World Stamps

A trip to London’s postal museum: Inside Linn’s

Apr 30, 2021, 7 AM
The museum’s Discovery Room features a giant touch screen where visitors can browse extremely high-resolution scans of the entire R.M. Phillips collection. Among the collection’s many rarities is this unique purple brown color trial of the 4-penny stamp d

By Molly Goad

The Aug. 13 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, July 30. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, July 28. Here are three previews inside the issue.

London’s postal museum offers invaluable resources

Great Britain Philately columnist Matthew Healey took his family to the new Postal Museum in London, and everyone was impressed. He shares the visit with Linn's readers, including his highlight: Spending an hour upstairs in the museum’s Discovery Room, a place where the public has free access to special displays and may, with prior appointment, view unique items from the post office archives.

Jesper Harding’s stamp agency 

One of America’s very first stamp dealers was also a collector, but not of stamps. He also didn’t sell stamps to collectors — or at least not knowingly. Yet, from 1862-65 (until he died), Jesper Harding established and operated Harding’s Stamp Agency in Philadelphia, just two blocks from Independence Hall. Wayne L. Youngblood has the story. 

Four stamps paid for 1926 two-route airmail journey

Tony Wawrukiewicz shares a domestic airmail letter weighing up to 1 ounce mailed from Dallas, Texas, to Detroit, Mich., in 1926. Since the letter traversed two contract airmail routes before delivery, it required 20¢ postage (twice the 10¢ rate per ounce for each route).

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