These days, however, although children at philatelic shows are not quite as rare as a 24 cent American biplane flying upside down, they are pretty scarce.

"Most collectors these days are middle-aged men," admitted John Hunter, president of the Sheffield Philatelic Society.

More than 300 middle-aged men – and a few women and children – hit the post at Hillsborough last weekend when the Sheffield Philatelic Society hosted the annual convention of the Yorkshire Philatelic Association.

Collectors and dealers from all over the UK were dispatched to the Sheffield Wednesday ground for the event that rotates around the cities of Yorkshire every year.

The convention included exhibitions and displays of notable stamps and postal history by the Royal Philatelic Society and others and the Hillsborough boxes were populated for the day not by wealthy Wednesdayites but by members of the Thailand Philatelic Society, Chinese airmail enthusiasts and the Malta Study Circle.

Greg Spring from the SPS said this was one of the final big events on the philately calendar before the country's stamp enthusiasts gear up for the 2010 Festival of Stamps and International Stamp Exhibition in London, commemorating the centenary of King George V, also known as 'The Philatelist King'.

Before his accession, the then Duke of York aimed to have the best stamp collection in England and he got into the act by buying the first stamps from the Mauritius post office, much sought-after at the time.

Shortly after an aide observed that "some damned fool had paid as much as £1,400 for one stamp".

"Yes," said the Duke. "I was that damned fool."

These days the hobby is seen by some as a means of sound investment in uncertain times, as rare stamps tend to hold their value.

For many of the Sheffield collectors, however, there's more to the hobby than investment. "For me it's about the entire historical context," said John Hunter, who specialises in 19th century Southern African postal history.

"For example, if you look at the stamps of the Cape of Good Hope, Qatar and Transvaal you can see in the stamps and envelopes the aggressive colonisation of Southern Africa by white settlers. It can be quite fascinating."

There are many aspects of collecting, he added, with some philatelists focusing on the design of stamps, printing errors or even the types of perforations. Others go for themes, historical periods or particular countries.

"Some countries go for certain designs and some use stamps as a propaganda tool. In effect so do we, as the penny black had the queen's head as a symbol of imperial power."

The collectors on Saturday were certainly focused on their particular specialisms. Armed with lists and catalogues, they sifted through displays while dealers waited to spring into action with their tweezers.

The hobby, said John Hunter, is 'stable'. "As people leave, or die, they're replaced by others," he said bluntly.

"Often it's people who started when they were young, then as they get older they may get more money and time and so resume their interest."

The internet has made a huge difference. While collectors may once have browsed in their local shop, they tend now to use specialist dealers, travel to large fairs or buy from the other side of the world on Ebay.

"The internet has been a great benefit to me," said John. "Now I can bid for and win items from overseas I would never otherwise get exposed to."

It's a long way since his days as a young stamp collector in the 1950s, when he'd take his spares to school and trade them with his fellow collectors.

The national philatelic bodies are doing their best to attract young people to the hobby but John concedes that children have so many other options these days.

Nevertheless there are still some young philatelists, such as 12-year-old Anna Spring, daughter of SPS publicist Greg.

"I collect animal stamps because I'm an animal lover," she says. "It means you learn a lot about the animals of different countries."

And as you look at the faded postmarks, the moustached monarchs, the butterflies and palm trees, the conferences and tanks and airships on small sheets of gummed paper, you can understand something of the attraction for millions of philatelists and stamp collectors around the world.

Somehow, MSN and email just aren't the same.

www.sheffieldps.org.uk

Meetings of the Sheffield Philatelic Society are held at 7.15pm on the second and fourth Thursday of every month, except August, in the Central United Reformed Church, Norfolk Street.

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