St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-11-08
Rare stamps.

mania which has gradually increased
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 n man
who collected hangmen' 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 postoflice. 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
iecting them soon began, though ut
first it was very limited. 1t grew like
all other forms of mania until it be-
came a regular traffic and was reduced
to 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 a 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 centimes and thirty
centimes Ghree cents and six cents),
and the immense advance is solely due
to their rarity and the fact that they are
necessary to a 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
obtain for the Brattleboro stamp is Sl00,
which certainly seems high enough
when the first cost was from 8 to Is,
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 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
we're ordered hy 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
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 oifice-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 Peru
vian 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 a number of stamp-dealers, the
most extensive being the Scott es-
tablishment. in Broadway. Mr.. Scott
is native of London, but he has been
in this country a 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 volume. but there are as
many purchasers rs the supply will
permit. There is an alf-suiiicient
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-
dant, owing to the immense amount of
correspondence with that country
Hence they are very cheap, and the
quotation at present is one cent per
hundred. Scott sells six hundred as
sorted stamps for $40, but Is soon as
one gets into the varieties fancy prices
must be expected. Scott has CUSTOM
ers who are ready to pay almost any
thing that may be asked for the fancies.
He operates boldly when he sees good
opening. and hence, when the Madeira
stamp was issued he sent orders for all
that could be obtained from the au-
thorities. He also ordered ut one time
S5, 900 worth of Porto Rico stamps. One
of his patrons is member of the
princely Vanderbilt family, whose col
lection has already cost $4,000. These
facts show the immense extent which
this specially has reached, and also
those fanciful prices which are the re-
suit of so W idespread 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 anderbilt.-Harttord
Post.
At the electric exhibition in Phfla-
delphia an organist plays Roosevelt
organ $50 feet away from his instru-
ment. This makes playing much more