The United States Seneate has passed a bill to “save” the Post Office which reads like a kick-the-can document. It makes a few accounting changes but forbids any post offices closings and delivery changes for two years. And, it says nothing about postal rate increases that are necessary as part of any Post Office bail […]
New Post Office Legislation Read More »
The comedian Rodney Dangerfield had a shtick worthy of the way many philatelists think of their hobby. He was always complaining that “I get no respect” and about being disdained and he turned the act into a respectable fortune with a large Las Vegas revue and numerous movies and records. Many collectors feel that they and
Rodney Dangerfield Read More »
It is almost ancient history now, but the issuance of the 1989 Scott catalog almost caused the demise of stamp collecting. New editors of Scott felt that the traditional discount structure of our hobby needed to be changed, though this system had served the hobby well for decades. Then as now stamps sold at discounts from Scott
The 1989 Scott Catalog Read More »
Over the last two years, the Euro has been under constant pressure. First Greece and now Spain and Italy have seen investors reluctant to purchase their sovereign debt. The European Central Bank has devised a scheme to lend money to banks to purchase loans from these countries as they come due, but what this really
The first stamp issued in the world portrayed the ruling monarch of the issuing country (Great Britain Penny black). After that it became protocol to use the portrait of the ruler of a country on postage stamps or in the case of the United Sates to use a deceased president or statesman. Some countries without
A remarkable aspect of philately is that unpopularity breeds further unpopularity. It is truly unusual to see a good collection of nearly any South and Central American country. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Cuba are exceptions, but for the other twenty or so countries that make up rest of the southern Americas, collections that are even
South American Philately Read More »
Robberies of stamp collections used to be a real problem. In the 1970’s a large ring of stamp thieves were caught. They had an APS membership directory with them that they were using to figure out who to knock off next. When I was on the Board of Directors of the APS in the early
Our Stamps Are Safer Today Read More »
Buying already made collections at auction might be one of the greatest bargains in philately. Next week in our public auction we have an interesting world wide collection.(4367) It is in several Scott International volumes of the kind that were so popular for world wide collectors thirty years ago. This collection was created over a
World Wide Collection Read More »
The unimaginable has begun to happen. After growing at rates approaching 100% per year the last few years, the market for better People’s Republic of China stamps has cooled and prices are down as much as 30% in the last few months. There are several reasons for this. First, the Chinese economy has definitely slowed
China Market Falls Read More »