Stamp Collecting Merit Badge History

Earned through 2020395,283

Best year196013,536 earned

All-time popularity#77official, as of 2020#78by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1931. Peak year 1960 with 13,536. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19311,461 earned#64 of 96

19323,112 earned#41 of 98

19333,427 earned#40 of 101

19342,926 earned#42 of 101

19353,697 earned#38 of 101

19363,010 earned#38 of 101

19373,272 earned#35 of 102

19383,569 earned#41 of 105

19394,233 earned#35 of 106

19404,159 earned#35 of 106

19413,795 earned#37 of 106

19423,342 earned#37 of 110

19434,017 earned#38 of 112

19444,754 earned#39 of 111

19454,925 earned#36 of 111

19464,127 earned#37 of 111

19473,557 earned#39 of 111

19483,312 earned#41 of 111

19493,231 earned#46 of 111

19504,068 earned#44 of 111

19515,001 earned#40 of 111

19526,640 earned#36 of 120

19537,754 earned#33 of 105

19549,596 earned#33 of 103

195510,170 earned#33 of 100

195610,009 earned#33 of 100

19579,326 earned#33 of 100

19589,393 earned#33 of 101

195910,867 earned#32 of 101

196013,536 earned#32 of 100

196113,496 earned#32 of 101

196212,235 earned#36 of 101

196312,350 earned#37 of 102

196410,630 earned#40 of 107

196510,135 earned#40 of 109

19669,286 earned#40 of 110

19679,155 earned#46 of 112

19688,138 earned#48 of 112

19697,822 earned#51 of 113

19707,474 earned#52 of 113

19717,129 earned#54 of 113

19726,749 earned#61 of 124

19737,546 earned#61 of 122

197410,352 earned#60 of 121

197510,715 earned#58 of 128

19768,049 earned#63 of 130

19775,941 earned#68 of 130

19785,240 earned#70 of 131

19793,887 earned#67 of 132

19802,500 earned#72 of 132

19813,385 earned#72 of 134

1982No data available

1983No data available

1984No data available

1985No data available

1986No data available

1987No data available

1988No data available

1989No data available

1990No data available

1991No data available

1992No data available

19931,720 earned#104 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

19961,270 earned#109 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

20001,251 earned#111 of 128

2001992 earned#113 of 129

20021,104 earned#114 of 129

20031,310 earned#114 of 130

20041,352 earned#112 of 121

20051,451 earned#115 of 121

20061,112 earned#116 of 121

20071,057 earned#116 of 121

20081,031 earned#117 of 121

20091,087 earned#117 of 122

20101,434 earned#118 of 125

20111,147 earned#115 of 129

20121,045 earned#110 of 132

20131,131 earned#96 of 129

2014863 earned#134 of 136

2015996 earned#135 of 138

2016793 earned#135 of 138

2017954 earned#133 of 139

2018836 earned#135 of 139

2019919 earned#136 of 139

20201,278 earned#132 of 137

2021No data available#133 of 137

2022No data available#133 of 138

2023No data available#132 of 138

2024No data available#136 of 138

2025No data available#139 of 141

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#139 of 141" means the badge was number 139 of the 141 merit badges earned that year. National counts have not been published since 2020, but the rankings have. The grand total comes from official reports and includes the years without a known count. The 2025 all-time place is an estimate, because the counts for 2021 to 2025 are worked out from each year's official ranking and the total number of merit badges earned that year.

19311,461#64 of 96

19323,112#41 of 98

19333,427#40 of 101

19342,926#42 of 101

19353,697#38 of 101

19363,010#38 of 101

19373,272#35 of 102

19383,569#41 of 105

19394,233#35 of 106

19404,159#35 of 106

19413,795#37 of 106

19423,342#37 of 110

19434,017#38 of 112

19444,754#39 of 111

19454,925#36 of 111

19464,127#37 of 111

19473,557#39 of 111

19483,312#41 of 111

19493,231#46 of 111

19504,068#44 of 111

19515,001#40 of 111

19526,640#36 of 120

19537,754#33 of 105

19549,596#33 of 103

195510,170#33 of 100

195610,009#33 of 100

19579,326#33 of 100

19589,393#33 of 101

195910,867#32 of 101

196013,536#32 of 100

196113,496#32 of 101

196212,235#36 of 101

196312,350#37 of 102

196410,630#40 of 107

196510,135#40 of 109

19669,286#40 of 110

19679,155#46 of 112

19688,138#48 of 112

19697,822#51 of 113

19707,474#52 of 113

19717,129#54 of 113

19726,749#61 of 124

19737,546#61 of 122

197410,352#60 of 121

197510,715#58 of 128

19768,049#63 of 130

19775,941#68 of 130

19785,240#70 of 131

19793,887#67 of 132

19802,500#72 of 132

19813,385#72 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

19931,720#104 of 123

1994—

1995—

19961,270#109 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

20001,251#111 of 128

2001992#113 of 129

20021,104#114 of 129

20031,310#114 of 130

20041,352#112 of 121

20051,451#115 of 121

20061,112#116 of 121

20071,057#116 of 121

20081,031#117 of 121

20091,087#117 of 122

20101,434#118 of 125

20111,147#115 of 129

20121,045#110 of 132

20131,131#96 of 129

2014863#134 of 136

2015996#135 of 138

2016793#135 of 138

2017954#133 of 139

2018836#135 of 139

2019919#136 of 139

20201,278#132 of 137

2021—#133 of 137

2022—#133 of 138

2023—#132 of 138

2024—#136 of 138

2025—#139 of 141

Grand total through 2020:

This page keeps growing. More of this badge's history, including its patches and pamphlets, is being checked and will be added once it is confirmed.

