Stamps

Ukraine has released stamps featuring a Banksy mural, which depicts a child defeating a Putin-like figure in a judo match.

Ukraine Releases Banksy Postage Stamp on War's One-Year Anniversary

The street artist painted the image on a demolished wall during his secret trip to the country last fall

In “Postage Pairings,” from the National Portrait Gallery, host Kim Sajet speaks with the Smithsonian's Daniel Piazza, curator of philately, about postage stamps (left: 29c single, july 30, 1993) reproduced from portraits (right: Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffred Duplessis, c. 1785).

The Revolutionary Role Mail Played in America’s Fight for Independence

Hear about the colonial period postal service in the latest "Portraits" podcast

Crowds outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 protest its landmark decision in the Citizens United case, which removed limitations on corporate donations to political figures. Zuckerman would later issue his own protest by creating a custom postage stamp with controversial political imagery in response to the ruling. 

Artist Wins Legal Battle With Post Office Over Custom Postage Stamp

Federal judge cites violation of First Amendment by USPS in deciding not to print custom postage for customer that contained a political message

The newly auctioned gold coin is the only 1933 "Double Eagle" legally held in private hands.

The World's Most Valuable Coin Sells at Auction for $18.9 Million

Three collectibles, including a 1993 gold "Double Eagle" and the world’s rarest stamp, fetched more than $30 million at Sotheby’s

Chien-Shiung Wu received numerous awards and honors throughout her life, including having an asteroid named after her in 1973 and receiving the National Medal of Science in 1975.

U.S. Postage Stamp Will Honor the 'First Lady of Physics'

Chien-Shiung Wu’s experiment in 1956 helped her colleagues win the Nobel Prize while her role was only mentioned in the acceptance speech

Why does smaller size, like that of the anteater, benefit species in different environments, wondered one Smithsonian reader.

Why Are South American Animals Smaller Than Those on Other Continents?

You've got questions. We've got experts

Before He Was a Musician, John Lennon Was a Philatelist

Marking the arrival of a new postage stamp, the musician’s boyhood collection is on view at the National Postal Museum

What Would Happen if the Earth Stopped Rotating? and More Questions From our Readers

You asked, we answered

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How a "Sultry" Statue of Liberty Cost the U.S. Post Office More Than $3.5 Million

A sculptor was awarded millions in royalties after the USPS accidentally used an image of his Las Vegas replica on a 2010 postage stamp

“Inverted Jennies” grew in notoriety; as one writer note, they “blossomed into the Taj Mahal of stamps."

How the Inverted Jenny, a 24-Cent Stamp, Came to Be Worth a Fortune

Mark the centennial of an epic mistake at the National Postal Museum where several of these world-famous stamps are on view

The long-barreled pistols will be on view at the Postal Museum from May 25 through June 24.

Hamilton and Burr’s Dueling Pistols Are Coming to Washington, D.C.

Don’t throw away your shot to see these infamous flintlocks, and an incredible assortment of other Hamilton memorabilia, at the National Postal Museum

A hasty 1900 pigeongram sent to H. Winkelmann by Charles Werner, a great Barrier Island resident. "Dear Mr Winkelmann," it reads, "Charlie Soborne has smashed his arm last night from the wrist to the elbow by a rifle bullet. His father says that the arm will have to be amputated at once so Ernest asked me to send you this... send a steamer at once to the Barrier... also if possible a lawyer."

This New Zealand Island’s Pigeon Mail Stamps Are Still Prized

Pigeons carried correspondence between Great Barrier Island and the New Zealand mainland for about a decade in the early 20th century

50th Anniversary of the death of Che Guevara €1.00 Stamp based on artwork by Jim Fitzpatrick.

Why an Irish Stamp Has Reignited a Decades-Old Debate About Che Guevara’s Controversial Legacy

The commemorative stamp was issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the guerrilla revolutionary

Mercury wrote or cowrote a number of Queen's biggest hits.

Freddie Mercury, Musical Genius and Stamp Collector

The singer-songwriter's childhood stamp album offers an insight to his character

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