The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-10-04
Rare Stamps.

until it has reached an extent that is
really extraordinary. Some may in
quire, what leads people to collect post
al-stamps9 The only reply is found
in another question, what leads people
to collect anything? The fact is that
disposition to make collections of some
kind has always been a feature of our
race. One of the strangeSt of these
collections, which in one instance, at
least, became mania, IS mentioned in
the life of Tom Moore. While travel
ing through England he met man
who collected hangmen's ropes, and
who had two hundred, each ticketed
with the name of the victim. The
postal-stamp mania is of modern date,
but it has during 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
| 1910 the latter were adopted in the
British postoilice, and seven years later
our own Governments made similar
change. The example thus set on both
sides of the Atlantic was gradually fol-
! lowed until the use of stamps has be-
| come universal. The mania for col
| lecting them soon began, though at
first it was very limited. 1t grew like
= slsss sssslas of mania Until it be-
came regular tratfic and was reduced
to a system. The value of rare stamps
is now generally fixed, and there are
collectors in all parts of the world.
The highest price ever paid for post
age stamp was $500. The one referred
to was issued on the French island of
Re Union. The original cost of this
stamp was fifteen confines and thirty
centmes Qhree cents and six cents),
and the immense advance is solely due
to their rarity and the fact that they are
necessary to q complete collection of for
eign stamps. There is not one for sale at
any price. The next highest is the
Brattleboro stamp, which is mentioned
in the paragraph above referred to as
having been sold for three hundred
dollars. This statement is evidently
incorrect, and perhaps its author
has one of these stamps for sale,
and therefore takes this method to bull
the market The best quotation | can
obtainfor the Brattleboro stamp is 500,
which certainly seems high enough
when the first cost was from 8 to 1S$
cents. The origin of the Brattleboro
stamp, as | 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 merely a private convenience,
and its sole Importance is due to the
fact that it is the first stamp ever used
in America. The first New Haven
stamps are also of high value for
similar reason. The next year stamps
were ordered by the Government, and
we now wonder how they ever got
along without them.
The demand for stamps is now so gen.
eral that clerks in houses engaged in
foreign commerce carefully remove
them from all letters, and this affords
a large supply. The foreign cores
pondence of the Herald is sufficiently
+ large to form an item in the stamp
trade. The same statement applies to
all great journals, and, in fact, as soon
as an office-boy gets hold of a foreign
letter he strips the stamp off and carries
+ it to some dealer. Among the greatest
varieties are the Philippine and Peru
! Wan stamps, while, on the other hand,
+ the Porto Rico stamp is very cheap.
Madeira and British Guinea, however,
are high, and the law of supply and
demand prevails in this as in all
other commodities. As soon as a
stamp becomes rare the maniac
, collector increases his bids until
fabulous prices are obtained. There
, are number of stamp-dealers, the
a most extensive being the Scott es-
tablshment, in Broadway. Mr.. Scott
, is a native of London, but he has been
,. in this country quarter of a century.
/ He issues an international postage al
. bum, which gives samples of a very ex-
: tensive range, the price being $3.50.
! Some may think this large sum to in
~ vest in such a volume, but there are as
> many purchasers as the supply will
=, permit. There is an ali-sutficient
abundance of common stamps, for
which they pay five cents per hundred,
and sell the same quantity for ten
cents. German stamps are very abun-
d dant, owing to the immense amount OF
l. correspondence with that country.
IS Hence they are very cheap, and the
II quotation at present is one cent per
g hundred. Scott sells six hundred as
s sorted stamps for $40, but as soon as
). one gets into the varieties fancy prices
d must be expected. Scott has custom,
It ers who are ready to pay almost any
n thing that may be asked for the fancieS.
l. He operates boldly when he sees a good
l. opening. and hence, when the Madeira
( stamp was issued he sent orders for al
d that could be obtained from the au'
IS thorities. He also ordered at one time
l. S5,000worth of Porto Rico stamps. One
a of his patrons is member of the
n princely Vanderbilt family, whose col
,e lection has already cost $4,000. These
,e facts show the immense extent which
d this speciality has reached, and alsC
lie those fanciful prices which are the re
% suit of so widespread mania. Stamp
a collectors are found in all large cities
d and one of the most liberal of this elias:
g is a Bostonian, whose collection fully
, rivals that of Vanderbilt. -Hargo fora
n Post.
o AS our Christian civilization an
l. vances, new problems, undreamed of q
D century or two ago, rise TO the front
IL and clamor for solution. But step by