I’m delighted to welcome you to the June edition of Coin Collector, which is the second in our new monthly schedule. Being published every month means that the ‘Coin Update’ section can cover numismatic developments more comprehensively and in a time

Publisher: Claire Ingram claire.ingram@warnersgroup.co.uk Editor: Alison Boyd Designer: Mike Carr Contributors: Brian Austin, David Bailey, David Beech, Stephanie Bradley, Christer Brünstrom, Michael Burzan, Maurice Buxton, Paula Hammond, Devlan Kruc

Most serious stamp collectors have one or two main philatelic studies but frequently also a number of sideline fun collections with no ambitions of ever entering them in competitive stamp exhibitions. Some have told me that they derive far more pleas

In the Victorian era, young ladies of distinction were taught to while away the hours pending their marriage to a suitable gentleman by becoming accomplished artists and often embellished their letters with wonderfully evocative images. These could b

Coin collecting is a hobby filled with passion – and where passion is involved, reason occasionally takes a back seat. This applies not just to coins, but to other luxury items as well. A sports car for a six-figure sum? A handbag worth a small car?

Precancels are simply stamps that have been cancelled before being used on letters or packages. Precancelled stamps have been used by organisations that send out bulk mail, such as newspaper publishers and mail order companies, in a bid to save time

For this month’s cover, we go back to the 1966 issue marking the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, writes Brian Austin. We show here the large Connoisseur cover (yes, there was a smaller version) with the full set of stamps and the Battle

I’d like to introduce myself as the new editor of Stamp Collector and to thank Matt and the rest of the team for making me feel so welcome. After 17 years as editor, Matt is going to be a tough act to follow, but luckily, he is still going to be arou

Fifty years ago, on 6 April, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest and went on to become global superstars. To mark the anniversary of this win, Sweden released a three-stamp miniature sheet, Waterloo 1974, on the day of the anniversary. Under their o

The first issue of French stamps hit the post office counters 175 years ago. The design, famous and loved as ‘Cérès’, bears witness to an eventful period in history. As the Musée de La Poste in Paris demonstrated in an exhibition, the primary aim at

In the ‘Treasure Hunt’ column in Issue 20 of Coin Collector on the long-lasting 5 francs ‘Fünfliber’ from Switzerland, I reported that the material was changed from silver 83.5% to cupro-nickel for the mintage of 1968. However, a very small number of

The woman on this stamp has an extraordinary number of ‘firsts’ to her name. She was the first female to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win the prize twice (and is still the only person to win two prizes in different scientific disciplines: p

Recently, gold bullion prices have risen sharply, briefly topping $2,400 for the first time. Tensions over global conflicts and concerns about the massive US Federal debt have made gold look attractive as a safety play. Almost daily, we have clients

From coins commemorating ancient battles, to those lionising military leaders, or depicting the gods and goddesses of war, military coins are a large and diverse thematic. Modern military themed issues have the advantage of being easy to find and ver