Hobbies and Pastimes

Stamp Collecting

philately: fih-LAT-uh-lee

Also Known As Philately (strictly, the study of stamps)

Citation Formats

General Reference

Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas. "Stamp Collecting." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://home.interactiveatlas.org/hobbies/stamp-collecting.

APA Style

Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas. (n.d.). Stamp Collecting. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://home.interactiveatlas.org/hobbies/stamp-collecting

BibTeX

@misc{home,craftsandhobbiesatlas-stamp-collecting,
  author = {Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas},
  title = {Stamp Collecting},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://home.interactiveatlas.org/hobbies/stamp-collecting},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Collecting postage stamps and postal history, one of the world's most popular collecting hobbies almost from the moment stamps existed. A stamp is a small engraved window on its country and era, which is why albums built around nations, reigns and themes double as informal histories, and why the rarest stamps rank among the most valuable objects by weight ever made.

Facts

Hobby Class

Collecting 1

Established When (Circa)

From 1840; collectors appeared within months of the Penny Black, the first adhesive postage stamp 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

American Philatelic Society

Source American Philatelic Society (Wikipedia)

The Penny Black

The first stamp created the first stamp collectors within months

Source Penny Black (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. Stamp Collecting (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationView the Source

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