Stamp Corner - Oddities
(Stamp collecting has been around for over 150 years and is often called the "King of Hobbies". From stamps we can learn of history of newly founded nations some of these stamps are of great value, both historical and with monetary value..)
A good case in point is the first stamp issue of Israel. Before May 1948 Palestine was governed by the British Mandate until the United Nations decided that the country should be divided into a Jewish and Arab State. So on May 14th, 1948, the State of Israel came into being.
When the first stamps came out the name of the new country had not been decided. So the writing on top of the stamps just says Doar Ivri', meaning Hebrew Post'.
Although these stamps were on sale until April 1950, the first stamps of Israel soon became so popular that they are now quite scarce and are much sought after by collectors.
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Before Australia was discovered, people thought a black swan was impossible as a pig with wings. You can imagine, then, the surprise of the early explorers in Australia when they found that among all the other curious animals a bird there was a black swan.
The black swan was adopted by the colony of Western Australia as its symbol. So when the colony began to issue postage stamps they put the swan on design.
In this issue, however, one of the most famous mistakes in philatelic history was made. This mistake is known as the inverted' swan' because the picture of the swan was printed upside down.
What happened was that separate designs were used for the frame and the swan in the center and was used for both a four penny and a shilling stamp. While the craftsman was transferring the design to the plates he turned one frame upside down.
The mistake was soon discovered, but some stamps had already been sold. It took a long time for collectors to find out what had happened. Later the inverted swan' stamp became a valuable collector's item.
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Off course you know where the Panama Canal is located. And, off course you know when the canal was opened (1914). But if it had not been for a stamp the canal might never have been built in Panama at all; it might have been built in Nicaragua.
In 1902 the government of Columbia refused the US offer to build the canal in Panama, which was under their rule. However the Nicaraguans were trying to persuade the Americans to build the canal in their country, but the idea was pushed aside as engineers considered the country as volcanic, which could destroy a canal.
During the negotiatons the government of Nicaragua, rather inappropriately, issued a stamp with a picture of their Mount Momotombu erupting, so the engineers were correct in their assumption and they turned their eyes again to Panama. Some years later Panama gained independence and accepted the US offer to build a canal in their country.
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New South Wales is the oldest district in Australia and its capital is the port city of Sydney. The first stamps that were issued by the local government in 1850 were called Sidney Views', designed by a Josiah Wedgewood. It showed the figure of Hope on the left side, welcoming Peace, Art, and Labor to Sidney cove. When the design was used for the stamps, however, no less than three engravers produced versions of it. And then every figure had to be engraved separately, but in doing so the figures underwent a startling change. At first, they were called Gold Diggers', because the people thought they were three early Australians digging for gold. But in spite of the terrible mess these stamps are quite famous among the first issues.
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In 1897 Newfoundland issued the first stamp to depict mining. The Penny Black' of the United Kingdom and Ireland issued in May 1, 1840 was the first official adhesive postage stamp. Two rare and most valuable stamps in the world are the Blue Penny' and the Red Penny' issued by the Mauritius Post Office as they were first stamps produced outside the United Kingdom and their initial wording was wrongly spelled. The Hawaiian Missionaries' stamps issued in 1851 were the first postage stamps of the Kingdom of Hawaii, depicting the work of the Christian missionaries. The Inverted Head four Annas stamp of India issued in 1854 is prized by collectors. The "Gronchi Rosa' stamp issue is a rare Italian postage stamp it was part of an 1961 issue of President Gronchi's voyage to three South American countries but it was engraved with the wrong border marking between Peru and Brazil only a rare few were sold before the stamps were recalled...
And so forth....
Stamps are often produced as collectibles and from time to time an oddity occurs, which makes these odd stamps valued by collectors.