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than 150 years later, the variety of designs on stamps is enormous, giving topical collectors plenty of scope to find stamps for their chosen theme. In fact, so many stamps have been issued that some popular themes, such as ships or birds, have become nearly impossible to complete, and topical collectors may specialize further, such as by looking for only square-rigged sailing ships, or only flightless birds.
641:
129:
80:
The earliest stamps simply depicted busts of reigning monarchs, important figures, or coats of arms, but as time went on stamps started to have a wider range of designs. Bears appeared on provisional stamps of St. Louis in 1845, while the beaver was featured on the earliest stamps of Canada. More
53:
relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds, trains and poets on stamps, to famous physicians and scientists, along with historical people and events on stamps, which is often a standard theme for many stamp issuing countries.
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177:
464:
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202:
120:
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167:
1221:
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109:
1022:
997:
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197:
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1071:
784:
491:
721:
834:
307:
187:
89:
Since most types of stamp designs are commonly available and inexpensive, acquiring them is mostly a matter of poring over the
238:
789:
556:
Thematic and
Topical Stamp Collecting: A practical and comprehensive handbook for thematic, topical, and subject collectors
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645:
829:
615:
601:
563:
549:
511:
358:
1350:
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1319:
1304:
809:
468:
108:
Topical collecting is a recognized category for competitive exhibitions and has its own
Commission with the FIP (
589:. British Philatelic Trust in conjunction with the National Philatelic Society, 1983. (Edited by Richard West)
283:
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714:
415:
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looking for relevant types, and learning enough about the topic to recognize subtle connections. The
62:
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707:
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66:
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1066:
227:
814:
366:
311:
287:
695:
Paleontology (dinosaurs, prehistoric animals, fossils) stamps by country and by issue date
100:
Online marketplaces and trade platforms are the most common way of collecting new stamps.
8:
1251:
222:
124:
Teddy and his
Friends topical stamp display at London 2022 International Stamp Exhibition
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544:. Limassol: Published by James Bendon for The British Thematic Association, 1994
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50:
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The collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept
763:
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515:
758:
440:
651:
819:
217:
128:
582:
149:
stamp issue was the first stamp ever printed to feature a giraffe.
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97:
and others have published handbooks and lists of larger topics.
669:
640:
656:
24:
674:
512:"La Guerre civile et la RĂ©volution en Espagne (1936-1939)"
679:
233:
Stamps with an anarchist theme were issued during the
467:(in French). Increvables Anarchistes. Archived from
514:(in French). Research on Anarchism. Archived from
203:Soviet space exploration history on Soviet stamps
1332:
489:
359:"Pick your favorite topic and start collecting"
621:Handbooks of the American Topical Association.
389:. American Topical Association. Archived from
31:on stamps would want this 1929 issue from the
715:
500:
465:"Les timbres édités par la CNT et par la FAI"
198:U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
729:
572:. Tucson: American Topical Association, 1997
493:The Republican local war tax stamps, 1936-39
333:"Like stamps? You'll love stamps-on-stamps"
741:
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483:
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119:
61:
18:
1287:Fédération Internationale de Philatélie
568:Griffenhagen, George and Jerome Husak.
445:Fédération Internationale de Philatélie
110:Fédération Internationale de Philatélie
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680:Scouts on Stamps Society International
570:Adventures in Topical Stamp Collecting
457:
330:
703:
1085:
441:"FIP Thematic Philately Commission"
13:
534:
506:
356:
239:ConfederaciĂłn Nacional del Trabajo
14:
1367:
1305:Category — Topical postage stamps
633:
1072:Territories of the United States
685:Stamps on Stamps Collectors Club
639:
596:. New York: Arco Pub. Co., 1975
577:A Handbook on Thematic Philately
254:
659:A resource for stamp collectors
587:Introducing Thematic Collecting
103:
664:Websites for particular themes
542:Handbook of Thematic Philately
433:
404:
379:
350:
331:Baadke, Michael (2000-05-01).
324:
300:
284:"Glossary Of Philatelic Terms"
276:
1:
496:. Spanish Philatelic Society.
269:
84:
57:
1282:American Topical Association
652:American Topical Association
490:Gomez-Guillamon, F. (1977).
