The world’s total stamp output has now reached such levels that most collectors must concentrate on more limited areas. In this month’s column I’ll introduce a collecting speciality which is quite popular in the USA but perhaps not in Australasia (there is even a US dealer who specialises in this speciality).
The idea is simply to be satisfied with just one stamp from each country. However, to complicate matters somewhat it must be the stamp which has been assigned #1 as its catalogue number. In the following I’ll try to present the advantages and problems of this rather specialized collecting area.
To simplify matters I have chosen 1840-1899 to be the classic period of philately. It is yet another way of limiting this collecting area.
There is more than one person who is claimed to be the inventor of the postage stamp. However, Englishman Sir Rowland Hill is generally considered to be the father of the very first adhesive postage stamp – the Penny Black. This stamp went on sale on May 6, 1840. Hill’s main contribution to philatelic history was the introduction of the penny postage rate. It was now possible for most everyone to send and receive letters at a very low cost. Hill’s postal reforms were an immediate and resounding success.
If you decide to collect Number Ones in chronological order, the Penny Black will be the first stamp in your album. It is not really a scarce stamp but it enjoys a tremendous demand. I am sure that most worldwide collectors want to have a copy of the stamp in then collections regardless of whether they collect Great Britain or not. In my view it is also a very handsome classic design.
The stamp was issued imperforate and the main problem is obviously to locate a beautiful copy with four adequate margins and a nice cancel. In advertisements in the British philatelic press, Penny Blacks are frequently offered in various kinds of condition with one to four ample margins or no margins at all. Poor or defective copies of course sell at a considerable discount off catalogue value.
In recent years, there have been a lot of buy ads for Penny Blacks in all kinds of inferior qualities. The stamps are then repaired by adding new margins. The repairs are frequently expertly done. My only advice is to be careful when buying a Penny Black from dealers you do not know and trust.
The postage stamp idea spread fairly quickly to other parts of the world. In 1843, the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Geneva issued their first stamps. Basle followed suit in 1845 releasing the world’s very first pictorial stamp depicting a pigeon. All these classic stamps are very expensive today.
Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, Brazil was one of the pioneering stamp nations in 1843. The 30 réis denomination is #1 and it is not impossible to locate a nice used copy at a reasonable price.
Mauritius was the first British colony to have postage stamps printed. The orange red 1 penny stamp was issued in 1847 and it is said that the novelty was introduced to allow the governor ‘s wife to send out invitations to a ball at Government House. The stamps were engraved and printed locally by J. Barnard. The words ”Post Office” were included in the text on the stamps; some philatelists have claimed that this was an error. The red and blue Mauritius Post Office stamps rank among the world’s scarcest and most expensive stamps. Only very few are in private hands.
In 1847, Captain David Bryce issued a postage stamp to be used on mail carried on the steamship Lady McLeod linking Port of Spain with San Fernando in Trinidad. Today this is a very valuable stamp. It is listed without a catalogue number in most catalogues as it was a privately issued stamp. Trinidad number 1 was issued in 1851 and it is an affordable stamp.
The USA also issued its first postage stamps in 1847. The 5c number 1 shows a portrait of Benjamin Franklin who for many years served as postmaster of the British colonies in North America . However, private mail companies had issued adhesive postage stamps long before that; the City Despatch Post in New York released its first stamp in 1842 just to give one example.
Sweden’s first stamps were issued in 1855. The 4-skilling banco value was the most used denomination and a very fine used copy can be had for less than $100. However, it is number 2 in our catalogues. The number 1 is the very scarce 3 skilling banco denomination.
Leafing through a worldwide stamp catalogue we easily reveal the number ones of the classic period. Most stamps are affordable but quite a few are not.
One solution is to use later stamp issues which have depicted the early number 1 stamps. Shown nearby is a souvenir sheet from Argentina showing some of that nation’s early stamp issues. In many cases there are reprints which can be used instead of the originals. Shown here is a 1956 reprint of Finland number 1. It was released in 1956 to mark the centenary of Finland ‘s very first postage stamps. However, using reprints or Stamps on Stamps is a bit like cheating!
I have already touched upon the quality aspect. Classic stamps exist in all kinds of qualities ranging from seriously defective copies to the superb. The latter category is decidedly uncommon and possibly includes only one copy in a thousand. It might take quite some time to locate the copies which correspond to the quality standards set by serious collectors.
Fortunately there are numerous number ones which are inexpensive. For many collectors it is the chase of the desired stamps which is the main pleasure of our hobby. I don’t know how many stories I have heard over the years about exceptional stamp purchases.
Shown nearby are a number of classic stamps which are all Number Ones.
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