Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Korean Philately is the magazine of the KSS.
I have been collecting stamps from North Korea for about 30 years and I can say that the philately of this country has many secrets and mysteries. The main catalogs (Scott, Michel, and Stanley Gibbons (SG)) do not provide complete and reliable information. The catalog printed in the DPRK gives distorted price information. Yes, this […]
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One of our newest Korea Stamp Society members asked the Korea Stamp Society for information on how to tell the differences between South and North Korean stamps. As most of our articles on the KSS website are on specialized topics about Korean philately, we thought it would be good to write an article about identifying […]
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It seems like only yesterday when I first learned of the Society. As I began collecting, two older established dealers suggested I focus on collecting stamps of the group of countries often identified as “U.S. Possessions”. Bright and colourful, the cost of many of them in that era was perfect for a beginning but enthusiastic […]
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The KSS has published a new edition of the KSS magazine, Korean Philately, the first KP for 2022. As a member you can download this edition of Korean Philately for free as a PDF. And again, just as was the case with all four issues for 2020 and 2021, you can own a full-colour magazine-style […]
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I have been asked to share my journey to becoming Editor Emeritus of Korean Philately, and I’m happy to do so. I became a stamp collector at age 8 when living in London, Ontario, Canada. My cubmaster was a stamp collector and thought that I should become one, as well. He had a stamp album […]
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The first set of the five part Korean Fables series which will eventually comprize twenty different stamps and twenty souvenir sheets made its appearance on Sept. 1, 1969 with four stamps depicting scenes of “Kongjwi and Patjwi” a sort of Korean Cinderella legend.
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I was bitten by the stamp “bug” at an early age watching my father work on his U.S. stamp collection. After sufficient pestering, I was given a small starter album, a large packet of U.S. and foreign stamps, hinges and a tongs; I was promised more based on continued interest. I was about six years […]
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Recently there was a very unusual amount of bidding on group of Korean Empire stamps on eBay that had around nine different bidders with the winning bid at $1200. This set of stamps was brought to the attention of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS) by a reader of the website with three days left in […]
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Sometime in 2021 Willem van der Bijl sent us these photos. Do you recognize these and know anything in particular about them? Such as period of usage etc. And do you perhaps own such items as well? I would love to see the TP labels you’ve got. Are they the same or are there more […]
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A KSS member asks about North Korean revenue stamps: what do we know about these? “A small number of stamps, many duplicates. I do not specifically collect such stamps, but sometimes buy them. Are these stamps all North Korean? I read that there is a catalog of Korean (or North Korean) revenue stamps, but I […]
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(On 15 April an article was published on how the DPRK commemorates the birthday of Kim Il Sung. Here one of our members, Alexander Shaposhnikov, introduces a few other related stamp issues from his collection:) In addition to the article I am sending some photos of several rare imperforated stamps dedicated to the birthday of […]
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October 2021 marked 70 years of the Korea Stamp Society! Really, it did. But did you know about it? Probably not, if only for the simple reason that until then nobody had advertised this fact. (We did in Korean Philately, have a look at the Q4 2021 edition!) Here are two other anniversaries related to […]
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The look of Korean Philately (KP) has changed quite a bit in the last 70 years. There were many stages in the development of the covers of KP. The first KP was published by Harold D. Bearce, who was the first editor for the Korea Stamp Society (KSS), on October 1, 1951 with Albert L. […]
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I spotted this on an archived Delcampe sold file of a highly-questionable Dealer located in France. In my fifty-five-plus years collecting, researching and specializing in Empire Korea material I have never seen, or heard, of this item. This sold for 300 Euros. Apparently, it is the same item that was discussed in this article on […]
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As I looking through my old Korean Philately magazines in preparation for the KP 70th anniversary issue of the Korea Stamp Society I came across something that I had not noticed before. On the back of a facsimile of the first KP issued on October 1, 1951, I found a summary of the KSS from […]
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In Spink’s auction of 12 January 2020 a rather strange item showed up. No, the type of item is not strange, stamp essays are quite commonly available. Actually, one might even say some essays are too common, just have a look at Willem van der Bijl’s article on the subject of North Korean “artworks” in […]
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Here is an envelope that looks like Dr. Hall’s examples but has no space for addresses. I thought it could be intended for monetary donations or possibly for condolence letters placed inside comfort bags. Does anyone know for sure?
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Despite being mortal enemies, North and South Korea agree on thing: Dokdo, the group of rocks in the middle of the “Sea of Japan” or “East Sea” is Korean and not Japanese. The international name for Dokdo is officially “Liancourt Rocks”, a name often found on maps to avoid offending either Korea or Japan, but […]
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Marci Jarvis, editor of Cat Mews (which is the magazine of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit) has a question with regards to the postage on this envelope. The Korean Stamp Corporation (KSC) sent it to the then editor of Topical Time, Jerry Husak, the founder of the American Topical Association. On it are a […]
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Leafing through the catalog of DPRK stamps and analyzing the policy of themes and stories on the stamps, I had several questions. Perhaps you, or other KSS members, can help me with the answer. Starting in 1946 to issue postage stamps with neutral themes (Rosa of Sharon, Diamond Mountains), the postal administration expanded the themes […]
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