Blog

George Sloane was one of the preeminent stamp writers of the previous century. He was a prominent dealer and had a weekly column in Stamps magazine (which was the largest circulation stamp weekly of its time) from about 1930-1960. His columns were published in book form in the 1960’s and make fascinating reading today

Stamp collectors tend to concentrate on minutia. The difference between one variety and another is often a design difference of a fraction of a millimeter, or a single date in a cancel, or a mere cent in a rate. But often, as

1910 Maurice Apfelbaum, Earl

There has been

Not many people today remember Herbert Bloch who died in 1987. To the generation of stamp collectors who grew up after World War II, though, Herbert was a god. He had learned his trade (stamp expertizing ) at the feet of Otto Friedl who was one of the most knowledgeable stamp dealers who ever lived.

Most countries have collectors that specialize only in Airmails. It makes an interesting specialty. Early airmails of most countries are scarce but usually affordable and the addition of early flight covers and zeppelins makes for a manageable but sufficiently exotic sub specialty. Russian Airmails are perhaps the best example of this. They are mostly scarce

Suppose you were a fellow collector of my grandfather Earl Apfelbaum in the 1920s. The probability is that you would be a world wide collector with perhaps a single country concentration. You would have a hardbound Scott album or a McKeels album as Minkus and Harris were still years in the future. You mounted your