The Lost Island of Topay
One of the forms of stamp-collecting for young collectors in the Nineteen Seventies was to try to get at least one stamp from as many different countries as possible, keeping a running total: most of us I think got into the 170+ range. This is now sometimes known under the abbreviation ASFE (A Stamp from Everywhere) and very keen collectors do not confine themselves to the countries of the Universal Postal Union, which currently has 192 members, and to other more or less ‘legitimate’ stamp issuing places. The most assiduous want a stamp from any piece of land for which a stamp has been issued, whether official or otherwise, including disputed territories, uninhabited islands and micro-nations in someone’s bedroom or caravan. They also count separately entities which only existed historically for a few months or years, such as the Free City of Danzig, or the Tangier International Zone. In the Seventies, the main way young collectors got stamps was through “assorted” or “selection
