15 Different Ascension Island Stamps

Where the Royal Navy Met the South Atlantic —
Get 15 Different Stamps from Ascension Island

Sitting alone in the middle of the South Atlantic, roughly halfway between Africa and South America, Ascension Island has been one of the world's most strategically placed dots on the map for over 500 years. Sailors called it the "Post Office of the South Atlantic" — ships passing through would leave letters on shore for vessels going the other direction to collect and carry on. Long before postage stamps existed, this tiny volcanic island was already in the mail business.

Today it's a British Overseas Territory of barely 34 square miles, home to Royal Air Force personnel, BBC relay transmitters, NASA tracking stations, and some of the most extraordinary wildlife in the Atlantic Ocean. And its stamps — issued since 1922 — reflect every fascinating layer of that history.

This collection of 15 different gives you an exceptional cross-section: royal portraits, wildlife, tall ships, world-changing scientists, a legendary statesman, and the birth of the postage stamp itself all represented in a single packet.

Selections will vary, but the one I looked through included:

• The Winston Churchill commemorative (1d) — Issued in 1965, the year of Churchill's death, this deep-blue stamp pairs his portrait with the iconic wartime image of searchlights sweeping over St. Paul's Cathedral. "Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 1874–1965" is inscribed across the top. It's one of the great Commonwealth commemoratives of the 20th century, and a must for any topical collector of history, World War II, or British royalty.
• The 1965 International Co-operation Year stamp — A Commonwealth-wide omnibus issue marking the 20th anniversary of the United Nations, featuring clasped hands framed by the UN olive wreath, with a crisp portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in the right panel. Issued the same year as the Churchill stamp, it captures a world simultaneously mourning a great leader and reaching toward a more cooperative future.
• The Sir Rowland Hill death centenary stamp (1979) — This clever philatelic treasure commemorates the man who invented the postage stamp, and does it the best possible way — by reproducing earlier Ascension Island stamps within the design itself. Rowland Hill's 1840 reform created the Penny Post and the world's first adhesive stamp, Great Britain’s Penny Black, changing communication forever. Every stamp you own traces its existence back to him.
• The "Voyage of Darwin" HMS Beagle stamp (40p) — Issued in 1982 to mark the 150th anniversary of Darwin's famous voyage, this stamp depicts the three-masted HMS Beagle under full sail against an open sky. Darwin visited Ascension in 1836 and explored its volcanic geology with characteristic curiosity. This was a joint commemorative with St. Helena, the Falkland Islands, and Mauritius — the four island nations Darwin visited on that world-changing journey.
• The Royal Geographical Society commemoratives (1980) — Two stamps from Ascension's 1980 set marking the 150th anniversary of the Royal Geographical Society, both with the Society's emblem prominently displayed. One shows the historic survey vessel MS Tortoise off the island's coast; the other features a striking continental drift map placing Ascension on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge — a reminder that this island literally sits on the seam where two tectonic plates pull apart. Ascension has been of immense importance to geographers and scientists for centuries.
• Early map of Ascension Island (40p) — A beautifully reproduced early survey map of the island dated 1819, when Ascension was still a newly garrisoned Royal Navy outpost. Seeing the island's volcanic contours plotted in period cartographic style is a genuine delight.
• HMS Ganymede (1p) — From Ascension's popular ships of the Royal Navy series, this stamp depicts the sailing warship HMS Ganymede as it appeared around 1811, under full canvas on the open ocean. Ascension was a regular port of call for Royal Navy vessels throughout the 19th century, and this series is a favorite among naval and maritime topical collectors.
• The Resplendent Angelfish — A jewel of a stamp, depicting Centropyge resplendens — a spectacularly colored fish in vivid blue and orange that is found almost nowhere else in the world outside Ascension's own coastal waters. It's a genuine endemic, and one of the most striking designs in any fish topical collection.
• The House Sparrow (5p) — Passer domesticus, rendered in warm brown tones against a plain background. Not a native bird — House Sparrows were introduced to the island — but very much a part of daily life on Ascension, and a charming addition to any bird topical collection.
• The 1p Postage Due — A quietly useful piece for the serious Ascension collector, this island-shaped Postage Due stamp in orange is harder to come by than regular definitives and rounds out a complete Ascension holding nicely.

Fifteen stamps that span four centuries of South Atlantic history, from tall-masted warships to Darwin's world-changing voyage to wildlife found on no other island on earth. It's a remarkable collecting opportunity for the price.

Add this collection to your album today.