Perhaps one of the saddest sights in stamp collecting is the man or woman who has for years collected only “new issues,” that is, stamps as they are freshly available from dealers just after issue. While it is certainly true that over a period of years, they may have acquired a large collection, they have missed one of the greatest thrills of philately— the search and find.

Most stamps are relatively easy to acquire. You decide what you want, write a check and your favorite dealer furnishes the material. But it is those items which cannot be easily acquired that give stamp collecting its greatest allure. The items, without regard to price, which are so scarce and seldom seen that one must await their coming on the market— these are true prizes of philately.

Those who limit their collecting to new issues never experience the pleasures of acquiring the difficult. And these collectors include many who would have made fine philatelists if only they had been aware of the great possibilities of philately.