February is here. Many consider it the month of love (because of Valentine's Day, right?) when you give something to your loved one... but is there anything more beautiful than sending a card or letter to that person? Apart from sincere emotions and the skill and courage to put them into words, you need postage stamps so the postman can deliver your letter to the recipient.
Okay, I started the post in this way just because of the month of February, but let's clarify that postage stamps are needed for all other shipments, letters, and postcards of any kind. It turns out, these postal services are used less and less, and I also notice that postage stamps are being replaced with just some code or a sticker with numbers that is put on the envelope and that's it. It is probably easier or more practical that way, but it is not a joy for collectors then.
Collectors... and those who thought they were not one of them... like me. If you had asked me if I had a collection of postage stamps, I would have said no. That's how it was, several users had already posted their collections of these items and I always said that I didn't have a collection, at least not in the way that was organized in a nice section and placed in stamp albums. I knew I had them, the ones that we received over the years in various shipments that arrived at our address from family members and friends. If they were nice, then I cut them out with the paper together, that is, with the envelope that I never removed from them. That is why I thought it wasn't a real collection.
Today you will see for yourself that it is not very organized but still... now I already think it is a collection, and it becomes the chosen theme for the month of February.
Postage Stamps
You see, this is my collection that I thought was not a collection... Just a mess of postage stamps that piled up over several years. And then, in January when we were in Malaga, my husband spotted a stamp and collectables store, and we went in to see what they had.
We started to browse among the postage stamps that were organized by topics and their value. I wanted to find something music-related and that is how this mini collection of the composer Frederic Chopin was found. It was issued in 2010, on the 200th anniversary of this composer's birthday.
They are unused, still attached together and now form part of my mini collection of postage stamps.
Philatelist, please don't get a heart attack after seeing the condition my stamps live in. 😂 I know, I know, they need to be without the envelope (I would need to soak them in cold water for some time and remove the papers. I started and did with a few but it would take some hours/days to finish the whole collection). Btw, I was searching for this envelope with the postage stamps for the whole morning. 🤦♀😂 They were in one box and even though I checked it a few times I didn't see it, just after taking out everything from it.
So, this is my whole collection (at the moment I took these photos I thought it was the whole collection... but later I found more in another box with postcards 😅)
I will try to present them in sections, by countries. All of them were cut out by me, from letters and packages we got from friends and family members.
Germany wins, as the majority of my postage stamps are from that country.
Here are some of my picks from the section:
How cute the ducklings and the little rabbits are. There are many repeated ones, but this way they also make a collection. 😁
So many postage stamps with flowers:
This last one was not received on any shipment though. It was my son who bought stamps when he was in Germany last year to send postcards to his grandparents. This one stayed unused.
These arrived from Hong Kong, China. Several different birds and owls are the winners in number. I don't exactly remember what was inside the package, but something my husband ordered online. For some reason I kept them.
From Serbia, my favourite from here is the one with the bells.
Australia. These travelled quite a long journey to arrive to us.
Croatia. One of them features the Museum of Neanderthals.
Romania, just two postage stamps, and I don't remember who sent us a letter from Romania... 🤔
Just one postage stamp Canada so I should take care of it not to lose it.
The same, just one stamp from Norway, from my aunt. Do postmen in Norway use Harley-Davidson motorcycles to deliver the mail? That is so cool, I like this stamp a lot!
Also, just one postage stamp from Malta; got it on a letter from our English teacher when she visited that country.
It is strange I don't have more postage stamps from Spain, but as I mentioned, it is just a barcode sticker instead of these nice stamps that have been used lately.
Additional findings - a collection that is maybe larger but I don't even realize it haha. When I opened the box with my postcard collection I found several additional postage stamps from Taiwan, France, Italy, and UK. I covered my address and full name, sorry. 😁
Have you ever collected stamps? I know it is rare to send or receive postage these days, but maybe you have a collection without even realizing it, as was the case with me. In any case, I hope you enjoy this month's topic.
