Stamp of history

Stamp of history

Milad Zaki

 

Since 1840, stamp collection has spread as a hobby all over the world, with stamps ever rising in value. Stamps represent a nation’s history; registering past and present; scientists and artists, flora and fauna, as well as commemoration of important events.

Before postage stamps came into being, rulers needed a way to mark their post. The Persian King Darius wanted to mark the animals that transported his post, so he ordered their tails to be cut in order that people would recognise them.

Postage stamps were first introduced in 1840 as part of Sir Rowland Hill’s proposal to reform the postal service in the then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Until then postage was paid on receipt of a letter. The first ever stamp, the Penny Black, showed an engraving of the young Queen Victoria. The Penny Red was issued in the following year.

There have been numerous designs and purposes for using stamps all over the world. In Egypt after 1914, stamps were used for publicity, since they illustrated Egyptian monuments. Switzerland for instance, issued stamps with images of landscapes, while Italy combined landscape with publicity. Turkey, however, was the first country to print political stamps depicting the three Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx, and an armed soldier standing beside them.

The Egyptian Postage Institution established a special print house to have its own stamps—regular and commemorative—with the aim of improving the postal services. This print house was inaugurated on 23 July in 1961 at Nasr City in Abbasiya, Cairo. It was the biggest print house of its kind in the Middle East, and fulfilled the stamp requirements for all Arab countries.