Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-22
RARE STAMPS.
me Mania for Collecting Postage Stamps
How They are Obtained.

@CDAANNAAA6 OhLdkG STAMPS
How They are Obtained.
The announcement that $500 had been
paid for Cancelled Brattleboro postal
stamp, says the Hartford Post. calls our
attention to mania which has gradually
increased until it has reached an extent
that IS really extraordinary. Some NAV
inquire, what leads people to collect most
al stampsI The only reply is found in
another question, what leads peoDIe 10
collect anything! The fact is that n dis
position TO make collections of some kind
mas always been feature in our race.
One OF the strangest of these collections.
when IN one instance, at least. became a
mania, is mentioned in the life of Tom
Moore. While travelling through Eng
land he met man who collected hang
mems ropes, and who had 200, each tick
eted with the name of the victim. The
postal stamp mania is of modern date.
but 1t has during a brief period reached
SUCH an extent that it is impossible to
foresee any limit to prices.
Formerly payment Of postage was made
IN money, and was marked with pen and
INK; at present, however, two hundred
governments use stamps. In 1870 tho
latter were adopted in the British most
once, and seven years later our own GOV
eminent made a similar change. The ex-
ample thus set on both sides Ofthe Allan
nc was gradually followed until the use
OF stamps has become universal. The
mama Tor collecting them soon began
though at first it was very limited If
grew like all other forms Of mania until If
became regular traffic and was reduced
to system. The value of rare stamns il
now generally fixed, and there are collect
tors IN all parts of the world. The highest
price PFC ever eve paid for a postage stamp is
S9OO: Inc one referred to was issued on
the French island of Re Union. The Ori0i
nal cost Of this stamp was Is centimes
and 30 confines g cents and cents) ). and
the immense advance is solely due to their
rarity and the fact that they are neces-
sary to complete collection of FOREIGN
stamps. There is not one for sale at anv
price. The next highest is the BrattIe
D0ro stamp, which is mentioned in the
paragraph above referred to as having
been sold at $500. This statement is evI.
IDENTIFY Incorrect, and perhaps its author
mas one OF these stamps for sale, and
therefore takes this method to bull the
market. The best quotation l can
obtain for the Brattleboro stamp is
500, which certainly seems high enough
when the first cost was from 6 to 1897
cents. The origin of the BrattleboTo
stamp, as l am informed, is as follows:
In 1916 the Postmaster of that place had
some stamps made in order to ObViate the
necessity Of using the pen. 1t was mere
ly private convenience, and its sole i'm
pOrtance is due to the fact that it is the
nrst stamp ever used in America. The
first New Haven stamps are also of high
value for similar reason. The next wear
stamps were ordered by the government.
and we now wonder how they ever cot
along without them.
The demand for stamps is now so
general that clerks in houses engaged in
foreign commerce carefully remove them
from all letters, and this affords a large
supply. The foreign correspondence of
the Herald is sufficiently large to form an
item in the stamp trade. The same state
ment applies to all great journals, and
IN TACT, as soon as any office boy gets hold
OF foreign letter he strips the stamp off
and carries it to some dealer. Among the
greatest varieties are the PHILIPPINE and
Peruvian stamps, while, on the other
hand, the Porto Rico stamp is very cheap.
Madeira and British Guinea, how
ever, are high, and the law of supply and
demand prevails in this as in all other
commodities. As soon as a stamp be-
comes rare the maniac collector increases
his bids until fabulous prices are OBJ
tanned. There are a number of stamp
dealers, the most extensive being the
Scott establishment, in Broadway. Mr.
Scott is native of London, but has been
in this country quarter of a century.
He issues an international postage album,
which gives samples of a very extensive
range, the price being $3.50. Some may
think this large sum to invest in such a
volume, but there are as many purchasers
as the supply viii permit. There is an
all-sufhcient abundance of common
stamps, for which they pay ) cents per
hundred, and sell the same quantity for
10 cents. German stamps are very abun-
dant, owing to the immense amount of
correspondence with that country. Hence
they are very cheap, and the quotation at
present Is l cent per hundred. Scott
sells 600 assorted stamps for SO, but as
soon as one gets into the varieties fancy
prices must be expected. Scott has GUS
toners who are ready to pay almost any
thing that may be asked for the tancies.
He operates boldly when be sees a good
opening, a. hence, when the Madeira
stamp was-iss ed he sent orders for all
that could be obtained from the authOri-
ties. He also ordered at one time $1,000
worth of Porto Rico staWrs. One of his
patrons is a member of the princely Van
derbilt family, whose collection has al
ready cost $4,000. These facts show the
the immense extent which this specially
has reached, and also those fanciful prices
which are the result of so widespread a
mania. Stamp-cOllectOrs are found in all
large cities, and one Of the most liberal of
this class is a BOstOnian, whose collection
fully rivals that of Vanderbilt.