Dutifully and beautifully collated in numbered pull-out presentation holders around a purpose-built room just off the Grand Boulevard, the Stamp Museum displays half-a-million examples from every corner of the globe. Here you can admire not only philately but the glean the history of Hungary from the 1700s onwards – a current temporary exhibition focuses on the postal reforms of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. An English-language inventory points out the rarities and curios to look out for.
These days, newly independent nations look to be recognised by the UN, FIFA, and have their own airline and web domain to mark their arrival on the world stage. More than a century ago, a national postage stamp was proof enough.
Just as the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 failed to give rise to independence, so the first Hungarian stamp never saw the light of day. Halfway along this first-floor museum is a unique example of Mór Than’s handiwork, the original graphic in patriotic colours that would have granted Hungary its first stamp before any were issued in France or Germany. Sadly, as Austrian forces encroached closer to Budapest, the project was abandoned.
Hungary had to wait until the Compromise of 1867 before there were Magyar versions of stamps issued from Vienna – and until 1871 for local examples in low denominations of kreuzer. Many are scarce – the 2kr Pöttyös Jóska (‘Spotty Joe’) is one of the great rarities of local philately.
The main Hungarian section, running down the left-hand side as you enter, begins with letters delivered from the early 1700s onwards, according to a system devised by Habsburg monarch Charles III and upgraded by his daughter, Maria Theresa. Dispatched by mail coach – whose history is also covered here in a separate display – these letters were either paid for at source, by the recipient or a combination of the two, each contributing a share.
Envelopes bear the precise penmanship of the proud postmen of three centuries ago. For more remote destinations, peasants were also commandeered to deliver mail, on a pro rata basis.
The neat display cases have their own history. The original Stamp Museum was opened in 1930 at the Postapalota, the imposing building on an upper corner of Széll Kálmán tér. When the collection outgrew the space, architect Gyula Rimanóczy designed this impressive museum, with Zsolnay staircase tiling in the shape of stamp perforations, in 1939. Windowless to protect the collection from damaging sunlight, the hall was later equipped with air-conditioning to combat humidity.
Surviving World War II almost intact, the building was then taken over by the state financial authorities, before returning to its original function in the 1990s. Visits take place in a library-like hush, though an English-speaking assistant should be able to provide an explanatory tour – staff dispense charm, knowledge and historical context.
Stamps with values in millions of Hungarian pengő reflect the rampant inflation in the immediate post-war period, while shiny examples in aluminium leaf showed off Magyar ingenuity to the West in the dark days of Communism. Soon stamp production was a lucrative industry – smaller countries outsourced their designs abroad to feature subject matter attractive to collectors.
Your guide may point out the somewhat disparaging case of Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom which even created a stamp to look like a vinyl record, the grooves playing traditional folk songs.
Stories abound. The Stamp Museum does not have an 1856 British Guiana 1c magenta – nobody does, apart from Stuart Weitzman, who paid nearly $10 million for the world’s only known specimen in 2014.
Legend has it that when it fell into the hands of a famous collector decades ago, he was visited by a well travelled sailor who had showed up with another example. Agreeing the price the mariner demanded, the collector had his secretary write out a cheque, and offered his guest a celebratory cigar. Lighting it, he then used the same match to burn the only other known example of this Holy Grail of philately. Here in Budapest, you can see the 2c magenta, signed for by the same Guyanese postmaster back in the 1850s.
The 1c magenta is the only major postage stamp ever issued that doesn’t form part of the Royal Philatelic Collection at St James’s Palace in London. Both George V and his granddaughter, Elizabeth II, were keen collectors before royal duties took over.
In 1921, when the king heard tell of Sopron’s impending independence from Austria, he dispatched a minion here to pick up special issues marked with the text Felkelő Magyarok által megszállt Nyugatmagyarország 1921 aug.szept (‘Western Hungary occupied by rising Hungarians’). With a blank cheque in his hand, the king’s representative was provided with sheets of these stamps as a complimentary gift, so honoured were the Hungarians with his visit.
The Stamp Museum receives regular deliveries from the worldwide members of the Universal Postal Union (UPO) by way of courtesy, but also to help to identify fakes should one show up later. Staff sift through bundles of colourful stamps from Tajikistan, Djibouti or Vanuatu, a task that would have given George V many a happy hour. These new issues then add to the museum’s outstanding permanent collection.
Stamp Museum District VII. Hársfa utca 47
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: 1,000 forints/500 forints reductions
