Stamp collectors fear for the future of stamp usage as the cost of first-class Royal Mail stamps rose by 22% on Monday.
Small businesses and charities have expressed concerns regarding greetings cards following the price hike, especially in the run up to Christmas.
First-class stamps now cost £1.65, and stamp collectors and philatelists (stamp experts) have warned that people will suffer if postcard and letter sending reduces.
Philatelist Oscar Young said: “It is our character that is lost if we don’t send written letters, they hold so much more power than a text or email, letter writing is an art form.
“When people receive a letter they say, I love this, I will treasure this.”
He said that the price of stamps has increased in line with the rising cost of living and that he hopes the Royal Mail continue their essential and valuable service and people maintain a desire to send letters.
In 2000, a first-class stamp cost 27p and posting with the Royal Mail hit an all-time high in 2004/05 with 20billion letters sent.
This figure dropped to 7bn by 2022/23.
Young said: “Stamps are important because they created the communication revolution, through which literacy improved.”
Young works at Stanley Gibbons, the world’s longest established stamp dealer.
They believe stamps are still worth investing in and bought the ‘British Guiana 1c magenta’ stamp for over $8m in 2021.
Young said: “There is no waning interest, there are younger people collecting.
“It comes in cycles – people come to it young, step away, and then come back to it.”
He explained the methods of stamp collecting have changed, with more focus on research and stories exploring new areas of interest such as Asia rising for collectors.
This Saturday (12 October) London’s only postcard and stamp specific collectors fair will take place in Teddington.
Organiser and postcard dealer Alan Winter said: “No one is going to be at that fair under the age of 55.”
When Winter retired from his management post at DHL, he opened a shop, Twickenham Stamps and Postcards.
It closed its doors when he realised that there was more interest in markets and collectors’ events.
Winter said: “There will be no more stamp collectors, it makes me sad to say it.
“There are less and less of the young people collecting and less and less of the older generation.
“Even chaps like me have stopped collecting them, people who were collecting for 60 years.”
He described how stamp collecting and postcard collecting used to be the world’s two most popular hobbies.
Stanley Gibbons state there are still 20million stamp collectors globally.
Something stamp collectors would traditionally buy are the Royal Mail Special Stamp Issues, collections of stamps and memorabilia created to mark special occasions, artists and festivities.
Winter said: “There used to be two or three collections a year.
“Collectors are completists and would buy everything, not just the stamps.
“As people are posting less, Royal Mail are using this as a second stream of income.
“These days it has got ridiculous, there are now 10 special issues a year.
“They have shot themselves in the foot, it costs too much.”
Next week, a collection of stamps celebrating 60 years of the band The Who will be released.
There are 34 items in the The Who Special Stamp Issue which includes an £199.99 platinum layered stamp set.
Winter now focuses on postcards and uses them to discuss local history in his column in the Twickenham Tribune, showing how the area has changed using images from picture postcards.
He described how messages on the back of cards as well as the pictures on the front can reveal stories and histories.
Stamps have been in use in the UK since the release of the penny black in 1840 and picture postcards since 1894.
If you are interested in stamps or postcards Stanley Gibbons store is situated on The Strand and Teddington Postcard Fair is on Saturday 12 October at Teddington Baptist Church between 10am-4pm.
Royal Mail have been contacted for comment.
Featured image by Anne Nygård via UnSplash
