The Stamp Collectors Corner

The Little Prince was written in New York in 1943 by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.  He was a French aviator who was working and living in the United States at the time of its writing and it was by far his most famous novel.  Although the book is considered a simple children’s tale, it is filled with profound riddles that speak to adults as well as children.  The book has been translated into over 180 different languages and is one of the best selling books of all time, boasting sales over 80 million books worldwide.

In 1998, France issued a set of beautiful postage stamps to pay tribute to The Little Prince.  The postage stamps depict five original illustrations from the famous novel by Saint-Exupery.

At Stamp Center you will find The Little Prince – two color trial proof sheets that feature all five illustrations from the famous novel.  Additionally, Stamp Center offers free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers.  Stop by Stamp Center for these and hundreds of other beautiful postage stamps.

The United States Postal Service joined forces with Great Britain in a joint issue with a couple of adorable postage stamps.  Issued on January 10, 2006, each set in the US and England contained eight stamps, but only two of the stamps in each set were issued in both sets.  The stamp sets featured popular children books with amazing illustrations that have universal appeal in both countries.

The two joint stamps are The Very Hungry Caterpillar from England and Maisy’s ABC from the United States.  There was one difference in the stamps when they were issued though.  The British version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar featured two “bites” from the hungry caterpillar and the US version did not.  Other books represented in the British set include The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, Kipper, The Enormous Crocodile, Paddington Bear, Boots, and The White Rabbit.

You might not be able to find these cute Great Britain issued Animal Tales Illustrations from Children’s Literature joint issue postage stamps in England, but you can find them available at Stamp Center.  The great news is that we offer free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers too.

In continuation from Friday…

Once the artist for the stamp design was chosen for the Wildlife of the 50 States set, he went about his task of creating a list of the 50 forms of wildlife.  To his surprise 46 of the 50 that he submitted to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was approved, at least initially that is.  This set of stamps sparked a series of debates and changes that lasted for quite some time within the Committee.  All of the members of the Committee went to great efforts to make sure that each state was adequately represented and that each detail on every stamp was perfect.  By the end of the planning period, some of the original designs were changed and this beautiful set is the end result. It should be noted that the stamps were not identified as belonging to individual states; rather each state was represented in some way within the set.

The next pane of 50 postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service came in April of 2002 and was called “Greetings from America.”

The Wildlife of the 50 States would make an excellent addition to any stamp collection and Stamp Center has them in stock and ready to ship out.  We offer free shipping to our customers in the United States and $4.50 flat rate shipping for our international customers.

In continuation from Wednesday…

One of the reasons that the Citizen’s Advisory Board chose to create these wildlife postage stamps is that they found that the general public was more interested in animals than the other suggestions that were coming in from the public.  One road block that they encountered, however; is that not all states have a particular state animal that they claim as their own.  So it was decided that the stamps would depict one “wildlife” representative that lives in each of the 50 states instead.  Up for consideration for the postages stamps were mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, fauna, and crustaceans.

Here’s a little stamp history for you to enjoy.  The first wildlife postage stamps appeared in 1869.  They were in 10 cent and 30 cent values and pictured the bald eagle.  The USPS did not issue the next animal postage stamp until 1923 and that was of a bison.  It took the USPS another 24 years to issue the next animal postage stamp.  In 1947 they issued one of the great white heron.  Since 1956, animal postage stamps have been popping up at a much more regular pace, usually to promote environmental protection or conservation issues.

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion to this post.

In June of 1987, the United States Postal Service released a much anticipated set of 50 postage stamps called the “Wildlife of the 50 States”.  The USPS had released other large panes prior to the release of these wildlife postage stamps, but none quite as artistically impressive as this particular set.  Previous sets included 50 stamps depicting the state flags (one from each state), and a combination state bird and state flower pane as well.

This extensive stamp set was released in Toronto, Canada at the CAPEX ‘87’; which at the time was Canada’s first international philatelic show in almost 10 years.  Interestingly enough, at the CAPEX ‘78’, there was another USPS souvenir sheet set released as well.  Those stamps were also of wildlife, but had no relation to this stamp release.

The Citizen’s Advisory Committee decided in 1982 that the 50 pane sets should only be produced no more than every five years, even though the public continued to send in requests for a variety of different sets to be produced in more frequent intervals.  This was never official policy, just a standing rule of sorts.

Please check back on Friday for part II of this post.

Each October is designated “National Stamp Collecting Month” by the United States Postal Service.  To help kick off the campaign in 2002, which is intended to get youth interested in stamp collecting, the USPS issued a set of stamps called “American Bats” which featured one of natures most feared and misunderstood creatures…bats.  In particular in this set, bats that are found in North America.  There are approximately 950 different species of bats worldwide and 45 can be found in North America.

