Each generation tends to look proudly at its technological achievements and undervalue the achievements of the past. That we are rightly proud of our computers and rockets should not make us overlook just what an achievement the Panama Canal was. This Isthmus of Panama is a narrow band of mountainous terrain less than fifty miles […]
People are often looking around for philatelic specialties. Sometimes they have recently began serious collecting and want an area that will reward their keen interest. Or sometimes they have reached the end of the road in the specialty that they are pursuing and are at the point that the items that they need exceed their
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There are very few long term savings certificates that are tied to the rate of inflation but several years ago the United States Post Office effectively issued an even better investment vehicle. With the “First Class Forever” stamps the Post Office promised completely paid first class postage any time in the future. In 1960 the
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Above is an example of what you can do with postal history and the interest and study that it offers (click on the illustation to enlarge it)
The classic stamps of Chile-the imperforate Columbus heads- are some of the most interesting in philately. They consist of one design with four denominations that Scott divides into fourteen major numbers and nearly one hundred varieties. I often wonder at the inconsistencies between different country listings. With some country’s classics (I’m thinking Luxembourg here) Scott
Here’s a fun little thing that just passed my desk. The Mercury Stamp Company was run in Germany before WWII by Mueller, Friedl and Herbert Bloch. They sold stamps, but most of their business was expertizing and they were good. They maintained a several hundred volume reference collection which became part of the Philatelic Foundation’s
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When you look over the last forty years and bemoan all the things in the world that are not as good as they used to be one of the things you can’t put on the list is that there are more forgeries hobbling our hobby than there were. When I was entering professional philately, we
The famous collectors of yesteryear were a colorful group and none was more interesting than Edward Green. Ned was the son of Hetty Green who was called the “witch of Wall Street” but as far as being a mother was concerned you could have left out the Wall Street part. Hetty was the heir to
You never forget your first set-the one you picked carefully out of a catalog. Mine was when I was twelve. I was home from school, my parents having responded to whatever hypochondria I was manifesting that day. I was looking over my stamp collection which was really a Harris packet of a thousand hinged into