Reading Stamp Collectors' Club

DO YOU KNOW WHY WE ARE CALLED PHILATELISTS? Don’t Like Taxes? Then You’re a Philatelist by John F. Dunn ... If you or someone you know collects stamps, then you may be among the few who know that philatelist is a fancy-sounding word for stamp collector. Stamp collectors who think they know more about stamp collecting than other stamp collectors like to call themselves philatelists. To truly qualify as a philatelist, you need to know what the word means. Most philatelists know this. Many stamp collectors do not. ‘In the beginning’ philately had nothing to do with collecting stamps. Philatélie is a combination of the French philmeaning love in Englishand the Greek ateleiameaning tax exemption in English. Literally, philately is the love of tax exemption, more commonly interpreted as love of freedom from paying a tax. At a time when tax avoidance and tax reduction is such a hot theme, it’s a wonder more people don’t realize they are philatelists. But how, you ask, do we get from ‘love of not wanting to pay taxes’ to ‘collecting stamps’? Here’s how: Before the creation of postage stamps, most mail was sent unpaid by the sender, with the postage to be paid by the recipient; and that postage was a fee, or tax, paid for the delivery of a letter. When postage stamps and other forms of prepaying postage for a mailed letter were developed, the recipient was freed from paying for the letter, which can also be described as being exempt from the postage fee or tax. As you might expect, recipients just loved not having to pay the postage fee, or tax thus, making them philatelists. Then add in the fact that the recipient also could keep, save, and collect those stamps that freed them from paying for the postage and you know why philatelists, usually defined narrowly as stamp collectors also can be people who love not having to pay a tax. OWN UP! How many of you reading this article truly knew the origin of Philatelist?

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