what is philately

The  hobby of collecting stamps perhaps started with the lady who advertised in The Times of London in 1841 - "a young lady, being desirous of covering her dressing-room with cancelled postage stamps." 

Stamp collecting is all about collecting stamps and arranging them in albums. Philately, is real serious stamp study. A philatelist collects stamps, arranges them and knows a whole lot about its history, manufacture and about the information portrayed on it.

• Traditional - collecting stamps country wise. This includes collecting all kinds of stamps, essays, proofs, watermarks, gum, errors and forgeries.

• Postal history - tracing the postal history of a country through philatelic material. This includes collecting postal articles showing markings, postal routes, postal rates, development of postal system, automation of mail. disaster mail, maritime mail etc.

• Postal stationery - collecting post cards, envelopes, covers etc. The collection can include registration mail, acknowledgements, certificates of posting and telegraph mail.

• Aero-philately - collecting aviation and airmail stamps, postal articles carried or dropped from air, cancellations, rocket mail, balloon mail and pigeon mail.

• Thematic Philately - collecting stamps pertaining to a theme like birds, flowers etc.

• Literature Philately - collecting literature on stamps like catalogues, research articles, handbooks, philatelic periodicals etc.

• Fiscal Philately - collection of revenue stamps and stamped documents which have been used to pay revenues or taxes.

• Maximaphilly - collection of picture postcards showing the stamp design or a picture with some relation to the stamp on it.

• Astrophilately - collecting stamps related to space, rocket mail, astronomy, history of space research etc.

• Mophila - collection of modern stamps restricted to last 15 years.

• Social Philately - collection of postal articles describing the social history. The exhibit can contain upto 40% non philatelic material to supplement the exhibit.