Most people will probably already have had to stick a postage stamp on a letter. Hundreds of millions of these mostly perforated pieces of paper are used every day as an advance payment of a service for the mailing of messages or goods.
Hundreds of thousands of collections are being made of these tiny pieces of paper by - what we commonly call - philatelists. You can see to what extent these philatelists are interested in these stamps by the collections they build up.
The post stamp, and with it a very large and important, growing spectrum of collectors, first saw the light of life in 1840. So the stamp is the base of philately in general and, consequently, of thematic philately.
Anyone doing in thematic philately will, in the very beginning, just like the ordinary collector, have restricted himself to the assembling of definitive post stamps, the picture of which is closely or remotely linked to a certain theme. As the collector will be making progresses and, since thematic philately depends on other disciplines, these other aspects or branches will sooner or later arouse his interest.
Most philatelists think that thematic is a toy for little children, a discipline of now interest, which does not deserve to be called philately. In the beginning there were only classic philatelists, no one was thinking about thematically. Most stamps were portraits of very important people or symbols of once country. Today we can say that thematic is probably the most important part of philately worldwide.
In contrast with other philatelic disciplines (classic, postal history, postal stationery, ...) stamps and documents are not classified by country but by theme (topic) they represent. The way we put them together depends on the reason how we intend to make our collection. Our plan defines the structure of the collection and of the exhibit, and its subdivision into parts. She is freely chosen in order to make the synthesis of a theme or an idea. It has to be correct, logical and balanced, and cover all aspects related to the chosen title. Furthermore, it has to be fully consistent with the title chosen and should completely be structured according to thematic criteria. There is a great difference between collection in an album, make pages for open exhibitions or collections for regional - national - and international exhibitions. Here we have to use the FIP regulations.
The title of a thematic collection is the base of all. Try to find a title who has a special character or has only a few aspects of a great theme. Titles as 'Animals, The Universe, Flowers, Transport, History, etc...' are history. These subjects are to big, to many material to collect, and even too expensive. It is better to take one animal, one flower, on transport, or a certain group, etc...
A second advantage of thematic is that you can make a collection from any theme as long as you find enough material to express your pleasure. Normally you cannot find two identical collections. Every collection is created is such a way that the personal impact differs.
Everyone is free to collect what he wants. You can put non philatelic material in your collection if you want. If it is your intention the take part at an exhibition, be aware of the regulations. The highest level of regulations are those made by the FIP, Fédération Internationale Philatély'. Take enough information before you start the FIP direction. A thematic collection is a mixture of the most divergent kind of philatelic material. This is contrary a classic collection where we only care about a certain course of time for a particular country. Here, only the stamps and documents of this specific issue are authorised. The essence of thematic philately means the balanced and best possible use of both the thematic and philatelic aspects of the material. An exhibit should contain the most suitable material which contributes both the development of the chosen theme and its philatelic significance. The philatelic material must be strictly related to the chosen theme and show its thematic information in the clearest way. You can find your material worldwide.
The following list of philatelic material is out of the FIP "Guidelines to the regulations for the evaluations of the thematic exhibits". As I already mentioned, if you do not participate at this level of exhibitions, you are still free to collect what and how you like it.
cancellations (ordinary, slogan, commemorative and other special postmarks).
other items used in the postal operations, such as registration labels, postal route labels and markings, supplementary markings or labels, mail delivery and shipping dockets, reply coupons, forwarding agents markings, etc.
postal material from the pre-philatelic era, through the classic period, until the modern issues and documents.
in addition to the normal transmission of mail, specific types, e.g. (postage free) service- and military- post, maritime mail, railway mail, air mail of any type.
stamps, cancellations, marks and/or cards for free postage.
postal payment service.
different forms of post automation.
private post, authorized or tolerated by the governmental Post, or active in total absence of a State post.
COLLECTING || COLLECTION || MATERIAL
What is a thematic collection?
Email: yannick.delaey@mailcity.com
