The world of stamps can feel quite intimidating to the outsider.
It shouldn’t. I’ve never met a stamp collector who isn’t keen - sometimes too keen if we’re honest - to talk about their passion.
And, beyond the minutiae of perforations and inverted watermarks, the reality of rarity is really pretty simple:
Stamps are usually printed in their millions and even billions.
Most are worth their face value and perhaps even less.
Value for stamp collectors is real needle-in-a-haystack stuff.
So when they find those magical errors, small print runs, experimental postal systems, military occupation issues, unique post marks and more... they go mad for them.
Here are a few ideas that will help you find them without the years of expertise collectors themselves use to dig in the sales.
1 - A stamp from the year you were born
A favourite of mine, that's as old as me and has probably aged better. Perfect for fellow 1971 babies. Click the image to buy the stamp.
This is a lovely, novel way to find a personal link to a stamp.
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be charmed by this.
To confess my age, I had a look at 1971, and found an excellent selection of which this rather beautiful Canadian rarity would be my pick.
Why don’t you look for your loved-one’s birthday?
We’ve set up the searches for you here.
2 - The original, still the best, still the most sought after
Like all the best stamps this pair of Penny Blacks has a great story. The world's first stamp comes in many guises, all of them fascinating to committed collectors. Click the image to discover this stamp.
We doubt you know anyone born in 1840.
But if you know a stamp collector you will know that they HAVE TO HAVE a Penny Black in their collection.
Around 68 million of the first adhesive, universal-rate postal stamp were churned out in just 9 months from May 1840.
But there are Penny Blacks and there are Penny Blacks, from the run-of-the-mill to the once-in-a-generation, they come in many forms and at many prices.
We have guides to Penny Blacks around the site, just use the search function to find them.
Or, ask. That’s why we’re here.
This is our Penny Black collection for Christmas 2025, and here’s wishing your stamp-collecting loved-one a Penny Black Christmas!
3 - All Around the World
Stamps shrank the world. Their growth is intimately linked with the age of European imperialism and global trade.
And while they celebrate an earlier incarnation of what we might now call globalism.
They’re also very individual and nationalistic.
They are a country’s face to the world.
It’s fascinating. And, if you’re looking for a gift that helps your loved one remember of celebrate a national association then we have a world of self-adhesive ways to do that.
Some, like the first Irish Free State stamps overprinted on archetypally British issues, are really symbolic.
4 - Stamp stocking fillers
Sarawak stamps are one of the true oddities of stamp collecting, and world history. What a story they tell. Click the image to buy the stamp, you'll be amazed at the price.
The stamps that make the headlines, selling for millions of dollars in fancy auction rooms, are wonderful.
But, the majority of purchases are thankfully at a somewhat more modest price.
We’ve picked out a range of extremely distinguished and interesting stamps here that you can pick up for under £100, and many for much less.
I’ll never cease to be fascinated by the story of Sarawak, essentially a private colony sort of within the British Empire and sort of not.
This selection is full of extraordinary philatelic tales just like that.
5 - And finally, Christmas gone wrong!
Made for Christmas, and made badly on this rare occasion, making this classic nativity scene even more compelling to collectors. Click the image to find out more and own these stamps.
Getting a second, a damaged present, is usually a big disappointment for the recipient.
Not in stamp collecting though.
Stamps have been subject to rigorous checks since Rowland Hill first insisted on those intricate frames around the Penny Black portrait that made them hard to forge.
So, errors are rare, precious, and always highly sought after.
There’s no more perfect gift for a stamp collector than a stamp gone wrong.
And, there are some lovely examples of Christmas errors from the Royal Mail here.
If you can’t spot the error on these lovely angels, I assure you most stamp collectors will know instantly what it is.
See our full Christmas stamp gift guide here.
