What makes a stamp great?

Several times I’ve posed myself this question in the last few weeks, ever since I started my blog.

Stamps, as objects of collection, have the obvious inherent quality of being desirable in spite of their physical features. That is to say, any stamp, as long as it fits the collector’s “terms of reference” is worthy of attention and potentially generator of the pleasure and contentment one feels whenever another item is added to one’s stash.

But, are they really all worth the same? (and I’m not talking about financial value, something that, for me, is not a concern, since my interest in stamps is not in any way linked with any type of investment or speculative objectives)

And the answer has got to be No!, they aren’t.

And I suppose the first item of my “What makes a stamp great” checklist is 

Theme

When I rekindled my long dormant interest in stamps, a side-effect of the current pandemic induced confinement periods, I started to peruse websites dedicated to philately, and I noticed my scrolling habits would most always lead me to articles dedicated to stamps themed on aviation, natural fauna and flora and regional costumes.

I had to make a terrible effort to concentrate on these three, though. I admit all types of transportation be it land, sea or air, can easily grab my attention, much the same as any natural scenic wonder or man built structure, like castles and bridges, not to mention the well  loved Lighthouses, to name but a few of the themes that would fit my interest bill.

But one has to draw a line somewhere, so I decided to concentrate on the three themes above mentioned, even if by themselves they are sufficiently open to admit a further need  for specialisation, for natural fauna, for instance has all the ingredients of a never ending story,…

A great stamp, can be quite simple, I believe.
image credit - CTT

Next box to tick?  I’d say

Type of image

Most stamps, whenever conceptually based on an image of something, resort to either photographs or drawings (and here, for the sake of facility of expression,  I include all types of media, like pen and ink, engravings, watercolour, etc).

And the choice here, for me, is also easy to make: Drawings!

Yes, I know, some stamps might have photos that are not only very good technically but which also may include a lot of interesting and contextualising information, but most of the times, I find, drawings are more enticing and adequate to the small size of the stamp.

Don’t get me wrong: I do love photography (in fact It’s another of the hobbies I dedicately pursue), but in my humble opinion, a nicely drawn stamp, especially if the drawing is accurate and real to life, as in scientific illustration, will 9 out of 10 times be nicer than a photograph based stamp.

(exceptions to the rule: even if photography-based, this is a great stamp, for me…)

image credit: CTT

Size

The dimension of a stamp might have a role in the path to greatness also.

The bigger the stamp the better? NO! I don’t think so. I  think stamps are, by definition, a form of miniature art. As such, drawn to conclusion by etymology, I suppose a biggish stamp is  something that somehow seems contra natura.

Stamps larger than, say, 6 cm in their longest dimension  are strange beings (of course, as in any other of the features I’ve mentioned, there are always exceptions to the rule…), and se-tenant stamps and souvenir sheets can of course be much wider or taller, but I’m  talking individual stamps, here.

(exceptions to the rule: even if larger that 6 cm, this is a great stamp, for me…)

image credit: CTT

Media

Every once in a while, a philatelic administration innovates with a never before seen media-based stamp. We’ve all seen or heard about stamps with music, scent, in gold, silver, with seeds, etc etc. The Portuguese CTT are quite adept of this trend and they’ve issued some really strange (and well regarded internationally) stamps such as the one recently issued to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the Portuguese Post, which included a graphene circuit with a coded message with a poem by Portuguese Poet Miguel Torga, that could be transferred to one’s cell phone, or the set issued in  2016, dedicated to the Portuguese canning industry, which could be bought in a can, like a normal can of sardines….

Well, I have nothing against this, (and I do like the can idea) but more often than not, I can’t help but think that these are also  gimmicks to increase turnover from the philatelic section of the postal administration..

So for me a stamp… will be a piece of paper, preferably with lick-able glue on its back. 😉

 

(exceptions to the rule: there’s no way I cannot like this….)
Image credit: Conservas de Portugal

Format

Anything goes, here: square, round, lozenge, rectangular…. As long as the format contributes to the balance of the stamp, it really doesn’t matter.

So...

I’m sure there must be some more items that contribute to the opinion I make of a stamp, but I suppose these are those I consider first, so if a stamp is themed on one of my choice themes, shows a nice and accurate drawing, has a decent size and is made of that most wonderful of all media, paper, I’m pretty sure I’ll be looking at it with admiring eyes….

If you read this, do let me know what makes a stamp great, in your opinion, by dropping a line in the comments box. I’d love to hear other opinions on this.