Famous stamp collectors

Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, collected stamps as a child. His childhood stamp album is in the collection of the British Postal Museum.^[1]

John Lennon of the Beatles was also a childhood stamp collector. His stamp album is held by the National Postal Museu,^[2]

Star women’s tennis player Maria Sharapova has been an enthusiastic collector of stamps since a young age.^[3]

HRH King George V reportedly possessed one of the largest stamp collections in the world and became President of the Royal Philatelic Society at one point.^[4] This collection was passed on to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who, while not a serious philatelist, has a collection of British and Commonwealth First Day Covers which she started in 1952 and of which she is very proud of.^[5]

U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector who designed several American commemorative stamps while president.^[6]

In The Simpsons episode, Homer de Vigilante, we learn Bart is a stamp collector.^[7] Shortly after the Simpson’s family got a series of stamps for themselves which proved to be a big success for the US Post  

And of course, most Europeans are aware the French President Nicholas Sarkozy collects stamps, especially those issue by La Poste and some of the French Colonies

Source for article

1. 1. ^ “Famous Philatelists”. The British Postal Museum & Archive. http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/famous-philatelists/. Retrieved 2009-07-24. 
2. 2. ^ “John Lennon – The Lost Album”. National Postal Museum. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/lennon/. Retrieved 2009-07-24. 
3. 3. ^ Preston, Eleanor (2006-06-30). “Maria stamps class on Harkleroad”. Sport (London: The Guardian). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/jun/30/wimbledon2006.wimbledon4. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 
4. 4. ^ “Famous stamp collectors”. Helium.com. http://www.helium.com/items/1191202-famous-people-who-were-stamp-collectors-and-famous-philatelists. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
5. 5. ^ Courtney, Nicholas. The Queen’s Stamps – The Authorised History of the Royal Philatelic Collection. London: Methuen, 2004, p.303. ISBN 0413772284
6. 6. ^ “FDR–Stamp Collecting President”. National Postal Museum. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_FDR.html. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 
7. 7. ^ “{1F09} Homer the Vigilante episode summary”. www.snpp.com. http://www.snpp.com/episodes/1F09.html. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 

published January 3rd, 2010