Collectible US Back of Book Duck Stamps

US Federal Duck Stamps such as the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, have been a purchase requirement each year for hunters since 1934. These are required to hunt migratory birds and waterfowl. When purchased, they would be signed and then placed on their hunting license. The original purpose for these "duck stamps" was to raise funding and revenue, earmarked to purchase wetlands for wildlife conservation, and so this was also popular for the Conservationists. The effort was very successful and over $700 million was raised for the purchase of about 5.2 million acres to contribute to the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The first duck stamp was designed by Jay Norwoood "Ding" Darling, who was the first in charge of the Duck Stamp Program. and was also a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist. He draw sketches by pencil of a pair of Mallards and reeds. At the time, the blue-tinted stamp costed one dollar. This was worth a lot back then, but the stamp drew in 635,001 sales up until June 30, 1935.

Another notable stamp designer was Frank Benson, who created a 1935 issue which also lasted until June 30, 1936. This stamp costed a dollar and he went on creating more bird related designs including Canadian Geese, Green-Winged Teals, Northern Pintails and Greater Scaups throughout the mid-late 1930s. He began creating more designs through the 1940s, including Wood Ducks, Buffleheads, Black Ducks and two other kinds of Geese. These stamp were so popular that they sold over 1 million of them during 1938 and hit another milestone of 2 million by 1946 after the war.

Until 1950, the "duck stamps" had a cost denomination of $1. It was then raised to $2 until the end of the decade in 1959. At this time, it was again raised a dollar more to $3. This was the time when the very first multi-colored duck stamps began being issued. The depiction on this new colored stamp was a Labrador retriever that had a Mallard duck in it's mouth. The words on the stamp said Retrievers Save Game. Also in 1950, a major change happened in the way the artists for the duck stamps were chosen. Originally, they used to select artists by invitation. Now they had a competition and this year, 65 artists entered. A man Walter Weber won the competition with a black and white gouache drawing depicting two Trumpeter Swans flying across a lake in front of a background of mountains. This stamp was printed in purple color.

It wasn't until 1971 that states (California being the first) in the US began participating in the Pictorial Stamp Act. Again, this was a federal program designed to raise money and awareness for the wetlands and wilderness. A man named Paul Johnson designed the first duck stamp of California, which depicted pintail birds in flight. Eventually, Iowa, Maryland and Massachusetts began joining in as well. Stamps from the Bay State included images of duck decoys and carvers instead of real ducks, which was a new change in style for these particular US states.

When it comes to collectors, the unused mint condition stamps bring in the best value - the ones that are not signed and still have the original backing on them. Other collectors are interested in collecting the actual licenses that the stamps on them or the ones that have been signed. This is what makes Philately so interesting for these collectors because it's not just about stamp collecting, it's also about the history surrounding them as well.