History

In the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, travelling via the railway was the most comfortable and practical way of covering the often great distances between towns and cities. The first stations were built in the 1830s…

On 15 April 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and sank within three hours, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Recent events, with the tragic loss of life of those in the OceanGate Expeditions’ “Titan”…

The Spaniard Juan Sebastián de Elcano and the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan were navigators and explorers who jointly sailed under the flag of both Portugal and Spain. Magellan organised an expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, which resulted…

Here we have a very small selection of stamps recently added to PostBeeld’s vast stock. Please visit PostBeeld’s website for a more comprehensive view of newly-added items. In 1906 Mauritania, at that time a French Colony, issued its first postage…

The last set of new stamps showing the late Queen Elizabeth II’s silhouette has been issued by Great Britain’s Royal Mail. This particular feature has appeared on special stamps since 1968. The magnificent prestige stamp booklet at top celebrates the centenary…

Since we last featured the topic of lighthouses in 2019 there have been many great issues for the collector. Here we’ve made a selection from those produced in the three years up to and including 2022. Naturally if you visit…

Here is a very small selection from the hundreds of stamps added daily to PostBeeld’s vast stock. For a better insight you are welcome to visit the company’s websites. In 2001 this beautiful stamp sheet was produced by Botswana. It…

The person featured on the 2017 Black Heritage stamp was Dorothy Height (1912-2010). She fought long and hard for the rights of women, especially women of colour. Height helped to form the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. She was…

Crypto stamps have attracted younger people to look at stamp collecting from a completely different angle and the popularity of these items has seen more countries being involved with issuing crypto stamps. Above is the first Crypto stamp. Österreichische Post…

The artist responsible for the images on these stamps from Curacao, Mirjam Griffioen, loves to paint animals and she finds goats particularly interesting. Goats, like many other grazing mammals, have horizontal eye pupils that allow their eyes to stay level…

For railway enthusiasts 12 December 2009 was a sad day, as EuroNight sleeper train 469 Orient Express left Strasbourg on its final overnight run to Vienna. And so the name Orient Express disappeared from official European railway timetables after 126 years. The first stamps seen…

We begin with the year 2014 in Part 14 of the Black Heritage stamp series with Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005). Known for her ability to break down long-standing barriers, she was never afraid to speak her mind and always supported the…

The 2022 Royal Mail stamp miniature sheet seen here is a compilation of various stamp issues designed by a very special man – David Gentleman, the most prolific and influential stamp designer in UK philatelic history. Below are the original…

Here we have a small selection of items recently added to PostBeeld’s vast stock. We kick off with these se-tenant PHILEXAFRIQUE ’85 stamps from Central African Republic issued for the exhibition held in Lomé, Togo, in 1985. Great set of Cook…

The USPS Black Heritage stamp series issue for 2010 featured Oscar Micheaux. He was an author, film director, screenwriter, and producer who between 1919 and 1948 wrote, produced, directed, and distributed more than 45 films for African-American audiences. He would…

The Principality of Andorra is the only country in the world with two foreign postal organisations in the same country – the French and Spanish postal services. Andorra is a tiny independent country, situated in the Pyrennees, bordered by Spain…