This philatelist has over 80% of total Tiger stamps circulating globally; Check details

hobby that he has been carrying out for more than five deces, avid philatelist Johnny Lowis' tiger stamp collection surpasses 80% of total tiger stamps currently in circulation globally. Chinese Singaporean currently possesses more than 9,50,000 stamps in his collection, out of which his tiger stamp collection carries a great significance to him as he was born in January 1950 which is also called 'Year of Tiger'.

Following his passion for collecting stamps, Lowis started collecting tiger stamps 24 years ago in 1998 and currently owns some of most unusual stamps including world's first tiger stamp which was issued by British Malaya in 1891.

stamps issued in Malaya were not a part of Straits Settlement as concerned states were still issuing stamps depicting Queen Victoria at time. Henceforth,  four states including Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, and Selangor came out with separate issues on Malayan Tiger.

Meanwhile, it has been estimated that with a total of 600 tiger stamps in circulation globally, Lowis alone owns about 500 out of m, most of which he h acquired online through eBay and Delcampe, or exchanged with or stamp collectors. 

As reported by Star, Lowis is still awaiting anor 100 zodiac stamps from different countries including Japan, China, North Korea, Vietnam, United States, Australia, Cana, and France. However, he has still not received any issue on Malaysia post and is hoping for one very soon.

Johnny Lowis' fascination for collecting stamps

72-year-old Johnny Lewis started collecting stamps from age of 15 when he was gifted an album of stamps by his far. However, it later got him into a serious profession, with British stamps becoming his main source of inspiration. graphic designer who h gruated from  De Monfort University in Leicester, England currently has about half a million pieces of stamps in his entire collection, among which Chinese zodiac stamps are his favorites, which he started collecting in 1995.

After starting his collection for stamps, his first zodiac stamp exhibition was held at  Singapore Philatelic Museum in 2002 after which he expanded his search for more stamps and to date, he currently owns 5,000 different zodiac stamps.

Moreover, his stamp collection has also been exhibited at or places including Malaysia KL Auto Show, Hong Kong North Point Community Centre, and or stamp clubs across various countries.

Image: Facebook/@JohnnyLowis