Stamps Trivia

1. The United States issued its first postage stamps in 1847. What two famous Americans appeared on these stamps?

From Quiz United States Postage Stamps

Answer: Benjamin Franklin and George Washington

The United States issued its first national postage stamps on July 1, 1847. The five cent orange stamp carried the portrait of Benjamin Franklin, and the ten cent black stamp pictured George Washington. These stamps are not especially rare, but because of very high demand among stamp collectors, they are still quite valuable. Here's a hint for non-collectors: if you find one of these stamps, or any other old and valuable stamp in your attic, or tucked away in an old book, leave it attached to its envelope. Old stamps that are "on cover," or attached to their original envelopes, are usually worth more than stamps that have been soaked off and placed in albums. Another thing to be aware of is that the Post Office reissued these stamps in 1947; the colors on the reprinted stamps are not the same as the originals. The reprinted stamps have very little value.

From Quiz Teasing trivia for stamp collectors and others

Answer: Blue

The 2d blue is the same design as the Penny Black, but has a catalogue value more than double its more famous partner for both used and mint copies. When the Penny Black was replaced in 1841 by the perforated 1d red-brown, the 2d blue was also re-issued with perfs.

From Quiz 170 Years of British Postage Stamps

Answer: 1840

The Penny Black was first issued in Great Britain in May 1840, just two days before the Two Penny Blue. The 1d black was intended for use on letters weighing up to half an ounce, whilst the 2d blue covered weights up to one ounce. With the exception of their colours and values, the design of both stamps was identical. Contrary to popular belief, the Penny Black is not a particularly rare stamp, as 68,808,000 copies were printed in total, of which significant numbers remain in private collections today.

From Quiz That stamp is from WHERE?

Answer: Ireland

'Eire' is the Gaelic (Old Irish) form of Ireland. ('Erin' is normally used poetically, and the principal difference is grammatical.) This particular stamp is the old 2d. (two penny) Map of Ireland design, first issued in December 1922, and the design was one of a set of six which remained essentially unchanged until 1968!

From Quiz US Stamps - The Presidential Issue Series

Answer: 3 cents

A first class, one ounce letter cost 3 cents to mail from 1932-1958. Relatively low inflation, high usage, and virtually no competition kept the price stable for over 25 years. Since the 1990's, first class postage rates have continually increased as the US Postal Service struggles to maintain service with decreased usage and inflationary expenses. The internet, cell phones, and other technologies have decreased demand for so-called "snail- mail." The denominations of the series generally corresponded to the sequence in which the president served. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States.

From Quiz U.S. Commemoratives

Answer: 1893

The Columbian Exposition were issued in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the new world by Christopher Columbus. This was the first set of commemoratives issued by the United States, it was a sixteen stamp set all commemorating various events of Christopher Columbus's career.

From Quiz Stamp Identification: Country Names

Answer: United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was the first country to issue postage stamps. Since no other country issued stamps at the time, there was no need for the UK to name itself. Today, all other members of the UPU are required to include a country name written in Latin letters. The UK continues to issue stamps without a country name (in agreement with the UPU).

From Quiz U.S stamps

Answer: Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General of the Confederation on July 26, 1775. The other stamp issued on the same day showed George Washington.

From Quiz Philately Is Fun

Answer: Greek and French

The word philately is Greek in origin. Philately means the study of postage stamps. A philatelist is someone who studies stamps and a philatelomaniac is a person who takes stamp collecting to a mania. Before stamps, receivers of mail would pay the price of the mail given to them. Most people wouldn't accept mail because of the high prices.

From Quiz The Penny Black

Answer: Great Britain

The very first country to issue adhesive postage stamps was Great Britain.

From Quiz Stamps of India - 2003 Part I

Answer: Sangeet Natak Akademi

The Sangeet Natak Akademi was founded on 28th January, 1953 with the objective of "providing an institutionalized system of support and patronage to the performing arts". 3 stamps of Rs. 5 denomination each were issued on 22nd December, 2003. 0.8 Million stamps were released of each one. The printer was Calcutta Security Printers Ltd. The printing process was Photo offset and paper used for the same was Matt Chromo.

From Quiz Philately Gets You Nowhere

Answer: Green and red

From 1902 until 1949 all UK 1/2d stamps were green and all 1d stamps were red. There were varying shades of each but the basic colours stayed the same. Many other countries followed the same convention.

From Quiz Australian Stamp Collecting

Answer: Philately

Vexillology is the study of flags, Phillumeny is matchbox-cover collecting and Philology is the study of languages.

From Quiz The Joy of Stamps Collection

Answer: Monkey

1980 the Year of the Monkey stamp, the first printed Zodiac stamp by China Post is the most sought-after by stamp collectors. The next series of the Monkey were in 1992 and 2016. The one produced in 2016 is a monkey with 2 children which was the year China ended the one-child policy. China implemented one-child nationwide in 1980.

