First Day Cover collecting in the United States began gradually. Until about 1920, no one made FDCs and the ones that we have were serendipitously prepared by ordinary postal users going to the post office and accidentally using a new issue on the day that it came out. Gimbel Brothers, the department store in Philadelphia, […]
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Throughout philatelic history, writers have been predicting the next great philatelic area-the next specialty that will take off in price. Predictions are usually founded on one of two criteria that predict the supposed increase in the popularity that the stamps will undergo. Either the economy of the country will take off creating a pool of
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Since at least 1900, people have touted stamps as an investment. The first United States stamp to be speculated in was the 5c 1847 (Scott #1) which was the subject of a market push in the early 1900s. A group of speculators figured that they could push up the price of this stamp and began
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One of the major problems in philately relates to how experts charge for the work that they do. Many types of rare stamps are bought with increased confidence when a third party expert has passed on them. In the area of United States stamps this includes rarer grills and coils and shades. The problem for
Among the most interesting issues in philately are the classic first issues of Japan called the Dragons. Japan was a closed society for about three hundred years before 1854. Japanese leaders had made the decision that they wanted no contact with outsiders (as they saw what foreigners were doing to China) and the penalty for
EBay has a policy that allows sellers to list stamps for sale without posting a textual description of the stamps that are being sold. This is apparently a rephrasing of the dictum that “a picture is worth a thousand words” to “a picture is better than words”. This might work for showing pictures of your
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The American Philatelic Society has fallen on hard times. Membership has plunged to 33,000, not far from the number where huge service cuts will have to take place. Finally, acquisition and retention of members has become a priority and a committee under former Vice President Steven Rod is exploring ways to increase membership. The main
Stamp collecting provides a pretty big tent and there is room inside for all sorts of people. There are the avid moralists who look for repairs under every hinge. There are the rigid conformists who collect neatly (and only) in preprinted albums, and the messy iconoclasts who exhibit collections with titles such as “stamps I
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The rise of the price of stamps during the most recent inflationary period (1975-1980) has given stamps a reputation as an inflation hedge that they do not deserve. First, from about 1950 to about 1975 stamp prices rose tremendously, 300% or more, and were a leader in investment returns for this period. But this period
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