Hoarding is not yet a certified psychological condition though its symptoms are well known and follow consistent patterns. Like most psychological orientations, hoarding exists along a spectrum, from someone who simply likes to save things to a person who is unable to get rid of anything. Most philatelists tend to be in the lower range […]
The American Philatelic Society has long had an annual philatelic exhibition called STAMPSHOW. This annual get together is for the Board meetings and the Champion of Champion philatelic exhibition and houses what is probably the finest dealer’s bourse at any show. The policy of the APS for many years has been to have this show travel around
A Call For Chicago Read More »
Early Bi-colored stamps are among the most popular in philately. Several of the essays for the first postage stamp (the Penny black) were for bi-colored stamps but they were rejected as too expensive to produce and too hard to print with the speed and quality that was necessary for production runs that were as large
James Quan and Harry Quill both had major collections of the Red Revenue series of China (Scott #78-86) back in the day when the stamps were expensive but not at the stratospheric levels that they are today. This was a great set to collect, lots of varieties, with the stamps being just scarce enough for
One of the great Apfelbaum family relics is the first stamp album of my Great grandfather Maurice Apfelbaum. Maurice was born in 1873 and this album is an old Scott world wide album inscribed on the inset-To Maur-on his 8th birthday/ Love gmom and gdad” which makes it a gift from his grandparents in 1881.
Maurice’s Stamp Album Read More »
Every decent stamp collection is a real accomplishment on the part of its owner and creator. You had to decide what to collect and carefully search for items for your collection over a period of years. You went to stamp shows and dealer shops, perused auction catalogs and surfed the Internet. You learned the language
You Built That Collection Read More »
Fifty years ago, philately took an annual summer vacation that began about Memorial Day and lasted until September. Before pervasive air conditioning, it was unpleasant to work on stamps during the summer heat. High humidity and temperature make stamps stick to your fingers when you handled them. And gum becomes tacky in the heat and humidity and
Dog Days of August Read More »
Professional philatelists can become a bit jaded with all the stamps that they see. Because of this I am always on the look out for unusual collections. Most unusual collection in the major US and European specialty groups are very pricey and are therefore indulged in by only the 1%. Unusual thematic collections are different and even a
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I received this email recently: I am a small stamp dealer and would like to know if you could help me, telling me where I can stock quality, good price and in small quantities.I want to form a small stock of stamps MNH or “post office fresh,” only VF, XF and SUP, from the period
The Stamp Dealer’s Dilemma Read More »