The first postage stamp was issued in 1840 and by 1860 every major country had followed suit. Stamps were a major money saving innovation for governments. Their use allowed the standardization of postal rates, compelled prepayment of postage and were a major labor saving innovation in post office accounting and staffing. But until 1878 and the establishment of the Universal Postal Union, the benefits that stamps conferred were only for domestic service. Stamps could be used on international mail, but overseas rates were still complicated and stamps often paid the postage only to the outgoing port where the letter required as much handling and complex rating as in the pre-postage stamp days. It's clear why countries like the United States and Germany issued stamps. There, the vast majority of letters were domestic and stamps allowed faster and cheaper postal service. But why is it that by 1870, places like Nevis, St Vincent, the Orange River Colony and more than 50 other tiny and insignificant
Monthly Archives: July 2015
- Posted July 08, 2015Read more »
- Posted July 07, 2015Read more »
Ron Stiles inherited a few stamps from his grandfather, collected with his father a bit when he was a kid, and reentered his hobby in earnest some 20 years ago when he was about sixty. He was never a passionate philatelist. He collected in fits and starts, buying heavily during some periods and neglecting his collection entirely at others. His was the prototypical philatelic life but when he decided to sell his stamps he made the best decision of his collecting life. He called Apfelbaum. As we always do, we looked over his stamps carefully and, as we often do, we found something. In the spot of US #7 (Type 2-about $75) was a stamp that looked a bit different to us. The external margins were cut away so it was impossible for anyone but an expert to determine its true type. Fortunately Mr Stiles had come to the experts. We recognized the distinctive double transfer that made this stamp plate out as a #5 and the stamp was just granted Philatelic Foundation Certificate #490309. The stamp catalogs - Posted July 06, 2015Read more »
In addition to our Public Auctions, Apfelbaum almost always has a Buy it Now sale posted on our web site. Listing anywhere from 600-6000 lots ranging in price from $50-$5000 these sale lists items for direct sale at prices that are often considerably below auction prices. We list new inventory as well as older material on which we have reduced the price. Many of our clients prefer this method of sale as they can buy items that they want immediately and not have to worry that they will lose items that they want at auction by not bidding enough. The Apfelbaum guarantee is the same for our Buy it Now sale as it is for our Public Auctions. It is an unconditional guarantee. Any item is returnable within 30 days for a complete, immediate refund for any reason. And we guarantee the genuineness and descriptions of our stamps for a somewhat longer period- forever. The Apfelbaum family has been active professional stamp dealers for over 100 years selling hundreds of thousands of lots representing
- Posted July 06, 2015Read more »
Collectors, like hikers, enjoy a challenge. They may want an easy philatelic climb some of the time, but for long term appeal most collectors need some difficulty in their pursuit. For a philatelic specialty to be popular, items after the basics, should be hard to find. Perhaps there are rarities that require great monetary outlay, and perhaps there is the challenge of reprints and forgeries. But make the challenge too daunting and people give up the climb and collect something else. Such is the case with Venezuela. Venezuela should be a popular country. It is one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America, with large oil revenues and it has a educated and literate population. These are both factors that predict philatelic popularity in a country. And yet very few people collect the stamps of Venezuela. The reason I think is because
- Posted July 03, 2015Read more »
Let's say you want to become a part time stamp dealer. Let's say your reasons are the usual ones. You like stamps, everything about them. You like to find them and acquire them and you love thinking that you purchased something that in the vernacular would be called a good deal. But you have all the affordable stamps in the area that you collect and you are not all that interested in starting a new collection. Buying and selling is a wonderful way to keep doing those things in our hobby that are most interesting to you. But how can you best be a stamp dealer with minimum capital, minimum risk, and maximum fun? My suggestion is to become a small specialty seller in an area that is popular, hard to find and not overpriced. Several areas immediately come to mind such as Italian colonies, German colonies, French Colonies, or Spanish or Portuguese colonies. Here's why these work. These are stamps that are not routinely offered by every stamp dealer so that finding them will be a challenge (remember,
- Posted July 02, 2015Read more »
Most countries have collectors that specialize only in Airmails. It makes an interesting specialty. Early airmails of most countries are scarce but usually affordable and the addition of early flight covers and zeppelins makes for a manageable but sufficiently exotic sub specialty. Russian Airmails are perhaps the best example of this. They are mostly scarce and, as they were issued in the early Soviet period, they are (in my opinion) some of the most fascinating stamps in the world (early Soviet stamps were designed in an art nouveaux fashion- and have an exaggerated, cartoonish feel that I find very compelling). The sets themselves are scarce but affordable and there are errors and imperfs and perf varieties as well as covers and flights. And to top it off, it's Russia. Though the recession has dampened the Russian appetite for stamps, I still think it's one of the few areas in philately where, in twenty years, today's prices will look cheap. Pictured here are some of the more interesting - Posted July 01, 2015Read more »
One of the dampers on the stamp market right now is the the high cost of fees associated with selling. Over the last five years, EBay has nearly doubled its fees to sellers. Many marginal sellers have been forced out of business and many stronger sellers have been compelled to reduce the price that they pay for material so as to increase their margins enough to pay the increased fees. In economic terms, any rent that is paid for access to a market has the effect of sopping up capital that would have been either put into inventory or trickled out as cash to the seller. When EBay first entered the market it was a revolutionary boon for stamp sellers. Never before could any seller have access to the entire philatelic world for only 4% of sales. The doubling of EBAY fees looks steep but, by historic standards, such access to such a broad market is unprecedented for the price. Even so fees do hurt and in the EBAY market where there is so much product being offered such increases are painful.