Matthew Healey is a freelance philatelic writer who loves classic stamps and postal history, with an emphasis on Great Britain and its current and former realms. He contributes regularly to Linn’s Stamp News and has also appeared in the Collectors Club Philatelist and The New York Times. His stamp auction newsletter is at matthewhealey.substack.com .
APS reached out to Matthew to learn more about his experience being an APS member for over 20 years. Read the interview below:
How did you learn about APS?
My father joined the APS in the 1970s, when I was a child, so I have known about it for as long as I can remember. Back then, before the internet, the best way for collectors to achieve their goals (learning about stamps and buying them affordably) was to do three things: subscribe to a stamp magazine, join a local club if possible, and become a member of the APS. The magazine was a great source of knowledge and trading with other collectors via circuit books was fun and inexpensive. The regular arrival of those boxes full of bargains was a highlight of my youth.
What about APS made you want to join?
When I returned to the hobby as an adult, I realized it was important to belong to the organization on my own, not just on my dad's coattails. I appreciate the support the APS brings to the hobby, and being a member in good standing is like a credential - it opens doors to other collectors and stamp dealers. When I'm interacting with another APS member, I know we can trust each other.
What stamps do you collect?
I was born in the U.K. and thanks to my late mother's nostalgia for all things British, I gravitated towards collecting Great Britain. It took me a while to develop an appreciation for the 19th century issues of Queen Victoria—they're all the same and frankly a little boring at first glance—but the more you dive into learning about the details of those issues, the more they reveal about how stamps were made and used, which in turn reveals all kinds of fascinating stories about the explosive growth of postal communication during the 19th century. Which is a very human story. And from postage stamps I soon branched into revenues, which were actually the ancestors of postage stamps. Besides Great Britain I continue to dabble in worldwide classic era, 1840-1940, particularly British, French and Italian colonial issues. Morocco and Malta are two countries that fascinate me because of the variety of postal systems they encompass: the whole Mediterranean area was a global crossroads for centuries, and the postal history reflects that.
What membership services do you use the most?
I enjoy reading (and occasionally contributing to) the American Philatelist; in the past I also enjoyed using the circuits, although I put that on pause because I found it hard to devote sufficient time to them.
What services do you look forward to using/ what new services would you like to see?
I have always thought support for children's collecting could be expanded. It would be wonderful if there were something like a children's packet-subscription service with a monthly kid's magazine.
What are you hoping to learn from being an APS member?
I've reached the point of being an intermediate/advanced collector in my areas of focus, so to be honest I learn more from specialist societies such as the Great Britain Philatelic Society (GBPS) or the Revenue Society, and from organizations such as Collectors Club and Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL). On the other hand, there are always new (to me) areas that I enjoy learning about, and the APS is great for that. My knowledge of U.S. philately is actually not that strong. My hope is to keep on learning—and where I'm able, to also give back to the APS by sharing what I’ve learned with others by writing articles.
Has your knowledge of the hobby changed since joining APS?
Sure—I joined over 20 years ago, so I've picked up a lot in that time!
What inspired you to create your blog, what are your plans for its future?
I wanted to expose non-collector friends and family to some of the things I find so fascinating about the hobby—to share what it is that appeals to me and why stamps are so endlessly engaging. Early responses to my newsletter have been very positive. There are a lot of smart and curious non-collector folks out there who are vaguely aware that stamps can be cool and are interested in the kinds of things stamps could teach, but don't really get any exposure to philatelic subjects. It is so important to communicate not just within the hobby but to the wider world. Mainstream media generally won't touch stamps with a ten-foot pole, which is a shame. We need to break down the image that stamps have of being too nerdy and specialized and hard to understand. If you look at social media, there are lots of indications that many, many people would be receptive to stamp stories if there were more of them and would like to keep their kids regularly interested in stamps if they had the opportunity. My secondary goal is to expand the number of collectors who are comfortable bidding at auctions, because that's generally the best way to acquire stamps. Seventy percent of collectors don't do auctions, though, which I find astonishing. So in those two areas I hope to have an impact.
Anything else you would like to add?
More social-media presence for philately would be a good thing. So few dealers and organizations are on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok, and that's gotta change. It's so easy to get the word out—once you try it and see how simple it is, the benefits become obvious!