Collecting History: 125 Years of the National Philatelic Collection

 

EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS

 

Collecting History gallery

Above: Visible in this photograph are selections from the famous Clarence H. Eagle and Ernest R. Ackerman collections of U.S. proofs and essays, both of which were transferred to the Smithsonian's philatelic collection by the Library of Congress in the 1950s.
circle detail of 1 sen blue, Japan, 1872 One of Philately’s Rarest Books
Alphonse Marie Tracey Woodward’s Postage Stamps of Japan and Dependencies (1928) is one of philately’s rarest books. The National Philatelic Collection obtained this copy at auction in 1954.
circle   Egyptian stamp   Egyptian Royal Imperforate Printings
Egypt’s King Fuad and his son, King Farouk, were presented with specially printed imperforate copies of every Egyptian stamp issued from 1926 until 1952, when Farouk was overthrown and exiled. In 1961, some of the collection of royal imperforates (approximately 10% of all the copies in existence) were given to the National Philatelic Collection.
circle   Austrian flag stamp proof   Overrun Countries Die Proofs
During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt conceived of a stamp series featuring the flags of countries conquered by German and Japanese forces. This is one example from a series of proofs that were prepared so postal officials could approve the stamps’ designs.
circle   Polish prisoner of war and concentration camp refugee stamp   World War II Internment Camp Stamps and Mail
During World War II, stamps and mail provided civilian internees in the United States and prisoners of war overseas with the only way to contact their family and friends.
circle   Marijuana Tax Act stamp   Marijuana Tax Stamps
Beginning in 1954, the U.S. Treasury Department transferred nearly 7.8 million obsolete revenue stamps—used to collect taxes on merchandise, legal documents, and financial transactions—to the National Philatelic Collection.
circle   Five Cents Connell stamp   William H. Ahmanson Collection of Canada and Provinces
Five British North American provinces issued their own postage stamps before becoming part of Canada. The Ahmanson collection contains an impressive, complete grouping of all five provinces’ stamps in unused condition.
circle   Experimental Huck Press Certified Plate Proof   Experimental Huck Press Certified Plate Proof
In 1955, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing purchased a Huck printing press capable of printing multiple colors in a single pass. BEP employees produced numerous experimental printing plates from master dies for stamps that dated as far back as the 1930s. This is a proof of one of those experimental plates, rarely seen by collectors or the public.
 
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