If you ask them, stamp collectors and dealers tell you that they never damage stamps when they handle them. They always use tongs correctly, hinge and mount their stamps carefully so that the stamps never stick or are thinned, and never crease a corner or damage a perforation. But the evidence presents a very different picture. The dollar values of the 1893 Columbian issue (Scott #241-245) were, from the very first, an issue that went almost entirely into philatelic hands. The highest denomination issue ever created by the United States Post Office before these stamps were issued was a 90c value and here were five different dollar issues with a total of $15 face value that were issued together. Fifteen dollars in 1893 was a week's wages for a skilled laborer and was far in excess of any normal postal fee so it is clear that the stamps were commemoratives for collectors and were bought mostly by collectors and dealers. So if philatelists were so careful in their handling of stamps you would expect a large undamaged pool of dollar value Columbians to be available for collectors today. After all, damaging your stamps significantly reduces their value and is something no collector willingly does. Yet look at the number of truly undamaged dollar value Columbians. It is less than 5% of the number that are offered for sale. Collectors have over the years inadvertently damaged 19 out of 20 of these stamps. Collectors are careful, but stamps are fragile and, despite our best efforts, most of the wear and tear to our precious stamps we cause ourselves.