There are several factors to take into account when evaluating the challenge of collecting any given country. First, how difficult is the country to complete using the major catalog for that country. Second, how pricey is the material from that country? How much will it cost to complete (or at least make a strong representative collection). […]
The Hardest Country to Collect Read More »
In 1980 Kathy and Karl were two young students of at a Temple University course that I taught on stamp collecting. They were both in their twenties. He was a graphic designer and she was a teacher. They both lived in the downtown part of Philadelphia and met for they first time at the class. Like most
The Great Recession has done more to increase the numbers of stamp dealers than any event since the Great Depression. Large numbers of well educated people are out of work. And more people are finding job mobility difficult as the weak housing market has made selling your home and moving to a new job impossible. And middle
New Stamp Dealers Read More »
One of the most attractive sets produced by any country is the 1897 Jubilee issue of Canada . The stamps were issued to commemorate the sixtieth year of Queen Victoria’s reign. The set is highly derivative of the United States 1893 Colombian Exposition issue. Both of these sets of stamps are among the first stamp
One of the enduring anomalies of philately is the tradition of expert’s signatures. Quality, more than rarity, determines price. So it seems odd that so many rare stamps are indelibly marked in ink on the reverse to signify their genuineness or quality when such marks, if made by anyone else but the expert, would be deemed
After months of hearing that the United States Post Office was failing and that only draconian service and staffing cuts would restore it to solvency, it appears that congressionally mandated accounting changes have been responsible for the issues that the Post Office now faces. Specifically, the Post Office is now required to expense and set aside money
The Post Office Is Not Really In Trouble After All Read More »
Burma, which its citizens call Myanmar, is one of the least developed countries in the world. Until two hundred years ago Burma was a feudal pre industrial society with the vast majority of land owned by a few war lords and families who were traditionally at war with each other. A hundred year British Occupation had little
If philately were a branch of sociology, political science or academic history it would be studied far differently from the way that it is studied by stamp collectors. Much less attention would be paid to printing and perfs and gum and far more to the actual stamp designs themselves. Scholars would study the new issue planning and approval process, how
Philatelists have a great knowledge of more recent history and geography. I am the crossword puzzle go to guy in my home for clues relating to when and where. But we fade back to normal if historical knowledge is needed before 1840 when the Penny Black was first issued. Imagine if stamps had been first issued during
The 1840 Boundary Read More »