Bats provide a beneficial service to the environment.  They devour a tremendous amount of night flying insects and also help keep pests out of farmlands.  In Austin, Texas, onlookers often flock to watch the largest urban bat colony in the world emerge each night.  From March through November about a million and a half bats take flight from their roosting spot under a bridge and ingest up to 30,000 pounds of insects.  It is truly and amazing site to witness!

The four bats in this particular set are the red bat, the pallid bat, the spotted bat, and the leaf-nosed bat.  Each bat has their own unique look and unique roll in helping our world’s ecosystem.

Stamp Center has these cool American Bats postage stamps in stock with free shipping for our US customers and only $4.50 flat rate shipping for our international customers.  Give us a call today!

Adding to the popular Classic American Aircraft postage stamp collection that was issued in 1997, the United States Postal Service issued a set of postage stamps in July of 2005, called the American Advances in Aviation.  There are ten different stamps in the set and twenty stamps on the pane.  Many of the stamps in this set played a crucial roll in the raging battles of WWII, especially the B-24 Liberator, otherwise known as the “Black Cat”.

The airplanes that are showcased in this particular stamp set were chosen because they illustrate American innovations and technology that benefited not only the needs of general aviation, but the military as well.  The stamps feature the 35 Bonanza, the F6F Hellcat, the B-29 Superfortress, the B-24 Liberator, the YB-49 Flying Wing, the PBY Catalina, the Ercoupe 415, the P-47 Thunderbolt, the P-80 Shooting Star, and the 247.  All of these airplanes were icons of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

The American Advances In Aviation postage stamps would make an interesting addition to any stamp collection and Stamp Center has them in stock for you.  We now have new shipping rates available for our customers as well!  Free shipping to all US shipping addresses and only $4.50 flat rate for our international customers.

Just as important as the Blue Angels are to us here in America, the Snowbirds are to our friends to the north in Canada.  The Canadian Forces Snowbirds are a military formation aerobatic team that performs choreographed maneuvers up in the sky to the delight of fans around the world.  In June of 2006, to commemorate their amazing skills and kick off what was the beginning of Canada Day across the nation, the Canada Post issued two domestic rate super cool Snowbird postage stamps.

The first stamp shows the view in which a Snowbird pilot is seeing.  When you first look at the second stamp, it looks like there are only three airplanes on the stamp.  What makes this stamp so neat is that upon closer inspection, you can see other ghosted planes that represent the Snowbird’s nine plane formation.  Many people don’t know that the name “Snowbird” came about by the elementary school children who lived on the Air Force Base at the time of the airplanes creation.

If you would like to add these cool Canadian Forces Snowbirds postage stamps to your collection, stop by Stamp Center today.  Stamp Center has a fantastic selection of postage stamps to choose from and shipping is free to our customers in the United States.  Our international customer shipping rate has been reduced to only $4.50 flat rate.

The universe has likely fascinated mankind since the beginning of time.  To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope to study the skies, the United Nation’s has named 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA).

In April of 2009 Canada Post issued two postage stamps to commemorate the IYA.  Each of the stamps is valued at 54 cents.  One of the stamps features an image from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, which is located in Hawaii. The other stamp features an image from the National Research Council’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in British Colombia.  The stamps show the amazing images of the Eagle and Horsehead Nebulas.

If you would like to add the beautiful Canadian International Year of Astronomy postage stamp booklet, the souvenir sheet, or postage stamps to your stamp collection, contact Stamp Center today.  At Stamp Center you will find a wide variety of postage stamps from around the world with free shipping for our customers in the United States, and only $4.50 flat rate shipping for our international customers.

Before the days of the internet, postage stamp collectors had a far more difficult time finding stamps from different countries.  They were likely limited to trading with other local collectors, waiting for a special letter to arrive in the mail, or if they were lucky, they knew of a good Stamp Dealer.

Stamp Dealers are a great resource for purchasing postage stamps.  They have extensive knowledge about their products and often times have entire collections available to purchase.

Stamp Center is a stamp collecting dealer that provides stamp collection values, stamp collection appraisals and also sells new issue foreign stamps from countries around the world.  Stamp Center is also able to locate those hard to find rare postage stamps for you that will make your collection complete.

Not only does Stamp Center strive to find some fantastic stamps to add to your collection, we also love to save our customers money.  Effective October 13, 2009, all orders shipped out to our customers in the United States and Canada will be sent out for free!  Our foreign customers will also enjoy our reduced flat rate shipping which is only $4.50!

Be sure to check out all of the amazing postage stamps that are available from countries near and far which are listed at Stamp Center.