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I don’t ordinarily write articles about stamp investment basically for two reason. First, I don’t think that stamps have been a particularly good investment over the last thirty years. Certainly, the stock, bond, and real estate markets have done better. Also, stamps need to be carefully stored and can lose their value, if not properly […]

Very few things in our world are the same as they were 85 years ago. Perhaps that’s one of the appeals of philately-collecting – patterns rarely change and the goals a collector sets out for himself can continue throughout his lifetime. Regularity and fulfilled expectations are human needs, and on this level our hobby is

Serious collectors have long been told that the great introductory book that they need to read is L N Williams “Fundamentals of Philately”. The book was first serialized in the 1950’s in the American Philatelic Society’s magazine The American Philatelist, and has been reprinted several times, most recently in 2008 as an 825 page tome.

Stamp Cartoons For nearly one hundred years, from 1890-1990, philately featured on the regular basis in the daily newspaper “comics” section. This publicity not only helped popularize the hobby, it also showed the popular conception of stamp collectors as avid and a bit nerdy. Below we’ve reprinted several cartoons from this byegone era.

What Can Be Done: The stamps of Oldenburg are some of the most interesting of the German States area. There are a total of 25 issued stamps and Oldenburg presents on its own all of the enjoyments and difficulties of any classic specialty. The stamps are scarce, but not rare, and they are attractive, and

Stamp Investment Tips: Best Eight Value Stamps   There are millions of stamps cataloging from 25c to millions of dollars. But of these millions of stamps, what stamps are the best value for the money? I’ve defined “best value for the money” to mean stamps that sell quickest out of dealers stocks, are desired by

I first met Max Margolies in the mid 1960’s. At the time, I used to help out showing Auction lots at my father’s office on Saturdays. Stamp professionals didn’t specialize to the degree that they do today. There were a few US only dealers or British Commonwealth dealers, but the majority of stamp sellers tried

The issues that motivated and angered philatelists of generations ago don’t resonate much with newer philatelists. Some of the most popular United States stamp issues of the mid twentieth century are the so called Farley issues. Their story was often told and widely known in my youth, but is not much related anymore.   James

For over twenty years, ending in the late 1960s, Herman Herst Jr. published a monthly house organ of stories, offers, and reminiscences. Pat Herst (so called because he was born on St Patrick’s day) was the preeminent philatelic author of his time. Indeed, he was the only stamp writer to cross over into mainstream book