416:American Topical Association
95:American Topical Association
7:
1310:Commons — Stamps by subject
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10:
1372:
308:"Topical Stamp Collecting"
1295:
1274:
1244:
1214:
1173:
1152:
1131:
1115:
1054:
802:
751:
737:
608:Thematic Stamp Collecting
579:. Delhi: B.D. Gupta, 1989
558:. London: Batsford, 1980
115:
1098:Soviet space exploration
863:Central African Republic
785:Butterflies of Australia
731:Topical stamp collecting
610:. London: Gibbons, 1977
594:Topical Stamp Collecting
1351:Philatelic terminology
1346:Topical postage stamps
1103:U.S. space exploration
690:Bird stamps by country
540:Bold, W.E.J. van den.
150:
125:
77:
36:
228:Mathematics on stamps
153:Some topics include:
131:
123:
65:
49:is the collecting of
22:
1227:Ice hockey in Canada
657:LearnAboutStamps.com
648:at Wikimedia Commons
518:on 30 September 2011
261:Philately portal
188:Presidents on stamps
145:value from the 1901
471:on 12 February 2009
339:. Linn's Stamp News
223:Chemistry on stamps
178:Dinosaurs on stamps
23:Both collectors of
1232:Olympics in Canada
1222:Commonwealth Games
1062:American Civil War
858:Canadian provinces
810:Queen Elizabeth II
790:Flora of Australia
670:Bicycles on stamps
626:2010-09-20 at the
606:Morris, Margaret.
158:Bicycles on stamps
151:
126:
78:
37:
1356:Stamp collections
1328:
1327:
1300:Category — Stamps
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1269:
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1111:
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1049:
798:
797:
646:Stamps by subject
644:Media related to
367:Linn's Stamp News
357:Baadke, Michael.
312:Linn's Stamp News
288:Linn's Stamp News
263:
235:Spanish Civil War
173:Insects on stamps
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1341:Stamp collecting
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825:Salvador Allende
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554:Branston, A. J.
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418:. Archived from
412:"ATA Checklists"
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363:Refresher Course
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183:People on stamps
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33:Falkland Islands
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628:Wayback Machine
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193:Ships on stamps
163:Birds on stamps
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67:Ships on Stamps
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634:External links
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616:0-85259-920-X
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602:0-6680-3754-7
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564:0-7134-1974-1
561:
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550:996-357-970-1
547:
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1174:Celebrations
1160:Soviet Union
908:East Germany
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575:Gupta, V.K.
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541:
520:. Retrieved
516:the original
502:
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473:. Retrieved
469:the original
459:
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424:. Retrieved
420:the original
406:
395:. Retrieved
391:the original
381:
370:. Retrieved
362:
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341:. Retrieved
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315:. Retrieved
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291:. Retrieved
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152:
107:
104:Competitions
99:
88:
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73:Constitution
72:
43:
39:
38:
1320:WikiProject
1262:Mathematics
1067:Puerto Rico
968:New Zealand
963:Netherlands
387:"Handbooks"
1335:Categories
1186:Coronation
1037:Presidents
883:Costa Rica
845:By country
778:By country
450:2017-04-24
426:2010-09-30
397:2010-01-24
372:2010-01-24
343:2019-03-12
317:2019-03-12
293:2019-03-12
270:References
85:Collecting
58:Background
1252:Chemistry
1201:Millenium
1181:Christmas
1116:Transport
1013:Sri Lanka
918:Hong Kong
675:Catstamps
583:Lee, Alma
218:Leniniana
1196:Holidays
1191:Hanukkah
1153:Artworks
1139:Art Deco
1123:Bicycles
1077:Virginia
993:Portugal
983:Pakistan
903:Djibouti
878:Colombia
624:Archived
245:See also
44:thematic
29:penguins
1245:Science
1132:Culture
1055:History
973:Nigeria
938:Ireland
928:Iceland
923:Hungary
898:Denmark
888:Croatia
769:Insects
738:Themes
522:22 July
475:22 July
237:by the
137:⁄
40:Topical
1315:Portal
1205:Canada
1144:Tintin
1023:Taiwan
998:Russia
978:Norway
958:Mexico
948:Latvia
853:Canada
803:People
764:Coffee
752:Nature
614:
600:
562:
548:
132:This 2
116:Topics
69:: the
25:whales
1215:Sport
1086:Space
1041:Women
1018:Sudan
1003:Samoa
953:Malta
943:Japan
933:India
873:China
868:Chile
820:Lenin
759:Birds
988:Peru
893:Cuba
612:ISBN
598:ISBN
560:ISBN
546:ISBN
524:2011
477:2011
143:real
71:USS
27:and
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42:or
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