Hobby of the king George V

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I (1914–1918) until his death in 1936.

King George V. Portrait

George V who ruled the British Empire more than 25 years, made philately by one of the most popular hobbies in the Great Britain. He took a great interest in a collecting of stamps when he was only 13 years old. He did his first purchases at Pembertone and Charles Phillips. By 1890 George had already have enough serious collection. George's father , Edward, helped the son with a rare material for the collection which usual philatelists had no possibility to get. George was the first who received angular quartblocks of all stamps which were issuing in British Empire. Also his father bought the collection of stamps of his brother Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and gave it to his son.

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Posted by serge, October 8, 2009. Post has 0 comments.
albums British collection collector George V hobby king stamp

Declaration of Independence

In 1989, a Philadelphia financial analyst discovered something unusual in an old picture he'd bought for $4 at a flea market in Adamstown, PA. He'd purchased the painting (an old, torn depiction of a country scene) because he liked the frame. He liked it even more once he discovered that a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence lurked within it.

When he had attempted to detach the frame from the painting, the frame fell apart in his hands. He then found a folded document between the canvas and wood backing which appeared to be an old copy of the Declaration of Independence. A friend who collected Civil War memorabilia advised him to have it appraised.

It was real: one of 500 official copies from the first printing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. (Only twenty-four similar copies were known to exist before this find, of which a mere three were privately owned.) This rare document was offered for sale by Sotheby's on 4 June 1991, and the lucky find fetched even more than had been anticipated: the $800,000 to $1.2 million estimate turned into $2.42 million by the sound of the gavel.

The buyer was Donald J. Scheer of Atlanta, president of Visual Equities Inc., a year-old fine arts investment firm.

"We thought we would add historical documents to our portfolio," Mr. Scheer said, adding that "we were prepared to pay considerably more."

He stressed that he had bought the Declaration as more than just an investment. "I think this is a living document and the words are every bit as live today," he said.

Posted by serge, August 31, 2009. Post has 0 comments.
declaration independence Sotheby United States

Unknown collector-soldier

Collecting as hobby can be born not only via aspiration for an accumulating of all pieces in variety of kind. But in aspiration for imprint the places where you were one day. We have already wrote about Michael Hughes, who has found his own way to do this, using snapshots of souvenirs in front of the original sights. Today, I’ll show an impressive and rare exhibit from local history museum in Grodno (Republic of Belarus). It is a belt of the Nazi soldier.

Click on image to enlarge

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Posted by serge, July 6, 2009. Post has 1 comments.
belt coins war ww2

Baseball Cards: The Great American Hobby?

Hey, Zach WestRasmus here, He is a teen living in Boston, when his heart is in New York. He has been a life long baseball fan, and he loves the Yankees! He is not happy with the way baseball is today (cough* hehatebudselig*cough). Here is story about his hobby written by himself.

Baseball.

Nice Zachary's photo

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Posted by serge, May 8, 2009. Post has 0 comments.
baseball card hobby

Souvenir Photography of Michael Hughes

When most people go to a landmark or tourist attraction, they take home a little souvenir to remind them of their trip. Then there's Michael Hughes. He loves to take pictures of the world's famous landmarks - perfectly blended with cheap souvenirs.

Born in Britain and now living in Germany, 56-year-old Michael Hughes is a freelance photographer. Hughes started this hobby back in 1998 and has accumulated a rich collection of over 100 fun images using this blending technique in 200 countries he visited.

"I noticed coffee cups from a shop near the Statue of Liberty had the statue printed on it, so I poured my drink on the floor, and positioned it in front of the statue. Since then, taking the pictures has developed into a hobby and a passion to the point where I have been taking trips recently just to photograph a souvenir next to its landmark".

Michael, who travels extensively with his job, said the hobby has progressed into a 'sport with its own rules': He arrives at the destination, visits the nearest souvenir and buys the cheapest souvenir. Michael then takes up to 50 photographs with a wide angle lens on a digital camera until he has the ornament positioned in exact proportion to the landmark.

Statue of Liberty, New York, USA

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Posted by serge, April 30, 2009. Post has 2 comments.
photo sightseeing souvenir travel

Matchboxes from the Subcontinent

English expat Matt Lee shares his extensive collection of matchboxes from India where he coordinates the Foundation Art & Design program and lectures in the Visual Communication program at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore.

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Posted by serge, April 21, 2009. Post has 0 comments.
Bangalore collector design India matchbox