Canada Post has released a pair of domestic commemorative stamps depicting Shawnee War Chief Tecumseh and British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, two of the most important opposition leaders in the War of 1812. The two stamps are the first in a series of stamps commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Major-General Brock was born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. As recognition of his birthplace, these stamps will be a joint issue of Canada Post and Guernsey Post. Brock started his military career at the age of 15, and became the Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 49th Regiment of Foot at the age of 28. He was posted to Canada in 1802, and when war was declared in 1812, Brock was ready to take action.

Shawnee War Chief Tecumseh united men from several First Nations to resist American encroachment on Native territory. When war broke out, he sought an alliance with the British in order to protect their lands and cultures. Despite vastly different backgrounds, Brock and Tecumseh worked together to take Michigan from the enemy.

In the two-stamp se-tenant format, the two men are seen in profile, face to face. Their facial expressions depict mutual respect. The background across the two stamps initially appears to be a continuous landscape, but closer examination reveals markedly different cultural backdrops. Behind Brock we can see a European settlement, as it would have looked circa 1812. The background of the Chief Tecumseh stamp depicts encampments scattered around him, indicating that more than one tribe has taken to arms under his command. Read the rest of this entry »

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The life and accomplishments of multi-talented actor, director, writer, musician and producer José Ferrer were commemorated on a First-Class Forever stamp by the U.S. Postal Service as part of its Distinguished Americans stamp series. The commemorative stamp was issued April 26, 2012 at a ceremony in New York City.

Ferrer, whose career spanned the worlds of theater, film, television and music, is considered to be one of the most accomplished talents of his generation and the first Latino to win the Oscar for Best Actor. Ferrer (1912-1992) won several Tony Awards for his work on stage and performed in more than 60 movies, garnering three Academy Award nominations. Arguably his most famous role was that of Cyrano de Bergerac for which he won both a Tony Award for Best Actor (1947) and the Oscar for Best Actor (1950) for his film portrayal of the same role. He remains one of the few actors to ever win both awards for playing the same character on stage and on film. Read the rest of this entry »

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This year marks the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, marking 60 years as sovereign. Australia Post is celebrating this milestone with the release of one domestic rate (60c) stamp and one international rate ($2.35) stamp.

The two stamps feature photographic portraits of the Queen across her reign. The first portrait, featured on the 60 cent stamp was photographed by Baron (Sterling Henry Nahum) in 1953, © National Portrait Gallery, London.

The second portrait, featured on the $2.35 stamp was photographed by Jane Bown in 2006 on the occasion of Her Majesty's 80th birthday. The original portrait is in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London / © Guardian News and Media Ltd. 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

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In the midst of last week's PGA Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, the online editor of The Augusta Chronicle, Bill Kirby, penned a column entitled Collection of golfer stamps is small. He said that as far as he could find, only three golfers have been honored with an image on a U.S. postage stamp:

In September 1981, the U.S. Postal Service issued two – Bobby Jones and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. In 1988, it honored Francis Ouimet on the 75th anniversary of his U.S. Open victory – the first amateur to do so.

Can you think of other golfers - or golf related stamps - issued by the United States? Please add you comments below!

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Canada Post's collection of stamps commemorating the centennial of the sinking of RMS Titanic went on sale on April 5. The collection, created by Haligonian design team of Dennis Page and Oliver Hill, showcases the best-known ship in the world with depth and realism and adds some poignant Canadian attributes. The Titanic stamp collection is composed of five stamps, a stamp pane, a souvenir sheet, an uncut press sheet, prepaid postcards, framed prints, a collectible album and a stamp and coin collector envelope.

The Titanic stamp collection

The four PERMANENT™ domestic-rate stamps in the Titanic collection come as two pairs of se-tenant stamps. Two stamps show the Titanic's impressive bow and the other two feature the stern. The stern stamps are available only on the pane of 16 stamps, which includes eight stern stamps and eight bow stamps. The bow stamps are also available in a booklet of 10 as well as on the pane of 16 stamps.

The international rate stamp (below) shows a full-color side illustration of the Titanic, sailing on a calm ocean with a layered map showing relevant locations. It is available in a booklet of six stamps, a souvenir sheet and a limited edition uncut press sheet.

There are two Official First Day Covers. The first will feature a photo from Father Brown's collection of the captain of the Titanic walking on the deck with the bow and the stern stamps. The second cover makes use of the international denomination stamp and features a photo of a paper boy in New York City announcing the disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

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An "Inverted Jenny" U.S. airmail stamp was sold at auction for $718,750 (including the 15% buyer's premium) on March 29. The rare stamp was part of a stamp collection owned by the Honorable Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen Jr. (1916-2011), a former United States congressman from New Jersey.

The buyer placed his bid anonymously and is identified by the Siegel firm as a collector. This price is the second highest ever paid at auction for a single copy of the "Inverted Jenny" stamp. In 2007, the Siegel firm sold an "Inverted Jenny" for $977,500, which is currently the highest price for a copy of the stamp.

The collection was sold at auction this week on March 28 and 29 for a total of $5,122,405 (including the 15% buyer's premium). The collection was sold on behalf of the Frelinghuysen estate by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, a New York City auction firm.

The collection was started by Mr. Frelinghuysen when he was a young boy. It included an example of the 24-cent airmail stamp mis-printed with the plane flying upside down, known to collectors as the "Inverted Jenny," a reference to the Curtiss JN-4H model number of the bi-plane depicted on the stamp. The inverted center, known to collectors as an error stamp, turned a fairly common stamp into a rarity. Read the rest of this entry »

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A collection of rare stamps assembled by Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen Jr., a former congressman who died last year at age 95, is being sold by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York City.

Among the rarities in the auction are an Inverted Jenny, one of the rarest U.S. stamps. The rare stamp has been in the Frelinghuysen collection for 80 years. According to an article in the New York Times, that specimen has been offered at auction only once previously. In 1932, Peter’s mother bought it for his collection, paying $2,750. The seller was Peter’s second cousin, Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Sr., a former United States senator.

The collection also features postmasters’ provisionals. Local postmasters printed these stamps from 1845 to 1847, after Congress authorized national postage rates but before the Federal government began printing the new postage stamps. These provisional stamps are also very rare, with few surviving examples.

According to the Times, Frelinghuysen began collecting as a young man, more than three-quarters of a century ago, but had largely stopped buying new material by the 1960s.

You can read the entire New York Times article about the Frelinghuysen collection here.

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Fifty years ago Monday (Feb. 20), John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, relied on ground stations located across the planet to communicate with his control team. But after his Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7, safely splashed down, it was another type of station that took over tracking his historic mission: U.S. post offices.

For the first and only time in the country's postal history, the United States Post Office Department — since 1971, the U.S. Postal Service — surprised the public with the release of a secret stamp celebrating Glenn's successful mission. The 4-cent "Project Mercury" postage stamp was revealed and immediately put on sale in 305 post offices within an hour of Glenn's triumphant return to Earth at 2:43 p.m. EST (1943 GMT) on Feb. 20, 1962.

Half a century later, collectors are still searching for those first-day-of-issue stamps.

For more on this fascinating look at the only "secret" U.S. stamp, read the full article at collectSPACE.com.

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