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A
unique cover for collectors While Sri Lanka issued
a Rs 16.50 stamp and a souvenir sheet, Thailand issued four stamps depicting
cock birds along with a souvenir sheet. The Sri Lankan stamp featured
two children busy with their stamp collection watched by the mother. It
is a horizontal stamp of the size 10x8 cm - again a rather unusual format.
It also carried the exhibition logo. Visitors to the exhibition
held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium were in for a pleasant surprise
when they found a first day cover with both souvenir sheets being released
by the Philatelic Bureau. This is the first time that such a cover carrying
souvenir sheets was released. Earlier, the first day cover issued to commemorate
the opening of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre on
17 May 2003, only the stamp released by Sri Lanka and China were included
in it. A separate First
Day cover carrying only the local stamp was also available. So was the
souvenir sheet issued with the Sri Lankan stamp. To sum up the history of the Philatelic Society of Sri Lanka, its first meeting was held in January 1978 by a few dedicated philatelists at the YMCA Fort. The constitution was adopted at a meeting held in May that year and thereafter, regular meetings have been held once a month. Nominees of the Society serve on the Advisory Committee of the Department of Posts in relation to the issue of stamps and related philatelic matters. The Society is an
Associate Member of the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (FIAP), the
governing body for international philatelic exhibitions in Asia and Australia. In an article published in the Exhibition souvenir titled 'This hobby called Philately', Melvyn H Van Dort says that the hobby would have begun with the issue of a large variety of stamps worldwide towards the latter half of the 19th century. (The first stamp, as you possibly know, was issued by the British Post Office on 6 May 1840). Messrs Stanley Gibbons of England issued a catalogue listing all the postage stamps beginning with the 'black penny' issue of 1840. The catalogue continues to be issued annually. Although the collectors
tried collecting stamps of the whole world, they soon realized it's a
tedious task and soon began collecting those of their choice. Beginners
should take note of this and concentrate on collecting stamps of a few
countries or they can select topics. If you visited the exhibition, you
would have got a very good idea of how this can be done. Van Dort gives a whole list of themes one can concentrate on: Aviation, Cosmic Research, Boats, Flowers & Plants, Animals, Science, Gems, Lighthouses, Vehicles, Music, Environment, Insects and Postal history are in the list. Collecting stamps of these themes become a valuable source of study too. He gives an example of how interesting stamps on gems would be. The collector can classify and group them with relevant notes accompanying the stamps under the headings Diamonds, Amethysts, Cat's Eyes, Rubies, Opals, Emeralds, etc. Information sources are aplenty today with library books and the Internet being the key ones. He advises prospective young collectors to remember that philately is 'The King of hobbies and the hobby of kings' and to begin enter "this vast realm of fantasy".
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