U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
With the advent of robotic spaceflight, robotic and human spaceflight a new era of History of the United States, American history had presented itself. Keeping with the tradition of honoring the country's history on U.S. postage stamps, the U.S. ...
*Soviet space exploration history on Soviet stamps
Soviet space exploration history has been well documented on Soviet stamps. These Soviet stamps cover a broad spectrum of subjects related to the Soviet space program. While much of the focus has been placed on the nation's notable "firsts" ...
*Stamps on stamps
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study (or combined study and collection) of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth ...
Stamps with an anarchist theme were issued during the Spanish Civil War by the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo.
See also
* ''''References
Further reading
* Bold, W.E.J. van den. ''Handbook of Thematic Philately''. Limassol: Published by James Bendon for The British Thematic Association, 1994 * Branston, A. J. ''Thematic and Topical Stamp Collecting: A practical and comprehensive handbook for thematic, topical, and subject collectors''. London: Batsford, 1980 * Griffenhagen, George and Jerome Husak. ''Adventures in Topical Stamp Collecting''. Tucson: American Topical Association, 1997 * Gupta, V.K. ''A Handbook on Thematic Philately''. Delhi: B.D. Gupta, 1989 * Lee, Alma. ''Introducing Thematic Collecting''. British Philatelic Trust in conjunction with the National Philatelic Society, 1983. (Edited by Richard West) * Martin, M. W. ''Topical Stamp Collecting''. New York: Arco Pub. Co., 1975 * Morris, Margaret. ''Thematic Stamp Collecting''. London: Gibbons, 1977Handbooks of the American Topical Association.
External links
*American Topical Association
A resource for stamp collectors ;Websites for particular themes
Catstamps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topical Stamp Collecting Stamp collecting Philatelic terminology Stamp collections