Postage Stamps and Postal History of Israel - Stamp Collecting

Stamp Collecting

Philately is popular among Israelis. The Israel Philatelic Federation lists two dozen stamp clubs, and 15 philatelic businesses throughout the small country. The country has stamp fairs (using its own cancellation), annual souvenir sheets, postage exhibitions, philatelic journals, and catalogs (pictured). In 1998, the Israel Post established the Postal and Philatelic Museum in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv was selected to host the 2008 World Stamp Championship under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie, the international organization for philately.

Collecting stamps of broadly Jewish interest, forming topical Judaica collections, is a hobby of philatelists everywhere. While the sources listed in the previous paragraph catalogue Israeli stamps, there is no central catalogue of topical Judaica stamps. There is, however, the Judaica Topical Association and Judaica Topical News.

Emory University in Atlanta (GA, USA) created an ongoing database for both Israeli and topical Judaica stamps rooted in, but not limited to, its own Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica http://marbl.library.emory.edu/findingaids/browse_results?q=findingaids/content&id=singer909_10823. The database, composed of downloadable “stampcharts” and articles of philatelic interest http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Philatlely.html, is available to the public and Emory University welcomes comments

Owing to sales to collectors, including those in the Jewish diaspora, philatelic items has been a considerable revenue stream for Israel's government and the Israeli post office is a client of the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation.