There is nothing more British than philately. Britain is a nation of collectors, and of course, the first postage stamp was British (the 1840 Penny Black). British charities even take

penny black

stamp collections as donations. You don’t look for “Great Britain” or “United Kingdom” on a British stamp; since stamps started in Britain, all other countries differentiate their stamps by adding the country name.

With so many collectors keenly interested in British stamps (over 11% of Britons collect them or give them as presents), all aspects of philately are well represented online. If you are looking for information–whether to research a rare stamp before spending thousands of dollars on it, or to set up your own first collection of common stamps–it is readily available.

Collectible and Rare Great Britain Stamps

Indeed, some collectors are fascinated by the popular. The January 2010 series of rock icons (Bowie, Floyd, The Rolling Stones, and somewhat inexplicably, Coldplay,) looks to be

2010 rock icons

this year’s “hit” in the genre; perhaps the issue is inspired by the staggering popularity of 2007’s Beatles series. And while Elvis is the “king” of U.S. stamp popularity, the Queen–the real one–has been recreated on countless millions of stamps over the years (not to mention her royal predecessors.)

If you aim to collect rare British stamps, the law of supply and demand dictates that you had better be ready to part with some sterling (or greenbacks.) The rarest UK stamp, a 6d Edward VII with “IR Official” overprinted, is worth about £65,000–just north of $100,000. Six are known to still exist.

Some more common collectibles include the pennies–the famed Penny Black, which for its age is not so rare as to be impossible to find; the penny red, which is far more common still, and the two-penny blue. (“collectibles” can even dip into the tens or hundreds of pounds, rather then the tens of thousands.)
http://www.qvpennies.com/ specializes in these line-engraved early stamps.

Where to buy Great Britain Stamps

There are a number of ways to buy and sell British stamps whether online or on premises. If you live in Great Britain, you can find stamp shops easily enough there (though alas, the small shops are going the way of the mail itself; that is, online). The Philatelic Traders Society index listed below has a great alphabetical shop listing; or, search out a shop in your local phone book, if you don’t know of one near you.

If you are searching for stamp dealers or buyers online, there are too many options to fully list. The question is what you are looking for.

Here are a  few philately hot-spots, for buying, selling, and learning about UK philately online:

http://www.philatelic-traders-society.co.uk/browse.php : The UK PTS maintains this public-facing database of both online and “brick-and-mortar” dealers, the majority of which trade in UK stamps.

http://www.ukphilately.org.uk/hbuy.htm : A general page describing the buying and selling aspect of stamp collecting, whether at auction, online, from brick-and-mortar shops, or through stamp magazines.

The parent site, http://www.ukphilately.org.uk/ , is the website of the Association of British Philatelic Societies. If you live in Great Britain, a member club probably meets regularly near you.

http://stamps.delcampe.net an online collector’s community, has a robust Great Britain page. The community works on an auction basis, and stamps and sets are categorized by era.