PhilatelySince ancient times, people have been leaving their places of birth and travelling in order to explore far away places.(1) This was when the idea of the first postal service came into being.Up until the time of Alexander the Great, no one had organised any special way of doing this. Alexander, who hadleft his lands in the care of his mother, organised a system of couriers to ensure that he received messages fromhome every day, therefore keeping track of what was going on in his kingdom.A number of centuries later, the Romans organised an even more efficient network of couriers throughout theirEmpire. (2) This kept the Senate informed of the progress of their army.Many other courier services were established in the years that followed. However, the one weare familiar with today first came into being in Britain on the 1st May, 1840. That was whenthe first adhesive postage stamp was issued. (3) The illustration on this stamp was ofQueen Victoria, who was ruling at the time. This tradition of portraying royalty on stampshas continued in Britain up until the present time.Later, a second stamp was issued. (4) By 1843, Brazil and the Swisscanton of Zurich had also issued their first stamps. The United States followedin 1847 and by 1860 the majority of the countries in the world had issued theirown stamps.These first stamps were not just bought for postal purposes. Some people bought them as souvenirs or because theyliked the way they looked. (5) What also became popular around this time was issuing stamps to honourimportant events. In fact, nowadays, almost every country issues such stamps just for the money to be made fromphilatelists.These days, philately, as well as being a hobby, is big business.The buying and selling of stamps for other than their postal use iswidespread. The majority of these stamps do not change hands attheir face value either. The rarer the stamp, the more expensive it is.For example, in 1856 a set of stamps was issued in British Guyana.At the present time there is only one of these stamps still in existence.At an auction in New York in 1980, it was sold for almost a milliondollars.This stamp would be the ultimate possession for any philatelist.(6) There, they can get information and catalogues whichkeep them up-to-date about new developments. Вариант 1
A. It was called the Penny Black and enabled anybody to send a letter anywhere in the country for only a penny.
B. Many of them, and especially those who were part of conquering armies, wanted to maintain some kind of contactwith their homeland.
C. However, most are just happy to develop their collections and join one of the clubs or societies that exist.
D. This was called the Tuppeny Blue and also featured a picture of Queen Victoria.
E. These people can probably be regarded as the first philatelists.
F. They connected such faraway places as Spain in the west to towns on the banks of theDanube in the east.
G. Australia was the first country to issue stamps with views of a city.

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