Stamps, Insects and
One of the major recent developments in philately (stamp col-I lecting) is the popularity of “topical” or “thematic” collecting.
The collector looks for anything that relates to the chosen theme. Popular examples are flowers, railroads, birds, sports, stamps-on-stamps, space, and insects. In a recent survey, butterflies and other insects on stamps ranked as the sixth most popular topic.
As of 1991, over 5000 stamps were issued by over 300 countries depicting over 1300 insect species (Fig. 1). Therefore specialization in types of insect being collected might be desirable, as it is with insect collecting itself. Subsets that could be selected as a specialty include butterflies and/or moths, apiculture, sericulture, malaria and other aspects of medical entomology, applied entomology, and noninsect arthropods. A “taxonomic” collection (in which the insect is the only real design) might be restricted to identifiable and named insects. Some, however, prefer to collect stamps with fanciful depictions, such as butterfly carnival costumes, a butterfly in the movie Bambi (on Bambi’s nose), or a “fly speck” insect in the beak of a bird. Still other philatelists specialize in mint (unused) stamps or canceled (used) ones, including “CTOs,” or stamps “canceled to order.” The CTOs are stamps with neat cancellations applied before the stamps are released, and the cancels are normally in one corner to avoid obscuring much of the
FIGURE 1 This pane of 20 different 33-cent stamps showing U.S. insects and spiders was issued on October 1, 1999 .
stamp design. Many philatelists frown on CTOs because they are obviously prepared for philatelists and are not used in carrying the mail.
PHILATELIC ELEMENTS AND TERMINOLOGY
Philately consists of a number of “elements” (a term used in exhibiting). Mint stamps, used stamps, and CTOs are just the beginning. Other related postal items that can be collected and exhibited are as follows:
Cancel The marking applied in the post office to show the stamp has been used.
Cover An envelope with stamps and cancel attached.
First-day cover (FDC) Cover canceled on the first day of the stamp’s issue, often with special cancels and a cachet (or illustration on envelope created to enhance interest and value) (Fig. 2 ).
Favor cancel Cancel applied for a collector, not to carry mail.
Piece Fragment of a cover, especially a large one such as from a package, but including stamp and cancel.
Meter cancel A machine-applied indication of postage paid, often accompanied to the left by a picture or slogan and used in place of stamps.
Proof A special impression of the stamp’s design used to check quality of design and color, with die proofs usually one color and often signed by the artist.
Essay Original artwork submitted to the stamp-issuing authority for consideration for adoption (these are rare and usually unique; essays for designs that were never printed as stamps are especially rare).
Block Symmetrical grouping of stamps, still attached to each other, with a block of four being the most common.
Plate block Block with the selvedge (unprinted border) containing a plate serial number printed in the original pane of stamps.
Revenues Stamps issued for fiscal purposes (postage stamps are sometimes applied to receipts in place of revenue stamps—an uncommon element to find).
FIGURE 2 First-day cover for U.S. 4-cent malaria eradication stamp issued on March 30, 1962. Design of envelope (cachet) and special first-day cancel make the “FDC” a favorite collectible.
Sheet A full pane of stamps, usually surrounded by a border (selvedge), which is the way stamps usually arrive at a post office.
Miniature sheet A special sheet of usually two to several stamps; not a normal full pane; it may have special related pictures in the selvedge.
Postal stationery Postal cards and letter sheets with stamps printed on them.
Souvenir sheet One or more stamps inside a printed border that may be a continuation of the vignette (picture) of the stamp itself.
Unified design sheet A pane in which each stamp is a small part of an overall picture depicted by the sheet.
GETTING STARTED
The first thing a beginner should do is get some help from someone who has experience in collecting stamps. The rudiments of philately, however, do not take long to learn. Knowledge of the terms just defined, and how to handle the different items is a good starting place. There are topics and periodicals available as well. In North America, Linn’s Stamp News, a weekly newspaper, has pages of ads as well as columns on how to “do” philately. People at a local stamp club and/or stamp shop also can be helpful.
Knowledge about stamps and other postal subjects can be found in specialized topics. Stamp values (mint and used) in North America usually follow the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalog, illustrated and revised yearly.
The American Philatelic Society (APS), which publishes a monthly magazine, American Philatelist, has departments including library and expertization services. The American Topical Association (ATA) is for thematic collectors and publishes the bimonthly Topical Time. This organization is divided into specialty groups. The Biology Unit, which publishes a newsletter called ” Biophilately, ” serves, among others, insect philatelists. The Philatelic Lepidopterists’ Association publishes a newsletter called “The Philatelic Aurelian” (an aurelian is a butterfly collector), which features updates on new butterfly and moth issues (identifiable ones only). Finally, by using key words “stamps” or “philately,” one can find many sources of material and information via any search engine on the World Wide Web.
A collector of insect stamps might wish to subscribe to a new issues service run by a dealer who mails new issues to subscribers each month. Such services are listed in the ad section of Linn’s . and many philatelists are glad to recommend their favorites. New issue dealers very likely can supply older stamps from their stocks of previous issues. There are many stamp club shows and occasional bourses (shows without exhibits, with dealers only), where collectors can fill checklists from dealers’ stocks and buy supplies—and meet with other philatelists.
Insect philately keeps alive the thrill of the hunt and the love of the beauty and order of an insect collection. However, for many participants this kind of collection takes less storage space, needs no fumigating, and can keep giving enjoyment when entomologists’ more active years of insect collecting are behind them.
