Spanning the years 1910-1983, this collection of international postage stamps and philatelic material depict various aspects of chemistry and related sciences. In addition to postage stamps, the collection contains proofs, first day covers, cachets, and postmarks from over 90 countries. Topics portrayed on the stamps include alchemy, Nobel Prize winners, atomic energy, science education, chemical industries, energy conservation, the petroleum industry, as well as botanical and mineral drugs. The collection was compiled by Richard M. Lawrence over a 40-year period and was also known as "The World of Chemistry in Stamps." The collection was sold to the Witco Chemical Corporation in 1983 before eventually being donated by Witco's successor the Crompton Corporation. A portion of the collection has been digitized and is available online.
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2 items
Afghan stamp commemorating Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Box 1- 1951
Two stamps from Afghanistan commemorating Avicenna (980-1037), also known as Ibn Sina, a philosopher and alchemist.
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American postage stamps commemorating Joseph Priestley
Box 1- 1983
Depicts Joseph Priestley, often credited for the discovery of oxygen.
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Belgian postage stamp commemorating Trappist monks at Orval
Box 1- Circa 1939
Depicts two Trappist monks from Orval Abbey, presumably brewing Trappist beer.
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Belgian semipostal stamp commemorating Leo H. Baekeland
Box 1- 1955-Oct-09
Stamp depicts Leo Hendrik Baekeland, a Belgian chemist who invented Bakelite (polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride) in 1907. Bakelite was an inexpensive, versatile, and popular plastic, which marked the beginning of the…
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Canadian postage stamp depicting chemical industry
Box 1- 1956
Stamp depicts aspects of chemistry and related sciences. The design depicting a laboratory vessel is illustrative of the scientific equipment used widely for research in the chemical industry. A representative chemical…
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Cuban postage stamp promoting El Mundo Unido Contra La Malaria campaign
- Cuban postage stamp promoting The World United Against Malaria campaign
Box 1- 1962
Cuban postage stamp printed to promote world anti-malaria campaign. Depicts a chinchona plant and chemical formulas for chloroquine and primaquine, medications used to treat malaria.
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Czechoslovakian postage stamp of a chemist at work
Box 1- Circa 1954
Depicts a chemist with test tube and flask, as well as the chemical structure of a carboxyl group.
- Artist Stretti, Mario
- Engraver Roule, Bohdan
- Subject Postage stamps, Chemistry, Chemists, Czechoslovakia, Science on postage stamps
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East German postage stamp commemorating August Kekule
Box 1- 1979
Stamp depicts August Kekule with the chemical structure of a benzene ring.
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East German postage stamp commemorating science and socialism
Box 1- Undated
Stamp from the "Builders of Socialism" series, depicting aspects of chemistry and related sciences.
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East German postage stamp commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of Georgius Agricola
Box 1- 1955
Stamp depicts Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), who is perhaps best known as the "father of minerology" and for his work De re metallica [On the Nature of Metals].
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English postage stamp commemorating Walter Norman Haworth's 1937 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 100th anniversary of the Royal Institute of Chemistry
Box 1- 1977
While celebrating its centenary in 1977, the Royal Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain shared honors with English Nobel prize winners in chemistry and physics. This stamp commemorates W. N. Haworth's receipt of the…
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First Day Cover commemorating August Kekule
Box 1- 1966-Sep-07
Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz was a German organic and theoretical chemist, whose most famous work was determining the structure of benzene. The FDC features Kekule on the cachet, a postmark depicting the…
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First Day Cover commemorating George Washington Carver
Box 1- 1948-Jan-05
Philatelic First Day Cover honoring American agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864?-1943). The envelope features an illustrated rendering of Carver and the Tuskegee Institute, as well as a…
- Artist Boll, Ken
- Creator Of Work Cachet Craft
- Subject Postage stamps, African American scientists, Inventors, Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943, Tuskegee Institute, Commemorative postage stamps, African Americans, Science on postage stamps, Cachets (Philately), Agricultural chemistry, Botanists, First day covers (Philately)
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First Day Cover commemorating George Washington Carver
Box 1- 1948-Jan-09
Philatelic First Day Cover honoring American agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864?-1943). The envelope features an illustrated rendering of Carver as well as a postage stamp depicting…
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First Day Cover commemorating George Washington Carver
Box 1- 1948-Jan-05
Philatelic First Day Cover honoring American agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864?-1943). The envelope features an illustrated rendering of a hand holding a peanut as well as a postage…
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First Day Cover commemorating Japan's use of the metric system
Box 1- 1959-Jun-05
Stamp depicts measuring instruments.
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First Day Cover commemorating Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Box 1- 1951
Cachet and semipostal stamp depict Gay-Lussac. Cachet depicts a book titled "Law of Gay-Lussac" and various scientific apparatus. Envelope is addressed to Mrs. Richard M. Lawrence, President of the ACS Wives Club.
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First Day Cover commemorating airmail and Israeli exports
Box 1- 1968
Stamp depicts Boeing 707, chemical apparatus, and heavy oxygen isotopes.
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First Day Cover commemorating the 200th birthday of Johan Gadolin
Box 1- 1960-Jun-04
Cachet and stamp depict Johan Gadolin, who discovered the element yttrium and is considered the "founder of Finnish chemistry." The stamp commemorates the bicentennial of Gadolin's birth and features his likeness based…
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First Day Cover commemorating the 2nd centenary of the birth of Antoine Lavoisier
Box 1- Circa 1943
Philatelic First Day Cover commemorating the 2nd centenary of the birth of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), who is widely considered the father of modern chemistry.
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First Day Cover commemorating the centenary of the Convention du Mètre (Treaty of the Meter)
Box 1- 1975
Cachet depicts the wavelength of krypton-86, which was formerly used to define the meter from 1960 until 1983. A meter was defined during this time as the wavelength of the 605 nm (orange) spectral line of a krypton-86…
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First Day Cover commemorating the centenary of the death of Amedeo Avogadro
Box 1- 1956
Cachet depicts a bust of Avogadro as well as text of Avogadro's law, which states that equal volumes of gases under the same conditions of temperature and pressure will contain equal numbers of molecules. The stamp…
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French semipostal stamp commemorating Louis Pasteur
Box 1- 1973
Stamp depicts Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) with microbes as seen through a microscope.
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German stamp commemorating Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Box 1- 1952
Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) stamp commemorating Avicenna (980-1037), also known as Ibn Sina, a philosopher and alchemist.
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Greek postage stamp commemorating Democritus
Box 1- Circa 1961
Stamp from the inauguration of Democritus Nuclear Research Centre in Agia Paraskevi. Depicts ancient Greek philosopher Democritus and a model of an atom.
