Rare British stamp collection held by New Brunswick

One of the greatest collection of British stamps does not exist anywhere near their country of origin.

Rather they reside in New Brunswick with Mary Pugh.

"I'm impressed coming from Canada that I should do so well in London," said Pugh. "It's certainly the Mecca for British collectors."  

In February, Pugh received a gold medal in London from the Great Britain Philatelic Society, recognizing the rarity and uniqueness of the tiny squares of post-office art. 

"Some of these just simply don't exist outside of this collection," said Pugh. 

Has the one stamp coveted by the Queen

Pugh's assortment of stamps is exceptional, due to the fact that she's keeping Queen Elizabeth from completing her own collection. 

It turns out the Queen owns 59 Penny Heaton stamps, almost a full sheet of the rare stamps printed in 1925. 

It would be a full sheet of 60 stamps had someone not cut one out. 

That stamp has found its way into Pugh's collection. 

"That sheet is in her collection. But it is missing that stamp — which I have," said Pugh.  

According to Pugh, the collection contains items that existed before stamps were even called stamps. 

'Should be in a museum'

Pugh had her collection on display at Fredericton High School on Saturday.

There, fellow stamp collector Graham Forbes said Pugh's collection deserved every award it garnered. 

"It should be in a museum," joked Graham. "It's fantastic stuff in there." 

But Pugh wants to keep showcasing the tiny pieces of history. 

"I just like to bring it out for people to see interesting material which they might not see elsewhere outside of a book," said Pugh.