Singapore Philatelic Museum

Singapore Philatelic Museum

Perhaps one of the quirkiest of the museums in Singapore, the Philatelic Museum is dedicated to the hobby of stamp-collecting, a past-time that gained a sizeable following amongst local Singaporeans during the colonial period.

The thought of a museum dedicated to the production and collection of stamps may not sound like the most gripping tourist attraction at first, but the Philatelic Museum somehow manages to transform the mundane into an engaging celebration of stamps and their history.

The museum pries into the history of the humble stamp, from the origins of the first stamp, the Black Penny, to the ways in which modern stamps are actually snapshots of a culture or country at a specific point of time.

Not only do the exhibits explain how stamp designs are chosen and how misprints and forgeries occur, but they also showcase a variety of rare, almost unbelievable, stamps, including wooden stamps and commemorative stamps emblazoned with Swarovski crystals.

Conveniently located within walking distance of more popular museums like the National Museum of Singapore and the Peranakan Museum, you can visit the Philatelic Museum as part of a longer museum trail. Even if the exhibits aren’t quite your cup of tea, it’s worth dropping by the souvenir store to choose a postcard or two from the impressive range on sale there – which are far better than the underwhelming selection of postcards available in the city centre!

The Philatelic Museum is located along Coleman Street, a mere 2-3 minute walk from the Peranakan Museum. To get there by public transport, take the MRT to City Hall, Bras Basah or Clarke Quay and walk towards Fort Canning. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children.

More information is available at the Singapore Philatelic Museum website here: http://www.spm.org.sg.