Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, as a stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
Le Philatéliste by François Barraud (1929)
A young stamp collector, 1954.
Queen Victoria's profile was a staple on 19th century stamps of the British Empire, shown here on a half-penny stamp of the Falkland Islands, 1891.
Clockwise from top left: hinge-mounted stamp, stamp about to be hinge-mounted, stamp damaged by a hinge, stamp hinges
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual collector. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obviously in the nature and scope of the objects contained, but also in purpose, presentation, and so forth. The range of possible subjects for a collection is practically unlimited, and collectors have realised a vast number of these possibilities in practice, although some are much more popular than others.
A collection of nutcrackers
Stamp album used for collecting postage stamps
Numismatic and philatelic collectable specimens on display at an exhibition in India
Herbert Kullmann, picture sale catalogue by Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, May 1914.