Revenue from the sale of stamps fund many worthwhile projects. Early in the twentieth century, the first philatelic exposition souvenir sheets were issued to help pay for some of the world’s first stamp shows. Most European countries today issue semipostals, stamps with a charity surcharge, to fund the work of the Red Cross or to fight cancer. And many smaller third world counties subsidize their government budgets with profits from the sale of stamps to collectors. America has been lax in using funds from commemorative stamp sales to fund worthwhile projects. Perhaps our secular tradition makes it difficult for quasi government organizations to get involved in charity work which is traditionally seen as the bailiwick of religion. Or perhaps we are such a fragmented society that we can’t agree on which charities, if any, are worth government funding. But a diverse constellation of interest groups lined up over the Junior Duck Stamp program. Here is program that is hard to dislike. School children compete to design duck hunting stamps for duck hunters to collect, with the proceeds going to wetlands conservation. Wow- a plan that gets the NRA, the teachers unions, government funding of arts enthusiasts and the Green lobbies all on the same side! We should ask the designers of this program to try their hands at peace in the Middle East. The stamps are lovely, well printed and well designed with small print runs. The first few are quite rare. By coincidence we will be offering quite a few of the better ones along with some very rare plate blocks in our next auction. To view these lots click here.http://stampauctionnetwork.com/ba/110667.cfm#84