11 Stamp Stories Worth Retelling

By David A. Norris

Philately: it's the end-all, be-all of popular hobbies curiously pursued by nobody you know. And while we knew absolutely nothing about stamps when we started this article, we're great at digging up the juiciest dirt on any subject under the sun. Here are 11 great stamp stories guaranteed to have you glued to your seats.

1. The Stamp That Started It All

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

It's the world's first postage stamp. Issued on May 1, 1840, in Great Britain (but not valid for use until five days later), the "Penny Black" stamp helped England dig itself out of the costly and convoluted mess that was paid postage. Before the Penny Black, the price of mailing a letter varied depending on distance and the number of sheets in the envelope. And rates weren't cheap, either. Postage could cost as much as a shilling—a day's wages for many workers. But here's the kicker: All mail was sent collect, meaning addressees often turned away the mailman because they couldn't cough up enough dough.

Consequently, thousands of letters traveled the world in vain, never to be opened. Members of Parliament, who could send mail for free, were pestered by family, friends, and acquaintances to send letters on their behalf. Those with fewer connections, however, opted for more subversive means, and scams to avoid postage abounded.

To reform the system, British schoolmaster Sir Rowland Hill lobbied Parliament to adopt the "Penny Postage" program. For the first time, it was proposed that postage be paid in advance, using little gummed stickers to show proof of purchase. In addition, letters sent anywhere in the country would cost only a penny. The plan made sending mail affordable for nearly everybody and offered businesses tremendous savings. When presented with the Penny Postage program, many government officials feared the system would wreck the budget, claiming it would take 50 years to break even. But when the plan finally passed, the number of unpaid letters dropped so dramatically that the post office was soon profiting from the system.

There was only one problem. To make sure stamps weren't re-used, postal officials cancelled them with an orange ink marking. Before long, however, news got around that the ink could be easily washed off the black (hence Penny Black) stamps. Postal officials then switched to black ink, which couldn't be washed off "¦ but also didn't show up against the black stamp. After experimenting with different colored stamps, the Penny Black was replaced in 1841 by the Penny Red. The world's second stamp could be cancelled clearly with black ink once and for all.

So, is the Penny Black the ultimate collectible stamp? Not by a long shot. Although it was the first, there were more than 60 million printed, and enough of those are still around to keep the price reasonable.

2. The Stamp That Divided a Nation

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Never underestimate the political power of the stamp. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the seceding Confederate states snatched up a good bit of government property. This included everything from forts to arsenals to thousands of post offices stocked full of stamps. Not wanting the enemy to profit off their goods, the Union recalled every U.S. stamp ever issued and declared them invalid for postage. Instead, people were allowed to exchange their old stamps for replacements, which the government had quickly printed with new designs.

3. The Stamp Even Bill Gates Couldn't Afford

During this period of runaway inflation, it became harder and harder to cram enough stamps onto letters and documents to pay for postage or revenue stamp fees. According to sources, one Swiss document had to be sent with 10 feet of paper attached to it, just to hold the required amount of revenue stamps. Eventually, the situation became so bad that Germany temporarily stopped requiring stamps to mail letters. Instead, they allowed customers to pay for postage in cash at the post office, and officials would simply mark the letters as paid.

4. The Stamps Made from Stolen Maps

Latvia suffered devastating damage during the war. Factories were destroyed or moved to Russia, and paper was in short supply. So when the young nation got ready to print its first national stamps, postal officials got creative and used the blank backs of German military maps and unfinished banknotes. Indeed, if you look on the underside of some Latvian stamps from this era, you'll see a tiny sliver of a military map used by the Germans during World War I.

5. The Stamp That Moved the Panama Canal

In 1902, the U.S. Congress was about to pass legislation to link the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea with a canal across—that's right—Nicaragua. That is, until engineer Philipe Bunau-Varilla (and a certain stamp) got involved.

Knowing the incident would sway the American canal vote, Nicaraguan officials immediately began denying reports of the eruption, and Bunau-Varilla was left struggling for a way to counter the Nicaraguan cover-up. Fortunately, he remembered once seeing a Nicaraguan postage stamp featuring Mt. Momotombo, conveniently depicted with smoke rising from the top. After rummaging through stamp shops in Washington, he found the one he was looking for and promptly purchased 90 copies. In a matter of days, all 45 U.S. senators had received the Mt. Momotombo stamp, complete with Bunau-Varilla's caption, "An official witness to volcanic activity in Nicaragua." This menacing volcano, they were told, would threaten the canal route. Sure enough, when the Senate voted on June 19, 1902, the Panama route won. Bunau-Varilla ran a sophisticated lobbying campaign to change public opinion and Congressional votes, but he couldn't have sealed the deal without the help of those Nicaraguan stamps.

6. The Stamps That Tried to take a Bite Out of Crime

In practice, however, the overprints seem to have done little to deter postal crime. The program was never expanded to other states and was abandoned shortly after the overprinted issues sold out. In fact, the Kansas-Nebraska issues inspired more illegal activity. As soon as the last of the genuine overprints were sold, counterfeiters began taking ordinary 1920s' U.S. stamps, adding phony "Kans." and "Nebr." overprints and pawning them off to stamp collectors.

Interestingly, the overprinting idea made a short comeback during World War II. In early 1942, the U.S. government feared a Japanese attack might overrun Hawaii, so it began circulating paper money overprinted with "Hawaii." That way, if the Japanese had captured Hawaii, the bills could have been declared void and would have been of no financial use to the enemy.

7. The Stamp That Made CEOs Happy

8. The Stamp That Almost Started a War

At the last minute, the United States, Costa Rica, and Venezuela intervened to defuse the conflict before it escalated into war. Both countries agreed to withdraw their armed forces from the disputed area and stop mobilizing troops. And, naturally, the peace agreement called for withdrawing the offending stamps. They evidently remained in circulation, however, until supplies in private hands ran out. The example shown was postmarked in 1941—four years after their forced recall.

9. The Stamp with All the Right Intentions, and All the Wrong Music

10. The Stamp That Went Underground

11. The Stamps that Stick Without a Lick

Finally, in the 1960s, the South Pacific island kingdom of Tonga broke the mold when it printed a series of self-adhesive stamps. Not only did they not require licking, they came in odd shapes—the most famous of which was this 1969 stamp (below) shaped like a banana. These unusual stamps were a big hit and, for a time, became a significant source of revenue for the country. Collectors went crazy for them. In fact, they became so popular that one dealer ordered more copies of a particular stamp than had been printed. Most countries followed Tonga's lead, and today, the die-cut, peel-and-stick stamps are the most common type of stamps in the United States.

A Penny For Your Mischievous Thoughts According to legend, Sir Rowland Hill got the idea for the Penny Postage program one day while watching a barmaid tearfully plead with a mailman. Unable to afford the shilling demanded for postage, she begged simply to hold the letter sent by her beloved brother. Hill then watched as the girl scanned the envelope intensely, as if trying to read its contents mentally. Touched, Hill coughed up a shilling and gave her the letter. The girl stopped crying, but instead of being grateful, she became nervous. After the postman left, she confessed that the letter was blank. Her brother's message was contained in secret marks made on the envelope. Apparently, the two had devised a system whereby they could send each other messages through the post for free.