In the era of burgeoning Industry 4.0, most people use email. Therefore, there is growing anxiety that stamps may fall into oblivion. Contrary to that speculation, now, when doing business online becomes easy, social networking groups with hundreds of thousands of members create a market for stamp trading that is not only vibrant but also culturally influential,  becoming a highly reliable channel to connect people with similar interests.

Stamp collection in the digital age contributes to spreading the cultural value of each stamp. Photo: K.H

More knowledge gained

Phan Huyen, 33, living at 130 Ho Tung Mau Street, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang, is the owner of a collection of 500 stamps, the most notable of which are the stamps of the 54 primary ethnic Vietnamese groups.

Huyen said that she started collecting stamps when she was a 8^th grader. Most of the original stamps were obtained from her sister's love letters. In order to keep intact, Huyen must gently and carefully separate the used stamp from the envelope.

Later, after working and getting married, Huyen continued to pursue this passion and gained more depth when collecting stamps on thematic themes of celebrities and national heroes.

When the activities of trading, exchanging and sharing about stamps take place actively on social networks, Huyen often goes to search and exchange stamps so as to complete her collection. However, Huyen said, because these websites only focus on trade, there are a few exchange and connection activities.

“Sometimes I also go to search for information about stamps on some social networking sites, but to keep an eye on the collection trend or admire the valuable collections owned by famous domestic and international philatelists who study and collect stamps. I will continue to choose a topic that I really like and then invest in perfecting my greatest collection”, Huyen said.

Along with collecting Vietnamese stamps, collectors expand to buy stamps from foreign countries in the region and the world as a whole. In addition to social networking sites, the trading in stamps also takes place at major online shopping sites such as Amazon, Lazada and Apay.

Vising the Facebook page “Exchanging Vietnamese and international stamps”, a famous online stamp business, with more than 8,000 participants, stamp trading takes place every day. In the latest post of this page on July 25, a Vietnamese postage stamp sample printed with a total solar eclipse in Viet Nam on October 24, 1995 is for sale for VND10,000. Before that, there was a stamp with a dragon phoenix image costing VND 20,000/4 stamp whilst 15 flower and animal stamps costing VND400,000 in total.

In addition to domestic stamps, there are stamps sourced from many foreign countries that are also offered for sale at various prices. Prices vary, depending on rarity and actual value. For example, the ancient Queen Victoria stamp of the Cape of Good Hope is sold at VND 860,000/apiece and the price of real stamps from India is fixed at VND 450,000/apiece.

In every post on this website, someone asks to buy quickly. In addition to selling individual stamps, the social network also sells many stamp collections with prices ranging from a few hundred thousand VND to millions of VND. For example, the Italian stamp set through the ages (342 stamps) was sold for millions of VND.

According to Ms. Le Thi Anh Dao, 51, a member of the Da Nang Stamp Association, when technology develops, stamp collectors and traders have the opportunity to regularly monitor prices, strive to catch up with market trends as well as the updated value of the stamp every moment. From there, collectors can assess the potential of the world's stamp collection activities to base on that level of trading and exchange of stamps. Searching for stamps has also become more convenient.

“Through social networking sites, stamp players gain more knowledge and understanding of this meaningful pastime. In addition, these collections also provide a large amount of very interesting and useful information about the world,” Ms. Dao said.

Difficulties in finding rare stamps

Playing stamps is one of the popular culture in the world but it requires very difficult skills to own "stamp treasures". Usually, precious stamps are those that are still affixed to the face or address-side of any item of mail, an envelope or other postal cover (e.g., packet, box, mailing cylinder) which they wish to send. The collection of real envelopes sent with stamps is very complicated and requires a lot of research. Each of the already-sent mails like that can contain a lot of different postal service information.

Each envelope can carry its own story because it was sent at different times and locations that collectors can exploit and this shows the collector's level of knowledge.

For collectors of precious and rare stamps, real old envelopes with cancellation marks in the early stages; letters sent from military barracks, train stations, ships are often of high value, especially, items with stamps related to the subject, are always appreciated. With the keen eye of longtime stamp collectors as well as in-depth knowledge of stamps, it is difficult to find rare and precious stamps from online trading activities.

With a sense of pride, Ms. Le Thi Anh Dao said, a true stamp enthusiast and collector always wishes to own rare stamps. But this is not ‘a piece of cake’ and that's why people crave it even more.

For Phan Huyen, who owns a thematic stamp collection on 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups, collecting such stamps takes much time and a little bit of luck because, such rare stamps are rarely sold online. In fact, while ordinary stamps cost only a few tens of thousands of dong, there are rare ones costing thousands of USD. There are also rare stamp collections that are only for display and exhibition, making the value and anecdote about it even more famous.

Stamp collecting is now not only an elegant hobby for the elderly, but also attracts a large number of youths. This hobby has created a vibrant business market, bringing many practical benefits as well as contributing to the promotion of the Industry 4.0.

Reporting by KHANH HOA - Translating by A.THU