Stamp Collecting: workbook data

Printings (82)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	SKU	SA #	HC	Notes
x	1931		3B			1931
x	1931	December	3B		2M	1931
x	1932	March	3B		2M	1931
x	1932	October	3B		2M	1931
x	1933	September	3B		2M	1931
	1934	not made
x	1935	January	3B		2M	1931
x	1935	January	3B		2M	1931						with pasted november 1936 requirements effective jan 1, 1938
x	1935	November	3B		2M	1931
x	1936	November	3C		3M	1931
	1937	not made
c	1938	January	3			1931
x	1938	May	3C		2M	1931
x	1939	April	3D		3M	1931
	1940	not made
x	1941	February	3D		2M	1931
x	1942	March	3D		2M	1931
	1942	March	4		2M	1931
x	1943	March	4		2M	1931
	1944	March	4		4M	1931
x	1944	March	5A		4M	1931
x	1945	January	5B		4M	1931
x	1945	October	5B		3M	1931
x	1946	March	5B		4M	1931
x	1947	November	5B		3M	1931
x	1948	August	5B		4M
	1949	not made
x	1950	January	5B		4M
x	1951	May	5B		5M
x	1951	August	5B	back-6a	5M	1951
x	1952	June	5B		7M	1951
x	1952	November	6		10M	1951
x	1953	May	6		15M	1951					HCI
x	1954	June	6		15M	1951
x	1955	May	6		20M	1951
x	1956	November	6		15M	1951
x	1957	October	6		16M	1951
x	1958	November	6		10M	1951
x	1959	June	6		16M	1951
x	1960	April	6		17M	1951					HCJV2
x	1960	December	6		18M	1951					HCJV2
x	1961	December	6		18M	1951
	1962	not made
x	1963	March	6		18M	1951
x	1964	March	6		18M	1951					HCK, HCP, HCQ
x	1965	February	6		18M	1951					HCL
x	1966	July	7		20M	1966					HCQ
x	1967	July	7		17M	1966					HCL
x	1968	September	7		33M	1966					HCL, HCM
	1969	not made
	1970	not made
x	1971	January	7		15M	1966
x	1972	February	7		15M	1966
x	1973	May	8A		13M
x	1974	September	8B		20M	1974					HCT
	1975	not made
x	1976	January	8B		10M	1974					HCT
x	1976	November	8B		10M	1974
	1977	not made
x	1978	April	8B		7M	1974
x	1979	August	9A		6M
x	1980	September	9A		6M
x	1981	July	9A		6.5M						HCU
	1982	not made
x	1983	July	9A		6.5M
x	1984	October	9A		5.5M
	1985	not made
x	1986	January	9A		5.5M
x	1987	February	9A		5M
	1987	November	9A		5M
x	1988	November	9A		5M
x	1989	October	9		5.5M
x	1990	November	9		5M
	1991	not made
x	1992	February	9		5M
x	1993	August	9		4.5M	1993
x	1994	May	9B		4M
x	1995	May	9B		4.5M
x	1996	July	9B		4.5M
	1997	not made
x	1998		9B
x	1998		9									2nd printing
	1999	not made
x	2000		9C
x	2001		9C
x	2002		9
	2003	not made
x	2004		9
x	2005		9
	2006	not made
x	2007		9D
x	2008		10A
	2009	not made
x	2010		10C
x	2011		10C
	2012	not made
x	2013		10C			2013
	2014	not made
	2015	not made
	2016	not made
	2017	not made
x	2018		10D			2013	35955	730176359557
x	2018		10D			2013	35955	730176358000	623013
	2019	not made
	2020	not made
	2021	not made
	2022	not made
	2023	not made
x	2024		11A	back-1125		2024	35955	7301766624398	662439	300070052
	2025	not made

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1931	1,461	64	96
1932	3,112	41	98
1933	3,427	40	101
1934	2,926	42	101
1935	3,697	38	101
1936	3,010	38	101
1937	3,272	35	102
1938	3,569	41	105
1939	4,233	35	106
1940	4,159	35	106
1941	3,795	37	106
1942	3,342	37	110
1943	4,017	38	112
1944	4,754	39	111
1945	4,925	36	111
1946	4,127	37	111
1947	3,557	39	111
1948	3,312	41	111
1949	3,231	46	111
1950	4,068	44	111
1951	5,001	40	111
1952	6,640	36	120
1953	7,754	33	105
1954	9,596	33	103
1955	10,170	33	100
1956	10,009	33	100
1957	9,326	33	100
1958	9,393	33	101
1959	10,867	32	101
1960	13,536	32	100
1961	13,496	32	101
1962	12,235	36	101
1963	12,350	37	102
1964	10,630	40	107
1965	10,135	40	109
1966	9,286	40	110
1967	9,155	46	112
1968	8,138	48	112
1969	7,822	51	113
1970	7,474	52	113
1971	7,129	54	113
1972	6,749	61	124
1973	7,546	61	122
1974	10,352	60	121
1975	10,715	58	128
1976	8,049	63	130
1977	5,941	68	130
1978	5,240	70	131
1979	3,887	67	132
1980	2,500	72	132
1981	3,385	72	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	1,720	104	123
1994
1995
1996	1,270	109	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	1,251	111	128
2001	992	113	129
2002	1,104	114	129
2003	1,310	114	130
2004	1,352	112	121
2005	1,451	115	121
2006	1,112	116	121
2007	1,057	116	121
2008	1,031	117	121
2009	1,087	117	122
2010	1,434	118	125
2011	1,147	115	129
2012	1,045	110	132
2013	1,131	96	129
2014	863	134	136
2015	996	135	138
2016	793	135	138
2017	954	133	139
2018	836	135	139
2019	919	136	139
2020	1,278	132	137
2021		133	137
2022		133	138
2023		132	138
2024		136	138
2025		139	141