Most collectors have made a “find” or two—a stamp or cover that they realized the value of before anyone else and are pleased to have it in their collection. Sometimes the “find” is associated with a financial windfall—the variety has great value that you recognized but that the seller did not. And sometimes the value is personal (like the time I found a letter in an envelope in a 25¢ cover box that was written by a great great uncle of mine, who I had never met, to my great grandmother (who died when I was seven) referring to my father. My father had passed away long before I found this letter. In it my great great uncle refers to something my great grandmother had told him about 
my father’s childhood that I had never known and which cast my father’s life in an entirely different light. How it got in the dealers cover box I’ve never been able to figure out). But sometimes the “find” is less personal and of great value.
In my twenties I went to a lot of stamp shows as our company often had booths. When business was slow I would sit at other dealers’ counters talking and gossiping, and to help pass the time I usually asked to see a box or two of covers. Looking back, it seemed that it was bad form to just sit and chat, but if you looked like you might be trying to actually buy something then everyone talked away pleasantly. It was a nice fiction. Anyway, one day I was glancing through a box of covers and I saw a 1900 era cover to England with a postage due marking, and I looked inside to see what the letter said. I was from Mark Twain, with signature. I have always been an avid reader, and Twain is one of my favorites, and the price was $1. The dealer’s dilemma—what should I do. I decided to tell the dealer and offered him $100, which was what I thought the cover was worth at the time. He smiled, was glad I found such a wonderful item and asked me if I was going to resell it. I told him it was to be part of my collection at which time he told me he would only take $1 for it and to enjoy it. And he said he thought I would enjoy it all the more because he and I had acted so well towards each other in the transaction. Maybe that’s right. It has always been one of my favorite pieces.