Phaleristics in Philately: a Century of Odms on Stamps

Volume 52 Number 6 Phaleristics in Philately: A Century of ODMs on Stamps Alexander J. Laslo (Editor), OMSA No. 2878 Introduction It must also be noted that ODM-related stamps can have one very important purpose that cannot be achieved by he lead article in the December 1969 issue of The stamps that feature most other subjects. Awards are ZMe dal Collector is titled"Medals and Decorations symbols of the strength and character of a nation’s on St,’unps.’’1 It was written by the late Cornelius B. people, while stamps are miniature "billboards" because Tyson, who devoted the greater part of his article to list- of their wide circtflation. Thus the combination of 0DMs ing the Scott Catalogue numbers of 202 stamps that and stamps can have great propaganda value. This featured or incorporated orders, decorations, and medals aspect of ODMs on stamps was exploited to the greatest (ODMs) in their design. extent by the Soviet Union, but more about this later. Perhaps it’s time to revisit the subject of ODMs on Sir Rowland Hill and the Penny Black stamps. Almost thirty-two years have passed since the publication of Mr. Tyson’s article, and last year was the Organized message and later mail delivery, in some form centenary of the first stamp issue that featured an ODM. or another, is probably as old as the use of awards to rec- Much has changed since Mr. Tyson’s article. Most note- ognize individuals or groups. The first postal services worthy, more than 300 stamps that feature or incorporate were established in China about 4,000 B.C. and in Egypt ODMs have been issued (made available to the public) in and Assyria by 3,000 B.C. The Chinese and Egyptian the intervening years. This increase is the natural services were intended for the transmission of correspon- outcome of subsequent stamp issues from nations in dence among court officials, but the Assyrian service was existence at the time of Mr. Tyson’s article plus those open to both cot~ officials and merchants. However, issues from nations that have emerged mnce then. For stamps and postal services as kaaoma today are the out- example, there were no U.S. ODM-related issues when come of reforms implemented in Great Britain in the Mr. Tyson wrote his article, but since then the U.S. has 1800s. issued three stamps that feature American awards.2 Stamps are merely printed labels that indicate pre- One might ask, "’why even bother wxth collecting stamps payment of postage with an adhesive on the reverse to that feature ODMs?’" For me anyway, collecting these affix the stamp to an envelope. Although simple in stamps ~s a relaxing d~vers~on, and the beauty of many of concept, the modern stamp was not instituted until 1840 these stamps greatly adds to their e~!ioyment. The stamps when Great Britmn issued a black on white one-penny arc also directly related to my primary, hobby of collecting stamp that featured the profile of a young Queen ODMs, and they are very inexpensive compared to Victoria. Prior to this time, sending a letter was an ex- ODMs and not.especially difficult to locate. Finally, it’s pensive endeavor. Postage was based on the weight of an interesting marriage of phaleristics and philately that the letter and the travel distance to the addressee, thus can also be instructive. For example, I was finally able to postage had to be calculated for each letter. Moreover, confirm from a Cuban stamp that recipients of Castro’s the postage was paid by the addressee, who often refused International Combat,’mts" Medal included participants in to accept the letter to avoid the fee. the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, and I also discovered ODMs on stamps in full color that I d~dn’t know existed, In 1837, the s,’une year that Victoria became the reigning such as the Htunmmgbird Medal of the Caribbean nation monarch, a former school teacher named Rowland Hill of Trinidad and Tobago and Morocco’s Commemorative wrote a proposal titled Postal ReJbrm: Bs Importance Medal of the Green March. and Practicability and presented it to an influential member of the House of Lords. Hill’s reforms called for a prepaid, adhesive stamp at the low rate of one penny 1 Tyson, Cornelius B, "Medals and Decorations on Stamps," The that would be sufficient to send a letter up to a half-ounce Medal Collector, Vol 20, No. 12, December 1969, pp. 3-16. in weight anywhere in Great Britain. Hill believed that sending a letter should be inexpensive and that the vol- 2 "[’he U.S also issued a 20 cent envelope in 1982 that has an em- bossed replica of the Purple Heart. ume generated by the small rate would cover total post- 16 The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America