The King's Stamps

Britain's The Star reports, "It’s one thing, for example, to have on display a Penny Black – the world’s first stamp, issued in 1840. But it’s quite another to see the original drafts of the iconic design, including rejected versions, works in progress and stamps from the first plates ever printed."

These and other rare items are from George V's  stamp collection and were on display over the weekend at an exhibition hosted by the Sheffield Philatelic Society.

Bill Hornadge writes on the Philatelic Database website, "...King George V of England, who began collecting when a young man in the Navy, and who adhered to the hobby with tremendous enthusiasm throughout his life, amassed the finest collection of British Empire stamps ever assembled." 

Bill goes on to say that occasionally the King was joined in his collecting pursuits by his cousin, Czar Nicholas, another keen philatelist, who "later was to lose both his life and his stamps in the Russian revolution.

Shown above, judges evaluate the exhibits at the show.



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