Stamp collecting

Yesterday I received my collector's badge for Scouts. That means that this year I have worked for 5 activity badges. My newest badge is added to my builder's badge, my team sport badge, my music badge and my modeler's badge.

To get my collector's badge I had to find out and present some information. Here it is:

* A stamp collector is called a philatelist.

* Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world with close to 20 million stamp collectors in the USA alone.

* The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. When the Penny Black first came out it cost one cent. Now the price will vary from $20 to $200 depending on the condition.

* People started to collect stamps almost straight away. One person, John Edward Grey, bought Penny Black stamps on the first day of sale in order to collect them.

* A stamp collector needs some basic equipment, such as a stock book to hold stamps and other equipment, stamp hinges to hinge/mount stamps, a magnifying glass to study the condition and details of the stamps, and stamp tongues (tweezers) to prevent damage to the stamps when you are touching them.

* Famous stamp collectors include Freddy Mercury, lead singer of the band, Queen. He started collecting stamps as a child and right up to adulthood. John Lennon of the Beatles was also a stamp collector in his childhood. England's King George V reportedly had one of the largest stamp collections in the world.

Some of my favourite stamps I have in my collection are from Africa. The ones from Kenya have seashells on them and they are very colourful. I have 4 stamps from Tanzania, three of which have pictures of different fish on them. I also have stamps from Chad, Mali, Congo, Niger, Republique du Dahomey, Republique de Haute-Volta, South Africa and Uganda. I got these stamps from Great Nana who got them from letters that came from Great Aunt Val.

But my all-time favourite stamp from my collection is a 42 cent Canadian stamp. It is holographic and it shows a picture of Canada in space.