The Philatelic Exhibition of 80,000 items on the Upper Ground Floor offers a unique opportunity to see many great rarities. An associated book, The British Library Treasures in Focus: Stamps, is available from the Shop.

Currently on display are:

• Banknotes from the Crown Agents Philatelic & Security Printing Archive
• The Tapling Collection World to 1890; exhibited are countries A-M (Mauritius) on 2,000 pages (countries M (Mexico) -Z are available to researchers by appointment)
• The Mosely Collection of British Africa to 1935
• The Bojanowicz Collection of Poland 1939 - 1946 stamps and postal history
• The Model Collection of Germany 1945 - 1946 local provisional stamps
• The Harrison Collection of die proofs 1911 -1937, engraved by J.A.C. Harrison
• The Davies Collection of Libyan revenue stamps 1955 - 1969
• The Fitz Gerald Collection of World Airmails to the 1930s (selected pages)
• The Bailey Collection of Spanish Civil War stamps and postal history 1936 - 1939 (selected pages)
• The Turner Collection of Great Britain and Ireland Railway Letter Stamps 1891 - 1940 (selected pages)
• The Langmead Collection of Great Britain and Ireland Telegraph stamps, 1851 - 1881