From Quiz Postage Stamp Collecting

Answer: Philately

From Quiz Stamp on an Anniversary

Answer: The Royal Society

The Royal Society is the oldest national scientific society in the world, having been founded in 1660 by a group of prominent scientists and academics to provide a regular forum for them to meet, exchange ideas and run experiments. It formally became 'The Royal Society' two years later when the newly-restored King Charles II granted it a royal charter. The physicist and chemist Robert Boyle was a founding member and Sir Isaac Newton was the society's president from 1703 to 1727. Benjamin Franklin was elected as a Fellow in 1756, which was a rare achievement as few Americans were granted this status during that era. The other prominent scientists and members of the Royal Society featured in the set of 10 stamps were Edward Jenner (inventor of the smallpox vaccine), Charles Babbage (computing pioneer), the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, Joseph Lister (who developed the use of antiseptics in surgery), Ernest Rutherford (the nuclear physicist), the Nobel prize-winning chemist Dorothy Hodgkin and Nicholas Shackleton (a geologist).

From Quiz Basic Terminology for Philatelists

Answer: Perforations

Perforation teeth are the result of small holes punched between stamps for easy seperation without a cutting device. The first stamps to be perforated were issued in 1854 by the General Post Office of Great Britain, using a perforating device created by Henry Archer. Perforations can come in a variety of styles and frequency in the number of perforation teeth per inch or centimeter. Small guages are available to measure them.

From Quiz United States Postage Stamps

Answer: The Civil War

The United States did not want supplies of its postage stamps to fall into the hands of the Confederacy. Of course, the old stamps had to be used until new stamps were printed, despite the decree. The Post Office issued a new series of stamps in August, 1861 and declared all previously issued stamps to be invalid for postage. Customers were given a limited time to exchange their old stamps for new ones. What is pretty remarkable is that this is the last time that U.S. postage stamps have been demonetized. Any stamp issued by the United States government from August, 1861 on is still valid for postage today.

From Quiz Teasing trivia for stamp collectors and others

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

The 5c red issued in 1847 and designated as catalogue #1 depicted a bust of Benjamin Franklin. Washington was on the other stamp issued simultaneously, the 10c black. The 1851 issue again included stamps depicting Franklin and Washington, with Thomas Jefferson appearing on the 5c value. Andrew Jackson first appeared on an 1861 issue, and both Jackson and Abraham Lincoln featured throughout the 1860s. Numerous Presidents were featured in the years that followed, but America's second President, John Adams, did not appear on a stamp until the 1938 'Presidential' set.

From Quiz Country Inscriptions

Answer: Nederland

Holland is part of the Netherlands and the name is used by many people to denote the whole country. Netherlands in the Dutch language is Nederland.

From Quiz 170 Years of British Postage Stamps

Answer: Maltese Cross

The hand-cut Maltese Cross design was in use from 1840 until 1844. They varied considerably in their detail, and some of the more distinctive ones can be linked to their towns of origin. Initially a red ink was used, but this was soon replaced by black. Maltese Cross obliterations do exist in other colours but are extremely rare and keenly sought after.

From Quiz US Stamps - The Presidential Issue Series

Answer: Purple

Each stamp was a distinctively different color. Jefferson was on the 3 cent stamp. The one-cent George Washington stamp was green.

From Quiz U.S. Commemoratives

Answer: Western Cattle in Storm

The $1 Trans- Mississippi (Cattle in Storm) stamp was designed by Raymond Ostrander Smith. Each of the eight stamps in this set were to depict the life west of the Mississippi River. The $1 Cattle in Storm stamp picture was of a painting by artist J. A. Machete , the painting was titled "The Vanguard". Post Office Department Designer (at the time) Raymond Ostrander Smith is credited for the design of this stamp set and the "Cattle in Storm" stamp has won contests for being "America's Most Beautiful Stamp".

From Quiz Stamp Identification: Country Names

Answer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik

Deutsche Demokratische Republik was the name used on postage stamps by the German Democratic Republic of East Germany. It was also standard (after the mid '60s) to use the abbreviated DDR. The first East German issues were inscribed with Deutsche Post. Deutsche Bundespost was the name used by the German Federal Republic of West Germany. Deutschland was printed on stamps of Germany under Allied Occupation, and Deutsche Reichspost was used for German Imperial Post.

From Quiz U.S stamps

Answer: 1869

In 1869 Pictorial Stamps were the first U.S stamps to feature something other than the bust or head of a famous American leader.

From Quiz Philately Is Fun

Answer: Georges Herpin

Georges Herpin was a French stamp collector who wrote "The Collection of Postage Stamps" in November of 1864. He was the first President of the French Philatelic Society.

From Quiz The Penny Black

Answer: May 6, 1840

The Penny Black was first issued on May 1, 1840 and became legal for use on May 6. Her sister stamp, the Twopenny Blue, was issued on May 8.

From Quiz Stamps of India - 2003 Part I

Answer: Vishnu Godbole

Vishnu Godbole was born on 15th December, 1903 and breathed his last on 15th August, 1974. The stamp (Rs. 5) was printed using Photo offset method on imported unwatermarked stamp paper by Eagle Press Private Ltd. 0.4 Million stamps were released into the market.

From Quiz Philately Gets You Nowhere

Answer: Mulready & Mulreadys & Mulready's

They were named after the designer William Mulready.

From Quiz Stamp Collecting Down-Under Style

Answer: 1957

March 27, 1957. The design showed a map of the Territory, and 3 scientists.

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