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Topical or thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds, trains and poets on stamps, to famous physicians and scientists, along with historical people and events on stamps, which is often a standard theme for many stamp issuing countries.

Background

The earliest stamps simply depicted busts of reigning monarchs, important figures, or coats of arms, but as time went on stamps started to have a wider range of designs. Bears appeared on provisional stamps of St. Louis in 1845, while the beaver was featured on the earliest stamps of Canada. More than 150 years later, the variety of designs on stamps is enormous, giving topical collectors plenty of scope to find stamps for their chosen theme. In fact, so many stamps have been issued that some popular themes, such as ships or birds, have become nearly impossible to complete, and topical collectors may specialize further, such as by looking for only square-rigged sailing ships, or only flightless birds.

Collecting

Since most types of stamp designs are commonly available and inexpensive, acquiring them is mostly a matter of poring over the stamp catalog looking for relevant types, and learning enough about the topic to recognize subtle connections. The American Topical Association and others have published handbooks and lists of larger topics.

Online marketplaces and trade platforms are the most common way of collecting new stamps.

Competitions

Topical collecting is a recognized category for competitive exhibitions and has its own Commission with the FIP (Fédération Internationale de Philatélie).

Topics

Some topics include:

• Art Deco stamps
• Bicycles on stamps
• Birds on stamps
• Chemistry on stamps
• Dinosaurs on stamps
• Fish on stamps
• Insects on stamps
• Leniniana
• Mathematics on stamps
• People on stamps
• Presidents on stamps
• Ships on stamps
• U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
• Soviet space exploration history on Soviet stamps
• Stamps on stamps

Stamps with an anarchist theme were issued during the Spanish Civil War by the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo.

See also

• Philately portal

References

1. "Glossary Of Philatelic Terms". Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
2. "Topical Stamp Collecting". Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
3. Baadke, Michael (2000-05-01). "Like stamps? You'll love stamps-on-stamps". Refresher Course. Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
4. Baadke, Michael. "Pick your favorite topic and start collecting". Refresher Course. Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
5. "Handbooks". American Topical Association. Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
6. "ATA Checklists". American Topical Association. Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
7. "FIP Thematic Philately Commission". Fédération Internationale de Philatélie. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
8. "Les timbres édités par la CNT et par la FAI" (in French). Increvables Anarchistes. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
9. Gomez-Guillamon, F. (1977). The Republican local war tax stamps, 1936-39. Spanish Philatelic Society.
10. Creagh, Ronald. "La Guerre civile et la Révolution en Espagne (1936-1939)" (in French). Research on Anarchism. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.

Further reading

• Bold, W.E.J. van den. Handbook of Thematic Philately. Limassol: Published by James Bendon for The British Thematic Association, 1994 ISBN 996-357-970-1
• Branston, A. J. Thematic and Topical Stamp Collecting: A practical and comprehensive handbook for thematic, topical, and subject collectors. London: Batsford, 1980 ISBN 0-7134-1974-1
• Griffenhagen, George and Jerome Husak. Adventures in Topical Stamp Collecting. Tucson: American Topical Association, 1997
• Gupta, V.K. A Handbook on Thematic Philately. Delhi: B.D. Gupta, 1989
• Lee, Alma. Introducing Thematic Collecting. British Philatelic Trust in conjunction with the National Philatelic Society, 1983. (Edited by Richard West)
• Martin, M. W. Topical Stamp Collecting. New York: Arco Pub. Co., 1975 ISBN 0-6680-3754-7
• Morris, Margaret. Thematic Stamp Collecting. London: Gibbons, 1977 ISBN 0-85259-920-X
• Handbooks of the American Topical Association. Archived 2010-09-20 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Media related to Stamps by subject at Wikimedia Commons
• American Topical Association
• LearnAboutStamps.com A resource for stamp collectors

Websites for particular themes

• Bicycles on stamps
• Catstamps
• Scouts on Stamps Society International
• Stamps on Stamps Collectors Club
• Bird stamps by country
• Paleontology (dinosaurs, prehistoric animals, fossils) stamps by country and by issue date

v t e Topical stamp collecting
Themes	Nature Birds Coffee Insects By country Butterflies of Australia Flora of Australia People Queen Elizabeth II King George V Lenin Salvador Allende Queen Victoria Psychologists By country Canada Canadian provinces Central African Republic Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Denmark Djibouti East Germany Faroe Islands Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Ireland Japan Latvia Malta Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Peru Portugal Russia Samoa Solomon Islands Sri Lanka Sudan Taiwan United Kingdom United States (Presidents) (Women) History American Civil War Puerto Rico Territories of the United States Virginia Space Astrophilately Soviet space exploration U.S. space exploration Transport Bicycles Culture Art Deco Tintin Artworks Soviet Union United States Celebrations Christmas Coronation Hanukkah Holidays Millenium (Canada) Sport Commonwealth Games Ice hockey in Canada Olympics in Canada Science Chemistry Crystallography Mathematics
Organizations	American Topical Association Fédération Internationale de Philatélie
Category — Stamps Category — Topical postage stamps Commons — Stamps by subject Portal WikiProject

• Stamp collecting
• Topical postage stamps
• Philatelic terminology
• Stamp collections