Bells On Stamps: Need Help.

About 1978 I took up an interest in bells on stamps. Because this was the Bicentennial era, I determined that only real bells would be of interest, and they had to be basically "Bells of State".
"Bells of State" stamps would be such as the United States Liberty Bell, the Berlin Freedom Bell, the Sung Dock Bell of Korea. No musical bells, or bells of fantasy or allegory or as decorative ornaments such as wedding bells on ribbons. It was also decided that not only did the bell have to be on a legitimate postage stamp and identifiable, but there had to be enough of the bell on the stamp to determine its identity as well as that its image had to be clear enough and of large enough size to identify.

Since the idea is to study different bells, we also want to avoid any bell that has been exploited repetitively by Sand Dune countries and stamp farms.

Bells can go in two directions. They can be Bells of State, the voice of a people, playing a role in their unification as our Liberty Bell did. Or they can be bells for the sake of bells, as bell collectors collect and study them. And in that case, some limitations would have to be established. For examplem, it would have to be understood that the bell would have to be of appreciable size like the old townsmen's hear ye hear ye bells, and not smaller than that like something sewn onto clothing---except in rare cases, if its history warranted.

Bells on Postal stationery was not an area that I took under consideration at the time. As of 1980, there were only about 20 stamp issues, including sets, portraying real bells. And about 1980 I stopped collecting stamps. Now I have returned to collecting. I have learned that there have been many stamps showing bells over the last 30 years. It would be absolutely impossible for me to go through, as I did in 1977, the Scott catalog checking every illustration and reading every bit of the fine print and descriptions where the illustration was not provided in order to bring my list up to date. It would also not be possible for me to catch up on all of those issues. But I would like to have a list of all bells that have been issued since 1980.

Thank You for your help. Mystery Packet.

Just some bells,
your choice for qualification.













and a stamped postcard (The Tsar Bell)

Hi, Rod222. Nice to hear from you. Thanks for your reply. How did you come about these? Are you a strong collector of bells on stamps, or are they issues that you immediately could lay hands upon? The Pitcairn issue would have to be taken under consideration. If it is the only bell on the island, or if it is THE bell, the main bell used for significant purposes such as summoning Parliament, tolling disaster, announcing independence, it has a chance. From that I would have to determine by contacting Pitcairn its age, how it came to be, if there are any inscriptions or design elements on the bell and what significance they have, and acquire an official close up photo of same. The Japan bell would be very useful as long as it was not part of an ongoing series like our bell-designed definitives, the U.S "Forever" of 2007 which you show is one such example that I couldn't use. A commemorative of a nationally significant bell would take priority over a regular issue in as much as the topic would be a discussion of bells and their cultural and historical significance, not as an element of stamp design. All of the definitive US bells, blocks of 4, plate blocks, coils, booklets, FDCs, errors, would take up an exhibit of their own if the discussion were on stamp design elements. But the idea of the bell collection would be of what significance bells and certain bells had in national histories and the culture of any united people. Now the Japan bell and its Korean cousin could be expanded upon even though these have been repetively issued. But they have not been as repetiviely issued as the US Bell definitive. From the Japanese and Korean issues, I could glean printing varieties, pane styles etc., at least some sort of survey, wouldn't have to be complete.

The Hungary bell, I don't remember if that was on my list. It might not have been as this might be more of a musical bell ornament for clothing. I might have lsited it provisionally, pending further investigation.

And this takes us to bells of antiquity and their usage, especially where there were not nations but tribes. In this area we have objects like the Hungarian which might very well have been of national/tribal significance. Also we have objects which because of their shape might not appear to be bells but are. China issued a set showing a bell stone, a flat stone used as a bell. That could have significance in the exhibit I was planning. When it comes to antiquity and tribal societies, the study of bells intersects with drums, if we keep our focus on hollow strucutres that are struck rather than shaped structures such as chimes and cymbals and tambourines. Also the materials used can make a difference as there are metal and wood xylophone instruments, the struck pieces here being flat. So I would have to limit myself to hollow structures that are struck from the outside or inside, and determination has to be made as to bell or drum.

By the way, there is a very nice St Pierre Miquelon ship's bell, on an issue pre-1977. If that ship had any role in its nation of registry,or the bell had any role in a nation regardless of the ship it was on, then it is a candidate.

