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Much has been written on the first United States Postage Stamp. Most of the important modern information has been posted by Scott Trepel of the Siegal Auction Galleries and it makes great reading.  While research on use of this stamp has been intense, what hasn’t seen much print (pixels?) is the history of the collecting of […]

One of the most fascinating collecting areas is India and States. Part British Colony, part Third World nation, part of the developing world, the philately of India has much to offer. And, an added bonus for Americans is that most of the good philatelic literature and writing about this area is in English. Indian philately

As a young stamp dealer I left every APS convention amazed at how old the average attendee was. I felt as if I had been working in a geriatric ward. It’s nice to report that the membership doesn’t seem to be getting any older. Most people now seem to be about my age. Cynics have

All businesses have been affected by the Internet and modern technology but none more so than the trade press. For over 100 years thousands of weekly and monthly trade journals were printed to keep people in each field up to date with the latest news, views and gossip in their field. Some trade papers such

Let’s start with a postulate: The American Philatelic Society is worth saving and membership in the APS is worth having and worth the $45 or so that it costs. The question then is how to save the society because certainly the membership losses, the demographic makeup of the society, and the declining revenues don’t bode

The pinnacle of philately’s popularity was the 1930’s. Stamp collecting was an inexpensive hobby and the Great Depression resulted in a lot of people with time on their hands. There was no television or Internet to compete as entertainment. And two of the world’s most beloved and popular leaders, Franklin Roosevelt and King George VI

My grandfather, Earl P L Apfelbaum, was born in 1905 and died in 1985. He was born in Philadelphia and though he travelled extensively, at the time of his death his home was only a few miles from where he was born. He collected stamps from his earliest childhood and this was an interest he

People are always wondering what stamps make good investments. I don’t usually like to push our hobby this way but there is one area that I think will do well. I don’t recommend sets like US Zeppelins or German Posthorns although these sets have performed well in the past and might do so in the

The period 1922-1925 of the Weimar Republic in Germany is one of the most interesting in all of philately. Because of WWI debt and reparations that Germany was required to pay under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany began to inflate its currency in the early 1920’s. The purpose of this was to make the debt