Among its distinctions, the British Penny Black is also the first "definitive" stamp, which is a stamp that is used for ordinary postage and is kept in general circulation for a number of years. In contrast, there is a very large category of stamps called "commemorative" stamps that commem- orate an event or person, usually related to an anniversary, and are in circulation for only a short period of time. Com- memorative stamps can be issued singly (a single issue) or in a "set" of two or more associated stamps. Stamps that feature some element of nature, such as tropical fish or flowers, are also considered to be commemoratives. Topical Collecting Gathering commemorative stamps from around the world that share the same theme is a popular aspect of philately Sir Rowland Hill KCB, 1795-1879 known as "topical" collecting. The number of possible topics to be found among stamps is vast, but the topics that attract the most interest include Walt age costs. By requiring the postage to be Disney, sea shells, scouting, dinosaurs, prepaid, the problem of refused letters trains, Princess Diana, lighthouses, and was immediately solved. The reforms even stamps on stamps. I know a lady advocated by Hill not only had a huge who collects stamps that feature tele- impact in Great Britain but also formed phones because her husband retired from the basis for a universal postal system the telephone company. However, it appears that only a few collectors are The reforms became law in 1839, and interested in ODMs on stamps. There Hill was appointed as an advisor to the are also philatelic organizations of topi- Treasury to assist in implementing the cal collectors, and the largest of these is reforms. During the same year, the Trea- the American Topical Association stuN sponsored a design competition for (ATA). Information about the ATA is the new peuny stamp that attracted some The Wyon Medal provided at the end of this article. 250 designs. The competition was even- tually won by William Wyon, who had been the chief engraver at the Royal Mint since 1828. Wyon’s design was the profile of a young Queen Victona wearing the diamond-studded diadem made for King George IV. Wyon had earlier used this design, which was based upon a drawing he made of Victoria when she was just fifteen years old, for a medal that commemorated the Queen’s official visit to the Corporation of the City of London in 1837.3 Wyon’s profile was used for all British stamps produced during Queen Victoria’s 64-year reign, and in a direct connection to phaleristics, for the obverse of most of the various Victorian campaign medals.4 3. Tiffs medal is known as "Wyon’s City Medal.’" 4. The govermnent also issued a two-penny blue stamp for letters The 1840 Penny Black weighing between a half otmce and one ounce. 17 Volume 52 Number 6 Setting Up a Collection The third step is to prepare a list of stamps that will form your collection. The approach that I used was to build on The first step in forming a topical collection is to Mr. Tyson’s list by carefully searching, page-by-page, carefully define the topic. Some topics are easy to define. through Scott’s six-volume, worldwide standard postage For example, the parameters of a "lighthouse" topical stamp catalog for stamps that featured ODMs.5 Not only collection could legitimately be "any stamp that has one did the shear volume of stamps made the task tedious, but or more lighthouses in its design." Defining an ODM some stamps were initially missed because usually only topical collection, however, is much more difficult and one stamp in an issue of a number of stamps is involves some hair-splitting. I omitted stamps commem- illustrated, and the stamp descriptions were not always orating a person who is portrayed wearing awards, as did helpful. A case in point is a series of four stamps issued Mr. Tyson. In these cases, the awards are incidental to by Australia in 1995 that commemorated famous what the stamp was commemorating, which is the person Australians from World War I. Scott illustrated two of and not the awards. On the other hand, Mr. Tyson the stamps that comprised the issue but not the last ignored but I listed stamps that commemorated both the stamp, which prominently included the Victoria Cross in person and the award(s). The largest number in this its design. I "discovered" this stamp by accident while category are Soviet stamps that commelnorated the foraging through a huge pile of loose stamps available for various Heroes of the Soviet Union and incorporated a five cents each that was laid on a table during a local small replica of the gold-star badge of the Hero of the stamp club meeting.

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