What do you like to collect?

Posted on 19th May 2017

There’s a collector in most of us, whether it’s a penchant for porcelain or a curiosity for coins. 

One of the old favourites is stamp collecting, a hobby often started in childhood but kept going over the years. There’s even a special name for it – and you have to be impressed by the term ‘philatelist’! There are also lots of them about. The Royal Philatelic Society of London (the oldest philatelic society in the world) reports a healthy membership and there are many active stamp collecting clubs across the UK. 

We have a number of stamp collections up for auction in our sale on Tuesday 23 May. These range from 24 presentation packs and first day covers from the Millennium Collection (lot 137) to an album of first day covers of all RAF aircraft (lot 154) and 77 GB first day covers from 1988 to 1997 in elegant Royal Mail albums (lot 136). 

Much has been written about the value of stamp collecting and whether or not they are a good investment in an age where the younger generation is more familiar with a text than a letter! But does it really matter? They are beautiful little things, often with highly detailed artwork and skilled design and just to look at them is fascinating. 

As with all collectibles, people collect for pleasure and that is the real value.