The idea, Rod222, came about as to how bells have been used to proclaim a people's liberty, how nations were formed, how they function. And I know that sounds very political. But I soon found out that not all bells have that property. But as far as items of antiquity adn their significance therein, we have to remember that nations, no, I should say united peoples, did not come about by politics. Politics, policy-making came later. The true origin and unity of peoples lies in religious beliefs. Their relgious dictums were their first "policy" which gave them any legal fiber.

I recently learned that there is a list of bells on stamps, which is some thirty pages long, the pages being the standard 8 1/2 x 11 typewriter page. I believe the publication has no illustrations, although I am sure it lists many false bells shich as decorative meaningless bells on ribbons like wedding bells, but in any event bells of no national significance. It just lists the issues, but whatever other information I do not know. Unfortunately I cannot have access to it. Mystery Packet

I don't collect much foreign material, but as far as the U.S. Liberty Bell is concerned, check out this link:

http://www.libertybellmuseum.com/ex...s/stamps.htm

I will keep an eye peeled as I jumble through my stock !! If I find some I will post a scan !! Something from Central America rings a bell....sorry..it just came out !!

eres on right off the bat ...Malta !

and I know I have an Italy from late 50's or early 60's with bells !!

G'day Blank Page,
I am a recreational collector, that decided to scan every stamp
that came across his desk.
I have scans of around 300,000 stamps, and what you see
is just a few that may have been appropriate for you.
(out of 263 stamps that had "bells" in their catalogue description)
The research is left up to you.

I enjoyed your commentary, and I think it is very useful
for collectors to be able to read this sort of treatise,
on how you descriminate to form your collection.

I have been to enough stamp exhibitions to know that
the collectors parameters can be as broad or as limited
as one desires.
I saw once a one frame exhibit, just on the effects of the wearing
of a moulding nipple on slogan machine canceller could effect the gradual change in the impression on covers over the 5 years
of its use.

You will probably need to add brevity to your collection
parameters description to have it easily understood.

Unfortunately my Pitcairn catalogue only goes to 1976
but "The Island's Bell" was merely a bell used when the remote
island spotted a ship close by, to draw the inhabitants
of Pitcairn to the area with produce and gifts to
sell to the ship's company.

If you are a specialist collector, I would strongly suggest
you visit EXPONET on the web, to get inspiration
and guidance on specialty stamp collections, these boys are at
the top of their game.

Cheers

I would like to thank everyone who is contributing to my post. Individual emails were attempted, but my email was not working.
philb mentioned bells of Italy and of Central America. That would be the Revereto Memorial Bell and probably the Mexican Independence Issue which was matched by an United States design. The Mexican-US pairings can be found paired together on the FDCs for the issue. BlankPage

(West) Germany - Berlin in 1951 issued several values of Berlin's Freedom Bell, with a couple later overprinted (1954 & 1956).
Lithuania in 1991(SG472) issued Lithuania's Liberty Bell.
Faroe Islands in 1989 (SG176) shows the bell from the shipwreck "Norske Lowe", housed in Torshavn Church.
Cayes of Belize in 1984 Lloyd's List issue, shows the Lutine Bell (possibly Scott 12). Not sure if that's what you want.
Bangladesh in 2004 (SG876) have the Centennial Bell Celebration, celebrating the centenary of Rotary International.

These are older issues so you probably already have them on your list (if they meet your criteria) but here goes anyway.

Berlin (Scott):

1951-2 9N75-79
1953 9N94-98 Re-engraved
1954 9N106 Overprint
1956 9NB17 Semi-postal

OOPS! I just saw 22crows. These are the same issues he's talking about in number 1.

LaSwab my friend
Double Ooops....22crows=Gender: Female

Jeeze Louise - I'm getting myself deeper and deeper in trouble the longer I hang out here!

My apologies to the lady!

Blankpage the Guatemala 1976 set C592-608 has a couple of stamps with the liberty bell on them..in my minds eye I see a Central American stamp from the 1970's with a large bell and red,white and blue stripes around the edge but I can not locate it...

i do not have time to pull the cover now..have to leave...but in 1976 Hungary also issued #2421 in sheets of 3 stamps and 3 labels showing bells !!