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One of the several indices that I use to predict future stamp market strength is the ratio of the number of advertisements in Linns wanting to buy stamps to the number of ads wanting to sell. From 1975 (when I began tracking this) to about 2000, the ratio would vary from about 40% Buy ads […]

The stamp market has ended the year on an up note. The year started strongly and had some weakness mid year but has come back quite well towards the end. Since the recession began three years ago prices for most material has come down 20-30%. This was a large decrease to absorb (though less than

Philately differs country to country in the degree of specialization with which it is pursued. For many Latin American countries a specialist will want only the classic stamp, perhaps a few multiples, and a cover or two. Mexico has the district overprints which offer a delight of minutiae but among Latin American philately this is

Increasingly, matters that used to be explained by personality and temperament are being shown to have a genetic base. The theory is not that one’s genetic makeup forces him to be a hypocrite or a republican (not that they are the same) but that genetics plays a prominent role in psychology and personality development. This

A wonderful country to collect is Canada. The stamps are beautifully printed and more affordable than most major countries. You can complete the entire country with the exception of #3 for under $10000 which considering the scarcity of the stamps is remarkable. It probably relates to the relative size of the home market. There are

Montaigne, who died in 1592, was one of the world’s great essayists(you can buy his complete essays, which run to nearly 1400 pages of print, on Amazon Kindle for 89c-which has to be one of the great bargains of all time). He was reared as a minor French aristocrat by a pedantic father who raised

Lloyd De Vries has a good article in the November 29th edition of Linns in which he talks about the First Day cover market and specifically First Day cover prices. Each country has its own twist on collecting its own stamps. For example, the British collect (or did ) Traffic Light gutter pairs(pairs with the

Dave and Jenny were older when I first met them in the early 1970’s. My first job at the company was working in the shop (we had one then) and Dave and Jenny were regulars. They had married late and because of the economic distress of the Depression had put off children until that wasn’t

The best model in the twentieth century for an evolved peace has been Ireland and Great Britain. After centuries of British occupation, the Irish finally obtained independence in 1922 through armed struggle and political effort. Early relations between the Irish Republic and the balance of Great Britain were difficult and even in the last twenty