![]() ![]() ![]() Like most stamp experts, Savastano started collecting as a young boy in England and quickly grew intrigued by the process of finding and sorting miniature works of art from places near and far. “With knowledge you can beat the dealers,” he said. This way stamps become a vehicle for learning about a broader subject in all its nuances, said Dominic Savastano, a stamp specialist at Spink London. “Collecting should be a pleasure and if you eventually make money, that’s a bonus.”Īny philatelist (the official name for stamp researchers and collectors) will tell you this: build your collection around a focus that interests you, whether it’s cars or birds or your family’s country of origin. “You learn a lot about the world in an effortless but pleasant way,” said retired dealer Anthony Grainger. Though numerous collectors have deep pockets and decades of knowledge, anyone can become a rare stamp aficionado.Īnd even if you aren't as lucky as the Rochdale collector, you can quickly become knowledgeable about a range of topics and geographic locations as you build a stamp collection. The sum was $9.5m, nearly a billion times its original penny value. In 2014, the one-cent magenta - an unassuming magenta octagon with handwritten black script released in British Guiana in 1856 - set the record for the most money ever paid for a postage stamp. Billions of stamps have been issued since the British Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive stamp, debuted in 1840, and many are laced with romance and lore - transporting collectors to exotic destinations, critical moments in history and, for some, elusive future fortunes. In 2014, he sold the stamp, known as SG 755b, at auction for £23,600 ($36,260).Īlthough the advent of email has hurt postal mail service in recent years, stamp collecting remains a passionate hobby as well as a valuable business and investment strategy in many countries. What he didn’t realise until later was that one of the stamps was missing the queen’s head. He paid one shilling and nine pence (less than 10 US cents) for a pair that celebrated the invention of the television and featured a silhouette of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1967, a stamp enthusiast went to his local post office in the north England town of Rochdale to buy a pair of Great Britain stamps. Both in theory and practice, this book is a testament to the power of story.A simple trip to a British post office turned into a life-changing adventure for one lucky stamp collector. Lanthier volunteers for PEN Canada, and a portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to the charity, which helps support the Writers in Prison letter-writing campaign. Darkness is illuminated by moments of whimsy (a postage stamp imagined as a kite) and the exquisite detail of the colourful stamps. Thisdale’s dreamlike illustrations feature textured backgrounds with collages of postmarks and Chinese characters. He does so by writing a book that begins as The Stamp Collector does: “This is the story of not long ago and not far away …” Weakened by his years in prison and near death, the writer tells his stories to the guard, who promises to share them. With his interest in stamps, the prison guard takes note of the mail and eventually feels compelled to deliver the letters to the writer as evidence the world has not forgotten him. The writer is sent letters from readers around the world, though he’s not permitted to receive any of them. Their lives intersect years later, when the first boy becomes a guard at the prison where the second has been locked up for his political writings. As stamp collecting becomes his passion, another boy in the countryside develops his own passion for telling stories. In measured, precise prose, Lanthier tells the story of a Chinese boy who discovers a discarded postage stamp and realizes he is connected to a wider world. With The Stamp Collector, illustrated by François Thisdale, Lanthier has succeeded in overcoming these challenges. The journalist and author had to figure out how to tell a story about freedom of expression to a young audience how to ensure the book remained meaningful without becoming too dark and how to give the story power beyond its political message. Jennifer Lanthier faced formidable challenges in crafting her first picture book. ![]()
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