Free Republic

Stamp collecting is a passion, and rare U.S. stamps are history, art, even antiques. Better yet, they can be worth life-changing amounts of money: Several factors determine the high value of these small pieces of art. While some could be firsts of their kind, others could be a printing mistake: And these are the rarest 8 U.S. stamps that collectors covet: 8. 15c Landing of Columbus Stamp (Photo: Wiki Commons) Columbus’s landing is an important day in America’s history, and in 1869 it was celebrated with a pictorial series of stamps. This landmark occasion is marked by two different variations...

I've inherited this good size stamp collection, and I'm trying to figure out what its worth and how to sell it without getting taken to the cleaners. Do any freepers have any experience with this sort of stuff?

Calling slain civil rights hero Harvey Milk a “predator” on its website this week, the fundamentalist Christian group American Family Association (AFA) urged members to refuse any mail postmarked with a recently-released commemorative stamp featuring the late San Francisco supervisor. “Harvey Milk was a very disreputable man and used his charm and power to prey on young boys with emotional problems and drug addiction,” reads the AFA’s press release. “He is the last person we should be featuring on a stamp.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A collector credits a hunch with helping him land one of just 100 sheets of stamps recently issued by the United States Postal Service featuring a corrected version of its rare and famous error, the 1918 "inverted Jenny." Art Van Riper bought the stamps in Waverly, N.Y., after reading that the Postal Service had printed a new batch of inverted Jenny stamps celebrating the 95-year-old edition that, by mistake, featured an upside-down biplane. He also read that, as a way to draw more people into stamp collecting, the Postal Service randomly distributed 100 sheets featuring the plane...

Vatican City, Nov 5, 2009 / 02:41 pm (CNA).- The Vatican post office has issued it's first ever Braille stamp to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, who created the universal reading and writing system for the blind. The stamps feature a portrait of Louis Braille, the inventor's name, the Vatican City State and the price written in the raised dots of the Braille system. Valued at $0.96 each, 300,000 stamps have been issued and will go on sale at the Vatican's post offices near St. Peter's Basilica, according to the Canadian Press.Born in France...

Rome, Aug 26, 2008 / 04:22 am (CNA).- The head of the Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office, Dr. Pier Paolo Francini, has revealed the story behind the stamps that were used at the Vatican during the interregnum period of 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II. The design used for stamps during that time came after one of his co-workers saw a fresco by the Italian artist Carlo Malli that he thought would be appropriate for the occasion.Francini told the L’Osservatore Roman that “by tradition the stamps during a Vacant See should be printed as soon as...

NEW YORK — The devil, as they say, is in the details. So when an astute stamp collector recently discovered that one of the Old Glorys in the U.S. Postal Service's "Flags 24/7" series appears to have 14 stripes, it was bound to send a wave of excitement through the philatelic community. "Is there any icon better-known to Americans than their own flag?" said Fred Baumann, a spokesman for the American Philatelic Society. "This is something somebody should have caught along the way." The stamp in question, "Night," was released by the Postal Service on April 18 as part of...

The Philatelic and Numismatic Office in the Vatican City have announced that tomorrow, April 12 the series of stamps for the "sede vacante" or vacant see 2005 will be issued. The series, composed of three stamps which have the same subject and bear the insignia of the Apostolic Camera, will be sold directly and exclusively by the post offices of Vatican City and the sales offices of the Office for Pilgrims and Tourists, located in St Peter's Square. This series of vacant see stamps will be valid only and exclusively during the period of the vacant see.