A phoenix, lions, and a king

If you’ve been reading my blog for very long at all, you know my main philatelic interests: the 14¢ American Indian stamp, natural landscapes, and United States postage stamps in general. For the most part, my collecting activities are focused in one of those three areas.

Every once in a while, however, I run across an item that does not fit into any of my collections but still grabs my attention. Such is one of my acquisitions from the Texas Stamp Dealers Association’s San Antonio bourse last month: a 30¢ bicolored stamp issued by Hong Kong on August 29, 1946. This stamp and a $1 companion using the same design were the first postage stamps issued in Hong Kong following World War II.

We’ve got royalty (in the form of King George VI)! We’ve got lions! We’ve got a phoenix rising from the flames! I get the feeling that if there had been room for a dragon, the designers probably would have included that, too. It’s all rendered in a delightful blue and red that are in my opinion more visually appealing than the colors used for the stamp’s higher value sibling.

This is one beautiful stamp, wouldn’t you agree? And am I alone here, or do you also find yourself occasionally straying from your normal collecting areas if something really catches your eye?

Published 2019-06-03