Ron Wood, Rolling Stone and stamp collector

In the October 2006 edition of Scott Stamp Monthly, Editor Michael Baadke writes about celebrity stamp collectors in The Editor's Forum.

One of those mentioned is The Rolling Stones guitarist and recovering alcoholic Ron Wood.

According to a report on the ContacMusic.Com last April, the veteran rocker admitted he found life without booze "boring", but his new passion for collecting and painting rare postage pieces has got him hooked.

The site says, "A source told British newspaper The Sun, "He is fascinated by it. Since he's out of rehab and trying to stay on the straight and narrow he has to find things to occupy his brain. He gets assistants to go to specialist shops trying to buy the best stamps. He's very proud of his collection."

Shown above is a 2003 minature sheet from Austria showing all the band members. Wood is pictured in the lower right hand corner stamp.

According to a Rolling Stones Website maintained by Wolfgang Morscher, the minature sheet are the first stamps in Austria's postal history in several aspects:

- They are the first stamps in Austrian postal history with living persons on it, besides the Pope or the president.

- They are the first stamps of the Rolling Stones that was personally authorised by the group.

- They are the first stamps in Austrian postal history that uses the word "Austria" (instead of "Österreich")

To visit Wolfgang's Website and more on the Austrian Rolling Stones minature sheet, click here.