Housed in one of Budapest’s distinctive Bauhaus buildings, on the corner of Dob Street and Hársfa Street, the Stamp Museum—recipient of the Hungarian Heritage Award—is a place where visitors can travel the world within a single exhibition hall. The collection today comprises 14 million artefacts, of which nearly half a million stamps are on display. Here, visitors can see virtually every stamp ever issued by the nations of the world, making the museum truly unique among institutions of its kind.

Also on view are original sketches by graphic designers, as well as the artwork and printing tools used in stamp production. First day covers, commemorative postcards, special postmarks, commercially used postal items, and thematic collections complete the rich and diverse world of philately.

Our permanent exhibition, Universe, History of Stamps, guides visitors from continent to continent, presented country by country in alphabetical order. The stamps follow the sequence of the French Yvert and the German Michel catalogues—allowing visitors to experience a genuine journey through time.

The Hungarian collection is particularly rich in rarities, ranging from pre-philatelic letters to the legendary error prints. Among the treasures on display are the red 3-kreuzer cover from 1867 postmarked in Kőbánya, the Inverted Madonna, and the unique 24-stamp block of Nagymánya, considered the most valuable Hungarian error in this form.

The array of international rarities is virtually endless: visitors can admire the world’s first postage stamp, the British Penny Black issued in 1840, the Austrian Red Mercury, the world’s first sports-themed stamp series from Greece, as well as the famous Mauritius reprints.

Those who explore our collection will discover who the “Impudent Postmaster” of New Brunswick was, why the Hawaiian Missionary stamps are called “Missionaries”, and how a Moldavian stamp series came to be known as the “Bull’s Head” issues.

Among the half a million stamps on display, visitors will find extraordinary rarities unseen anywhere else: stamps pressed from genuine gold foil, issues printed on aluminium foil, jewellery stamps, embroidered and silk-thread stamps, three-dimensional designs, chocolate-scented stamps, and even one that can be played as a vinyl record.

This is a place where one can travel to every corner of the world without ever leaving the exhibition hall, which is why the Stamp Museum is an unmissable destination. Now is the perfect opportunity to discover these miniature masterpieces of graphic art!

1/7

×