Monthly Archives: February 2021

In 1980 Kathy and Karl were two young students of at a Temple University course that I taught on stamp collecting. They were both in their twenties.  He was a graphic designer and she was a teacher. They both lived in the downtown part of Philadelphia and met for they first time at the class. Like most philatelic classes or clubs, the average age of this group was elderly and Kathy and Karl were the only two young people in the class. As the weeks progressed you could see a friendship beginning between the two of them and it was cute to see them whispering together. One evening Karl came into class with both his arms in plaster casts to the elbows. Kathy was helping him. The story was that the two of them were out on a date-their first date- and were walking home from the restaurant when Karl decided to show off a bit. There was a chain linked across a driveway to prevent cars from entering and Karl said to Kathy "watch this" and as he jumped over the chain his ankles caught and he wen

One of the enduring anomalies of philately is the tradition of expert's signatures. Quality, more than rarity, determines price. So it seems odd that so many rare stamps are indelibly marked in ink on the reverse to signify their genuineness or quality when such marks, if made by anyone else but the expert, would be deemed a significant fault. Owner's handstamps (where the owner identified his stamps by placing his initials or name on a rubber stamps and stamping his property) were common in the Nineteenth Century and  today these are considered  faults by collectors. But expert's handstamps, which look the same, are not considered faults and even add significantly to the value of the stamp that they are on.

 This philatelic tradition of expert's signitures comes to us from Central Europe where there was a real forgery problem in the late Nineteenth Century. The old German and Italian States had be

Philatelists have a great knowledge of more recent history and geography. I am the crossword puzzle go to guy in my home for clues relating to when and where. But we fade back to normal if historical knowledge is needed before 1840 when the Penny Black was first issued.  Imagine if stamps had been first issued during the Roman Empire. Then, we philatelists would be expert in two thousand years of world history. And imagine the wonderful stamps and covers there would be. Fall of Rome last day covers. Renaissance forerunners. French and English Royal Mistress definitives. The American Revolutionary War would be more avidly collected than the Civil War. For philatelists the history of the period we collect is easily learned almost by osmosis as we collect the stamps we love. What makes philately most interesting is that collectors learn not just history but geography, sociology, political science-indeed most of the social sciences -when we collect our stamps. For those of us who like our his

Robberies of stamp collections used to be a real problem. In the 1970's a large ring of stamp thieves were caught. They had an APS membership directory with them that they were using to figure out who to knock off next. When I was on the Board of Directors of the APS in the early 1980s, my home was burglarized, as were the homes of several other board members. But, stamp thefts have decreased in recent years and usually when philatelic materials are stolen it is part of a general burglary and not stamp specific. Insurance rates for stamps have dropped dramatically in real terms over the last forty years.

The reasons for the decrease in stamp theft are three. First, stamp prices have declined relative to the value of most other things. A mint US #C18 sold for $200 in 1980. It sells for $40 today and at the price levels for most stamp collections the risk of stealing them is not worth the reward.