1940: Philately

Philately came of age in 1940, celebrating its centennial year. On May 6, 1840, Great Britain issued the first adhesive postage stamp, the famous 'Penny Black' devised by Sir Rowland Hill. To mark the anniversary a great international exhibition to be held in London had been planned, but the war made this impossible.

A number of countries issued special stamps to mark the centenary and of these the most successful was Great Britain's own. The design, No. A106 in the Standard Catalogue, followed the style of the first stamp but included two portraits — Queen Victoria, reengraved from her portrait on the 'Penny Black,' and George VI.

In the hundred years ending May 5, 1940, approximately 99,350 different postage stamps were issued. About 43 per cent of them were surcharges and overprints, that is, stamps with new denominations or indications of new postal use printed over the original designs.

The full calendar year 1940 brought the total number of postage stamps issued well over the 100,000 mark. From January 1 through December, 1,620 new issues were added to the Standard Catalogue. This is the smallest number in many years, and the marked decrease from 1939 is largely owing to war conditions throughout the world. Fewer stamps have been issued, and there is an uncountable number of new stamps known or reported about which no exact information can be obtained. It is quite probable that many of the stamps issued in European countries occupied by Germany will eventually be catalogued, but at present it is impossible to determine their postal use or official character. Estimates of the number of 'World War No. 2' stamps vary from the fifty-two definitely catalogued to more than four hundred, and it seems reasonably certain that at least two hundred stamps, postally valid, were issued during 1940 as a direct result of political and military changes in Europe.

Of the 1,620 stamps catalogued, 615 are new designs. The others are either additional denominations or overprints. Forty-four new designs appeared on seventy-eight United States stamps.

An unusual number of souvenir sheets — forty-one, containing seventy-eight stamps — were added to the catalogue. Twenty-four of these are earlier issues, the 1937 French colonies, which had not been officially recognized before.

Prices on about 10 per cent of the stamps listed in the Catalogue were revised, and the edition (1941) published in 1940 shows a net decline of $20,750 from the previous year. In general, prices were increased, but big declines in those of a few rare stamps brought about the net loss. Four United States stamps, the 1 cent, 5 cent, and 12 cent of 1861 and the 3 cent (147a) of 1870-71, account for $6,000 of the decline. Issues of the Confederate States were reduced in price by $6,300.

Evidence of the growing trend toward the establishment of museum collections of stamps was given by the gift of Miss W. Penn-Gaskell of her famous air mail collection to the South Kensington Museum, London. This is the largest philatelic gift to a public institution since the late Benjamin K. Miller presented his collection of United States stamps to the New York Public Library in 1925.

Among stamp issues of unusual interest brought out during the year are the eight of the Pitcairn Islands — Pitcairn's first stamps — which illustrate the romantic story of the Bounty, William Bligh and Fletcher Christian; the 'Balkan entente' series issued simultaneously by Greece, Turkey, Rumania and Yugoslavia; and Hungary's five stamps, perhaps the best designed series of the year, commemorating the birth, in 1440, of Matthias Corvinus, Hungary's great king and scholar.

The most ambitious contribution of the United States to philately was the 'Famous Americans' series of thirty-five stamps in seven sets, presenting portraits of American authors, poets, educators, scientists, composers, artists, and inventors. The first of these sets was put on sale on Jan. 29, the last on Oct. 28. Each set was in five denominations, 1 cent, 2 cent, 3 cent, 5 cent, and 10 cent. Fifty million each were printed of the 1, 2, and 3 cent stamps, 20,000,000 of the 5 cent, and 10,000,000 of the 10 cent. On the several first days 13,556,193 copies were sold for a total of $428,105.42. Total first day sales for all United States new issues was $518,179.69.

In spite of the widespread criticism of the designs and subjects of the series it was popular with collectors, and it is probable that more stamps of the same character will be issued. Frank C. Walker, appointed U. S. Postmaster General to succeed James A. Farley, has made the suggestion and has outlined a fairly heavy schedule of new issues for 1941. Collectors' and dealers' purchases represent a considerable part of postal revenue. The Philatelic Agency in Washington alone sold $1,000,670.29 in U. S. stamps during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940.

One of the important developments in United States stamps was the determination of the official status of the famous 'gift sheets' of the National Parks series. These sheets, presented imperforate to a few government officials, and later separately gummed, had been variously claimed to be rarities, freaks, unofficial issues with no philatelic standing. The Post Office had made ungummed sheets available to collectors in an effort to still complaints. It announced, late in 1940, that it would gum sheets now in collectors' hands. The 'gift sheets' will, therefore, have no distinguishing feature and will not be recognized as a separate variety.

Throughout the world, fewer stamps especially distinguished in design were produced than in 1938 or 1939. Among the best were a number of heraldic stamps, including Latvia A52, Liechtenstein A95, Portugal A119, and Finland SP40. Consistently interesting stamps, among the best of the year, were issued by Lithuania.