Evolution of Color and Shade in Philately
There is surprising uniformity of color on early stamps. The first stamp, the Penny Black, was
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Plating
One of the most exciting aspects of philately (and one of its most popular until about 1940) is plating. Plating is a subspecialty that is usually only available on classic engraved stamps. When stamps are printed from the engraved (or intaglio) process a single die is created by the master engraver. How that die is
Classic Mint Sheets
Until about twenty years ago, mint sheet collecting was scorned. Mint sheets were large and hard to store. They didn’t display well, and great care had to be taken to see that they didn’t split along the perforations, something that greatly affects the value. The very nature of philately is to collect and mount your
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Default
Perhaps the most ridiculous man made disaster of our lifetime is closer and closer to coming about. I have refrained from writing about it as it seemed inconceivable that the United States House of Representatives would actually renege on the debts and legal obligations of the United States. This is the same group who is
Stamp Collecting Life Cycles
We bought the lifetime collection of a Walter Lewis recently. He had never sold a single stamp or album or cover so his collection is perfect for analyzing philatelic life cycles. Lewis began collecting stamps in 1940 at the age of 11. His first album was the Scott International Junior album. The Scott Publishing Company had began publishing the
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H E Harris -America’s Greatest Stamp Dealer
Most of us grew up collecting stamps that were sent to us from the H. E. Harris company. Henry Harris founded his business in the 1920s and was a tireless promoter of philately. During the Great Depression, he sponsored radio shows and advertised extensively, introducing a generation of collectors to his approval method of buying
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Pony Express and the Importance of Knowledgeable Stamp Dealers
One of the more glamorous aspects of the old West was the Pony Express. Beginning for about eighteen months in 1860 the Pony Express raced letters across the American frontier from California to St. Joseph, MO where the letters entered the mail stream to their final destination. Their service was expensive, but it cut as
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US #1’s for Sale
Much has been written on the first United States Postage Stamp. Most of the important modern information has been posted by Scott Trepel of the Siegal Auction Galleries, and it makes great reading. While research on use of this stamp has been intense, what hasn’t seen much print (pixels?) is the history of the collecting of
World War I Prisoner of War History
One of the more interesting WW I POW collections has come across my desk. I thought you would like to see it in its entirety.
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