Stamp collecting — often called philately — is one of the most rewarding and timeless hobbies you can undertake. It allows you to journey through history, geography, art and culture, all within the ...

While growing up in a village in Singapore, Richard Tan and his brothers used to rummage through their neighbours' rubbish bins looking for discarded letters. They wanted the foreign stamps on the ...

Many collectors today wonder if postage stamps are good investments. While some rare and historical stamps have increased in value over the years, the market can be very unpredictable. Factors like ...

Last November, when the current price record-holder for a single stamp changed hands, true believers could view the news only one way – with joy. "The Treskilling Yellow is back in the hands of a ...

What do the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood, the Queen and tennis player Maria Sharapova have in common? Along with an increasing number of British investors, they collect stamps. With uncertainty hanging ...

The first stamp was issued in 1840, the penny black. The penny red replaced it in 1841. In 1864 Georges Herpin coined the the term "philately" which replaced previous terms for a collector of stamps.

Collecting stamps can be as easy as pulling a stamp off an envelope delivered by mail or as complicated as studying historical events to find a particularly rare or coveted one. Whatever the interest, ...

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Growing interest in rare stamps from collectors in Asia is raising the profile of philately as a source of ...

Stamps celebrating the 50 years of Doctor Who are the latest in a series of special anniversary stamps. For some, the ultimate must-have is the first day cover. But who collects them? Not everyone ...

What prized possession, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor was recently asked, would she grab if she had to abandon her house at a few minutes' notice? "I'd save my photographs first," she replied – so ...