The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1884-09-06
RARE STAMPS.
The Mamie for Collecting Pvst6So Sta,.ps-
e7e,c They arc OStus~cT.

f7esc They Obtained.
New YORK Sun.
The announcement that $500 hat
been Paid for cancelled Brattleboro
postal stamp calls our attention to
mazda which has grstiually Increase,
unt5i it has reached an extent which /
reilly extraordinary. Some may in
Qulre what leads people to collect pos
til stamps. The only reply is found il
smother question, what beads people t.
collect anythiagp The fact is, that
disposition to make collections OF som,
kind has always been feature in oul
race. One of the strangest of thes,
collections, which Ia one instance al
least became a mania, is mentioned in
the life of Tom Moore. While through
England he met "a man who collected
hangmen's ropes, and who had POO
each tickcted with the name of the vic
tim. The pOstal-stamp mania is of
modern Date, but it has during a brief
period Reached such an extent that il
is Impossible to foresee any limit to
prices.
Formerly payment of postage was
made in mooney and was marked with
pen and ink; at present, however, POO
latter were adopted in the British post.
office, and seven years later our own
government made similar change
The example thus sdt on both sides of
the Atlantic was gradually followed
untilIt use of stamps has become uni
versal The mania for collecting them
soon began, though at first it was very
limited. 1t grew like all other forms
t. .
dic'aRd was reduced to a system. The
wulue of rare stamps is now generally
liked, and they are collected in all pants
of the world. The highest price ever
paid for postage stamp is $500 The
,one' referred to was issued on the French
island of Re Union. The original cost
of this stamp was 10 centimes and thir-
lty confines 6 cents and cents), and
the immense advance is solely dme to-
their rarity and the fact that they are
necessary to complete collection of
foreign stamps. There is not one for
sale at any price. The next highest is
the Brattleboro' stamp, which is men,
toned in the paragraph above referred
TO as having been sold at $500. 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 that can obtain dor the
Brattleboro' stamp is 500, which GER
tainly seems high enough when the first
cost was from to 1877 cents. The ORR
gin of the Brattleboro' stamp, as L am
informed, is as follows: In lSA6 the |
postmaster of that place had some |
STAMPS made in order to obviate the ne |
cessity of using the pen. 1t was merely |
a private convenience, and its sole inn
portance is due to the fact thatit 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
general 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 b
all the great journals, and in fact as
soon as any office boy gets hold of n
foreign letter he strips the stamp off
and carries it to some dealer. Among Il
the greatest varieties are the Philippine
and Peruvian stamps, while ON the
other hand the Porto Rico stamp is /
very cheap. Madeira and British Gui- Y
nea, however, are high, aud the law of s
supply and demand prevail in this as in q
all other commodities. AS soon as
stamp becomes rare the maniac eolleo- g
Tor increases his bids until fabulous Il
prices are obtained. There are a num- i
Der of stamp dealers, the most extern q
,ive being the Scott establishment in t
Broadway. Mr.. Scott is a native of t
London, but has been in this country a 4
quarter of a century. He issues an in
ernational postage album, which gives "
amples of very extensive range, the s.
,rice being $3.50. Some may think this a
/ large sum to invest in such volume, p
,ut there are as many purchasers as the a
upply will permit. There is an all "
abundance of common stamps q
or which they pay 5 cents per 100 and
ell the same quantity for 10 cents e'
Serman stamps are very abundant ow- n
ny to the immense amount of CORES 81
'ondence with that country. Hence, 81
hey are very cheap, and the quotation e
t present is l cent per hundred. Scott ~
ellis 500 assorted stamps for $40, but as W
Don as one gets into the varieties fancy
rices must be expected. Scott has 60
who are ready to pay almost tn
nything that may be asked for the p
ancies. He operates boldly when he &c
ees a good opening, and hence when pr
he Madeira stamp was issued he sent W
riders for all that could be obtained OF
rom the authorities. He also ordered 81
t one time $4,000 worth of Porto Rico
lamps. One of his patrons is a men, dc
er of the princely Vanderbilt family, di
hose collection has already cost $1O,- WI
DO These facts show the immense co
Stent which this speciality has reached at
nd also those fanciful prices which So So
re the result of so widespread ma n'
ia. Stamp collectors are found in all pa
rye cities, and one of the most liberal
this class is a Bostonian, whose col
ction fully rivals that of Vanderbilt. err
gri