John Harry Robson Lowe (7 January, 1905, London – 19 August, 1997, Bournemouth), Robbie to his friends, was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer.
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Lowe is regarded by philatelists as the father of postal history, having published many definitive works on the subject and having introduced the term in his first major book Handstruck Postage Stamps of the Empire 1680-1900 in 1948. In 1970 he was awarded the Lichtenstein Medal by the Collectors Club of New York.[1]
He started his philatelic career at Fox & Co. in 1926 and then established his own firm, Robson Lowe Ltd. in Regent Street, London in 1926.[2] He moved premises to 50 Pall Mall in 1940 and ran an auction business from Bournemouth starting in 1945. For health reasons he was unable to serve in the military during World War Two. [3] He refused to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists due to the refusal to remove the name of South African Adrian Albert Jurgens, whom he considered a stamp forger.[2]
Lowe was regarded as something of a raconteur and a larger-than-life character. According to one story, while playing cards in South Africa, and possibly after several drinks, he won an orange farm, but was able subsequently to swap it for a stamp collection.[4]
As well as leading in postal history, Lowe was one of the first to recognise the potential of revenue philately which had been long neglected. In 1990, he was the first President of The Revenue Society.
Lowe was responsible for the publication of many of the key works in philately. His personal magnum opus was The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps which he never quite finished but which stands as a monument to his life's work. The encyclopaedia was based on the earlier Regent series. In 1974 he received the Crawford Medal for Volume 5 of The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps and in 1991 he became the first stamp dealer to be made an Honorary member of the Royal Philatelic Society London.[5]