On our forum we received a good question from a reader, who asked for information about famous people known to be stamp collectors. This gave us the idea of producing a ‘Top Ten’ of famous collectors . After some research I came up with the following:

Freddie Mercury

The singer from English rock band Queen collected stamps when he was a child. After his death his father sold Mercury’s collection to the Royal Mail. The proceeds of the sale were donated to an AIDS charity.

Nicolas Sarkozy

The 23rd President of France has collected stamps since his youth, he seems to have built by now an impressive collection

In 2004, Sarkozy received from Queen Elizabeth a series of stamps commemorating the Entente Cordiale, during his stay at Windsor Castle.

During his governorship of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented the French president with an album filled with stamps plus two first day cover envelopes fromCalifornia. Sarkozy sponsors the Philatélique Club de l’Élysée.

Queen Elizabeth II

The United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth has collected first day cover envelopes from the UK and overseas since 1952.

Ronnie Wood

Guitarist Ronnie Wood, famous for his work with, among others, The Faces and The Rolling Stones also collects stamps.

Maria Sharapova

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova collected stamps when she was a child.

This was mentioned during an interview. She was later to regret making this admission as she said that she was afraid that it would not be good for her image!

Anatoly Karpov

Chess Grand Master Karpov has an enormous collection of stamps from Belgium and the Belgian Congo.

Jacques Cousteau

The French explorer and researcher, who died in 1997, collected French stamps. In 2001 France issued a commemorative stamp depicting Cousteau.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The 32nd President of the United States of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was an enthusiastic collector of stamps. During his presidency he did much to promote philately. He collected American stamps and also proofprints.

Patrick Dempsey

This American actor, mainly known for his role in the successful TV series Grey’s Anatomy has collected stamps since his youth.

Warren Buffet

Investor and businessman Warren Buffet has indicated many times in interviews that he collects stamps. He collects classic stamps of the United States of America.

This top 10 is a list of known famous philatelists but possibly could become a Top 20, 50 etc.

Do you know of anyone who could be added to the list? Let us know by placing a reaction to this story. I look forward to your messages.

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