Best known as the hobby of King Farouk, stamp collecting remains a minority pursuit. Rania Khallaf investigates a dwindling passion Hagopian Hagopian is one of Cairo's last remaining professional philatelists. In other words, he owns a shop which sells stamps, not for people who want to post letters, but for people who want to collect these small pieces of gummed paper. Over his small shop on Adly Street which dates back to the 1950s hangs a large sign with "The Oriental Philatelic House" engraved on it in both English and Arabic. Browing through the dusty shelves, amateur stamp collectors may come across a catalogue that tells the history of Egyptian stamps, or albums holding collections of issues from Lebanon, America, or different European countries. Born in 1948, Hagopian inherited the profession from his father, a professional dealer who had embarked on this career as long ago as 1929. Hagopian Sr had his own stamp shop in Turkey, but was forced to flee to Egypt after the 1918 massacres. "I started washing stamps when I was eight," his son recounts. By "washing stamps", Hagopian means taking the stamp off an envelope, a process which can take as long as a month. Hagopian's own albums have won him seven gold medals in international exhibitions in France, Germany, Russia, Britain, Canada and the United States. And until recently he made sure he obtained every new issue of both Arab and foreign stamps, which he obtained by subscription. However, the subscriptions came to an end almost three years ago, when the value of hard currency soared in relation to the Egyptian pound. Hagopian's way of life is on its way out. Stamp collecting in Egypt no longer entices the followers it once did. Known as the hobby of kings and the queen of hobbies, the number of dedicated stamp collectors registered with the Egyptian philatelic association -- generally known as The Group of Friends Serving Amateur Stamps and Coins Collectors -- fluctuates between 100 and 150. "The number has increased slightly over the last 10 years," says Adel Hanafi, an accountant and one of the Group of Friends' founding members. "But compared to Egypt's population and the country's long history, the number is still too small." If you're walking along Adly Street, you can't miss the Group of Friends' sign, hanging precariously from a second-storey balcony. A walk up leads to a small apartment dominated by a big show case filled with stamps of all shapes and sizes, in addition to a collection of rare coins and medals. The group was established 10 years ago by three collectors, who were originally members of the World Stamps Society (WSS) which is located around the corner on Abdel- Khaleq Tharwat Street. The WSS was established in 1929, and is a member of the International Federation of Stamp Collectors' Societies. Members of the WSS convene every Saturday night to hold auctions, and to chat about new issues. The first three stamps to be issued in Egypt were lithographed, respectively, in Genoa (1866), at Alexandria's Penasson Print Shop (1867) and at the National Print Shop in Boulaq, Cairo (1872). When Khedive Tawfiq ascended the throne in 1879, the printing of Egypt's stamps was taken over by Messrs De La Rue & Co of London, and the method of production was changed to the "surface printing" technique. "In 1919, the contract was taken over by Harrisons & Sons, who introduced the 'multiple star and crescent' watermark," explains Hanafi. "In 1925, during Mazloum Pasha's administration, the task of producing Egypt's stamps was brought home and handed to the Survey Department in Giza." Today, at the main post office in Attaba Square, a small chaotic room is set aside for selling issues to amateur collectors. Last week, Akram Badr, 56, had come from the city of Mansoura to purchase two new issues, one for his 12-year-old son, and the other for a friend in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Badr has never heard about the WSS before. "There is no real service for collectors, especially those from governorates outside of Cairo," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Moreover, the catalogues issued by the Mail Association are very expensive for young people." However, Mahmoud Khalifa, head of the collectors division at Attaba post office, says that dozens of collectors visit the office every day, including tourists and dealers. He agrees, however, with some of what Badr says. "Compared to the Gulf countries, especially Bahrain and UAE, Egypt is lagging behind with regards to holding exhibitions, and in terms of techniques to preserve our unique collections." According to the WSS's Hanafi, a stamp collection can be put together in two main ways. "There's the classic method, which is to set out to collect all the stamps issued in any one year (around 60 stamps), or for one single occasion. And then there is the modern method, which is to collect stamps from many different countries which all share a common theme, such as animals, art, trains or religion." Rare Egyptian issues include the Scouts Conference Collection of 1956, as well as many of the stamps dating from before the 1952 Revolution, which are decorated with Turkish script in the margins. "During this era, the only pictures on Egyptian stamps were either of kings such as King Farouk, who was himself a stamp collector, or Egyptian antiquities," Hanafi notes. After the 1952 Revolution, Egyptian stamps became a showcase for the images of a new era: peasants working in the field, or verses by Egyptian poets such as Ahmed Shawqi or Hafez Ibrahim, were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. According to Hanafi, "stamps issued nowadays lack the same perfection and artistic taste. I wonder why the officials of the Mail Association do not ask for our assistance or expertise." Since the beginning of the 20th century, trading in stamps has become an international activity. But in Egypt, the outlets where you can buy stamps for a collection are very limited. And Ketchko has even stopped acquiring rare issues to add to his stock. "I don't bother to get them, as there is no demand from the customers anymore," he told the Weekly. His most expensive issue right now is the Port Fouad Collection. "This collection was issued on 21 December 1926, and consists of four stamps," he explains. "The Mail Association opened on that day for only one hour, and two men died as a result of the stampede created by those demanding stamps. So the association only sold 85 full sets, at 55 piastres each." Today, each of those collection is estimated to be worth $1,500. "Collecting stamps is a declining hobby in Egypt," laments Ketchko. His sentiments are echoed by Metwalli. "Young amateurs can find an endless source of information on stamp collections through the many specialised sites on the Internet. However, the Arab sites only detail a limited number of collections, and are difficult to download," she added. In 1991, the WSS held an exhibition at the Opera House in an attempt to turn the spotlight on stamp collecting in Egypt. "It took us a long time to prepare for this event," Hagopian recalls. The exhibition was only the second official exhibition on this subject, after the 1948 exhibition sponsored by King Farouk. "It cost the Ministry of Culture around LE160,000, and the takings only came to LE10,000," Hagopian says. "I do not think the ministry will ever consider holding another exhibition." The trend in the West is to extend the philatelic trade to include collecting old letters, says Hagopian, whose brother works in the same profession in the United States. "Napoleon Bonaparte wrote 22 letters when he came to Egypt. These, for example, are worth a fortune nowadays." There are only two stamp dealers in Egypt who own shops and pay taxes. But there are also a handful of unofficial dealers, who can earn more than their official counterparts, because they do not pay taxes on their earnings. As a result of the declining returns on business, in 1980 Hagopian decided to add a new children's toys section to his store, "to bring some money in for the family". Today, he is pessimistic about the future of his business. "I have two daughters," Hagopian sighs. "I cannot teach them this profession. So the trade will die with me."
