| It didn't take long after the issuance of the first postage stamps in May 1840 for them to become collectibles. The world's first stamp was Great Britain's renowned Penny Black, bearing a likeness of Queen Victoria in profile. It was released on May 6, with a similar two-pence denomination released the following day. |
| France and Belgium issued their first postage stamps in 1849, then Spain and Switzerland in 1850 and other European nations during the next five years. |
| The United States, however, acted even more swiftly, recognizing the value of the adhesive postage stamp as a way to prepay charges. This country's first stamps were released on July 1, 1847. A five-cent denomination bore a likeness of Benjamin Franklin, while the ten cent featured a portrait of George Washington. |
| For half a century after 1840, most stamps depicted reigning monarchs or, in the case of the United States, former presidents. Then, by the turn of the century, several nations, among them the United States, began issuing stamps which were soon referred to as pictorials. They depicted ships, buildings, monuments, historic events, maps, castles and government buildings. Within a few years, pictorials featured scientists, musicians, artists, soldiers and, more recently, astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as animals, flowers, automobiles and even stamps on stamps. |
| A new field had been established for collectors. Rather than collecting by countries, many formed collections based on what was depicted on stamps, regardless of where they were issued. |
| Stamp collecting or philately, as it is formally known, became the world's most popular hobby early in the twentieth century. Inevitably, postal administrations recognized a vast potential market for issues, some never likely to be used, and young collectors soon became familiar with not only major nations of the world but also smaller states which printed stamps as a source of revenue. This practice has not abated but has, rather, increased as more and more states attained independence. Smaller states lacking the ability to design and print pictorial stamps rely upon foreign agencies for their production, as well as advice on topics likely to be in demand. |
| Early on, collectors started to form clubs and societies. Several of these were established in Europe quite early, and the oldest and |
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