There is no other hobby that is as transnational and pervasive as Philately. In scores of nations, millions of people collect the postage stamp issues of not only own their country but of most of the other countries of the world as well. And collectors in different countries at different times still collect in substantially the […]
Philately as a World Wide Hobby Read More »
Precancellation on United States stamps has a long and varied history but, when collectors use the term, they mean stamps that were issued already cancelled by the Post Office for use on bulk rate mail. This was the predominant way that bulk rate and newspapers were carried between 1915-1935. After 1935, most of this type
Income equality is an economic measure of the relative wealth of citizens within a country. Countries with high levels of income equality have large middle classes and relatively small numbers of poor and very poor. This is usually accomplished by income transfers (called taxes and benefits by non economists). Wealthier and more successful people pay higher taxes
For over 75 years the United States has issued stamps for Duck Hunting. To go hunting, each year a hunter must purchase a (now $15) Federal Duck hunting stamp and usually a state duck hunting stamp as well. The proceeds from the sale of the stamps are a user tax, going back to wetlands and
Broadly speaking, there are two types of philatelic items-those that are offered frequently and are readily available, even though their price may be substantial. And the second type of philatelic item is one that is rarely offered and of great rarity, even though the price may be quite modest. An example of the first would
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
Before it became the holiday that commemorated Americans who have defended their country in war, Memorial Day celebrated the end of the Civil War. It was felt by many of the former Confederate States that Memorial day was a Northern holiday that commemorated the North’s victory in the Civil War and for many years Memorial
When I was first coming into organized philately some 40 years ago there was a charming older woman named Wendy Williams. Wendy was about sixty then, worked in one the records offices in Philadelphia, had been married, was now divorced and had no children. Whatever club meeting you went to in the Philadelphia area in
I have spent a life time around stamp collectors. My father and grandfather were both stamp collectors, and I got my first album at the age of six. I have belonged to over ten clubs and have been a professional philatelist for over forty years. There is a little known secret about stamp collectors that
A Secret About Stamp Collectors Read More »