According the Merriam Webster dictionary, the term philatelist was coined in 1864 by the French stamp collector Georges Herpin, combining the Greek words philo (love of) and ateleia (exemption of tax) – reflecting the shift to prepaid postage which freed recipients from paying for mail.
By this time several of the most valuable stamps in the World had already been printed including: the British Guiana 1c Magenta (printed in 1856 with a value of one cent, but sold in 2014 for $9.48 million), and the Mauritius 1d Red (issued in 1847 as part of the first series of British stamps made outside Britain, one of which sold for €8.1 million in 2021).
While the British Guiana 1c Magenta is notable for its rarity – only one copy of the stamp is known to be in existence today, other valuable stamps have added value because they contain errors – like the 1887 Japanese 500 mon (where the mon currency was printed the wrong way up), the 1855 Swedish Treskilling Yellow (which was supposed to be green), and the 1918 “Inverted Jenny” (depicting a biplane upside down).
As far as we can tell, there are no errors contained within the forthcoming release of stamps from the Isle of Man Post Office which have been designed to honour the life and remarkable legacy of racehorse owner and businessman Trevor Hemmings CVO (1935 – 2021). A proud resident of the Isle of Man, Trevor’s familiar green and yellow quartered silks were carried to victory in the Grand National by Hedgehunter (2005), Ballabriggs (2011), and Many Clouds (2015) among a host of other famous wins which included the Hennessy Gold Cup, the Scottish Grand National and twelve races at the Cheltenham Festival.
Despite passing away in 2021, the silks are still in use today with many horses bred by Trevor running in the ownership of Hemmings Racing – including Bowenspark who is fancied for the novice handicap chase at Uttoxeter on Saturday, and our weekend selection, Solid Performer, who is entered for the Maiden Hurdle on the same card. Solid Performer enjoyed a positive introduction to hurdles at Kelso, in November, when finishing third behind Eagles Reprieve – who won again at Kelso’s most recent fixture on Go North Series Finals Day.
Many of Trevor’s best horses ran at Kelso including Ballabriggs, Many Clouds, Vintage Clouds and Cloth Cap, all four of whom feature within the designs for the six-stamp issue which uses photographs provided by Grossick Photography. The stamps are available from the Isle of Man Post Office by clicking here: iomstamps.com/collections/Hemmings.
Cloth Cap is shown on route to victory in Kelso’s bet365 Premier Steeplechase, on a stamp worth £1.65. Unless of course you can find one which is printed with the jockey sitting back-to-front, in which case you can expect to pay a lot more.