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Collectors usually want three things in a philatelic specialty-aesthetic appeal, acquisition challenge and affordability. Each collector defines these terms differently. But we all want the stamps that we collect to be intrinsically attractive. We want our ability to obtain them to equal our interest in the philatelic hunt and we want the cost of the […]

Lost in the daily din of TSA screening screams and should Bristol Palin win “Dancing with the Stars” invective, is a proper seriousness about what we have to be thankful for. We live in the greatest time to live in history. A middle class American today has a far better life than a European king

Many articles have been written recently about the state of American influence abroad. The President is said to have gotten little in his recent G20 trip to Asia and the Chinese are deaf to our currency admonitions. According to pundits, America’s influence in the world hasn’t been so low in years. Many disagree- their argument

Several months ago Amos Press combined the Scott Stamp Monthly and Linn’s Stamp News. Linn’s had always been a weekly magazine and the Scott Stamp Monthly (SSM) was a monthly glossy. Now, three times a month they issue a traditional Linn’s (which has light philatelic news and commentary, but which mainly serves as an advertising

There aren’t many foolproof ways of making money in stamps but we’ve got one now. If history is a guide, there will be a mass of William-Kate marriage omnibus stamps and these will be fiercely promoted to non philatelists as a wonderful investment, which they are assuredly not (see yesterday’s post). But real philatelists can

Get ready. It’s been 30 years since Princess Diana and Prince Charles graced our albums and you can bet next year’s William and Kate extravaganza will produce a record number of philatelically inspired stamps. The last Royal Wedding produced hundreds of issues and this one will produce thousands, even more if you include specialty items,

When an organization is facing large deficits like the USPS is facing now, the temptation is to look at bold changes. Finding several billion dollars to balance the budget is never easy, but managers are often tempted to forget that a large forest is made up of many trees and that many small changes can

There are fashions in philately as there are in most things. In cover collecting there has always been a trend for collectors to acquire postal history that displayed new communication technology. In the early twentieth century Rail Road post office covers became popular. To speed mail delivery in the late nineteenth century, the post office

About fifteen years ago, the Scott publishing company gave its greatest gift to the philatelic fraternity since the first introduction of the stamp catalog. It was the decision to issue what they called the “Classic Specialized Catalog of Stamps and Covers”. Initially the catalog consisted of little more than a reprinted version of the 1840-1940