Ecuador .Messrs. Whitfield King & Co. have sent us complete sets of the 1892 stamps for those unhappy South American Republics who have delivered to Ecuador.Messrs. Whitfield King & Co. have sent us complete sets of the 1892 stamps for those unhappy South American Republics who have delivered themselves into the hands of the enemy from a philatelic aspect. We have such a supreme disgust for this system of recruiting the finances of a Government by the depletion of collectors' pockets, that we intend to give scant notice to their phila-telically worthless productions. From the 1892 edition of the London Philatelist.
The stamp issuing policies of most countries today is so promiscuous that if stamp collectors weren't inured by a century of this kind of stuff we would be loudly complaining. The United States issues hundreds of different postal issues per year in a time of declining postal, and especially stamp use. And the United States is a model of philatelic probity compared to places like Grenada which issues hundreds of stamps per year with thousands of dollars of postage value, none of which are ever postally used. But this battle was lost by collectors years ago and you hear hardly a whimper each time some country issues stamps that are solely designed for collectors.
This was not always the case. Stamps began to have a philatelic purpose, rather than just a postal purpose, about 1890 and Ecuador, the perp in the blurb above, was only one of many countries that took advantage of the growing popularity of our hobby. Even the United States, with the Columbian issue of 1893, cashed in on this trend, issuing many high values that collectors had to buy, but which had no postal purpose. The total number of stamp issues from 1890-1910 were five times what were issued during the first fifty years of postal emissions. And philatelic agencies have never looked back.
The stamp issuing policies of most countries today is so promiscuous that if stamp collectors weren't inured by a century of this kind of stuff we would be loudly complaining. The United States issues hundreds of different postal issues per year in a time of declining postal, and especially stamp use. And the United States is a model of philatelic probity compared to places like Grenada which issues hundreds of stamps per year with thousands of dollars of postage value, none of which are ever postally used. But this battle was lost by collectors years ago and you hear hardly a whimper each time some country issues stamps that are solely designed for collectors.
This was not always the case. Stamps began to have a philatelic purpose, rather than just a postal purpose, about 1890 and Ecuador, the perp in the blurb above, was only one of many countries that took advantage of the growing popularity of our hobby. Even the United States, with the Columbian issue of 1893, cashed in on this trend, issuing many high values that collectors had to buy, but which had no postal purpose. The total number of stamp issues from 1890-1910 were five times what were issued during the first fifty years of postal emissions. And philatelic agencies have never looked back.