The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-12-24
FACTS ABOUT STAMPS.
Talk With an Enthusiastic Collector
Rare and Valuable Specimens.
[From the New York Tribune.l

ndF6 df0 NdtGnUtC SPONbhCttos
[From the New York Tribune.l
''There are 10000 stamp collectors in New
York" said an enthusiast ON the subject,
"and the number is constantly increasing.
They call themselves phllatelists-a word
that you will not find in any but the newest
editions of the dictionaries. This has been my
hobby for three years. got started ON 1t In
purely accidental way. I'll tell you how it
was. One day about three years ago was
walking along Broadway not far from Four
teenth street. 1t was raining very hard, and
my umbrella wasn't of much service. So |
stopped under an awning to wait for the rain
to hold up. happened to stop by the stand
of dealer in old books While waiting
there / naturally glanced at some of the
books. One of those / opened was large
album of stamps. | had no particular
knowledge of stamps then, but | saw at once
that such collection must have considera-
BILE value. 1 asked the. dealer carelessly
what he would take for the album. He said
81. l took out 81 at once and handed 1t to
him. The book was carefully wrapped up
and put it under my arm and carried it to a
well known dealer in stamps, coin, etc. l
had an idea that the album was worth per-
haps $25. The dealer looked at the book
and then looked at me. He evidently
thought that I didn't know the value of what
/ was offering. He said he would give me
$40 for it. at once made up my mind that
it was worth 500, and of course told him
wouldn't take $40. Finally he offered me
$50, but I told him the book was not for sale.
Then / got stamp catalogues and set
about determining the value of the collec-
hat nod nil yad mn for frido
| found that had a treasure worth $780, l
have kept it, and have added to it from time
to time until have a valuable collection.
You may call the philatelist a crank or a
monomaniac, If you please, but it is just as
legitimate to collect old stamps as old paint
ings or old armor or weapons. Their value
depends upon their rarity and the difficulty of
collecting them. Every collection of stamps
is constantly growing more valuable because
the number of collectors is continually in
creasing and the number of stamps is limit
ed. The law of supply and demand is con-
trolling. Sometimes we come upon valuable
stamps in quite unexpected ways. Not long
ago / went to friend of mine, a cigar deal
er, and asked him if he had any old letters
that might look at to see If could find
some stamps. He said that he had no letters
that he knew of, but his wife suggested that
there was box up in the garrett that she
thought contained letters. The box was got
out, and on the letters, which were covered
Will Ouot anu yCAtOW Wy tAiAC, 4OuuN oOhlC
excellent stamps. One was an odd one; |
could find nothing like it in any of the cata-
logues. took It'll the dealer mentioned be-
fore. He at once asked if it was for sale. l
told him no, but l wished to learn its value.
He said it was rare stamp and was worth
$15. He offered me $40 for it, but kept it,
thinking it might be worth $40 in a year.
II went into store one day kept by a
Turk, and after buying trife asked him
if he had any Turkish stamps on hand, He
said he had, and gave me handful. Among
them was one that, found by the catalogue,
was worth 81. ] got it for nothing. Some
of the Turkish stamps are very fine, but they
are rare, as rule, because there is so much
trade in Turkish tobacco and other things.
The East India stamps used for domestic
purposes are difficult to obtain.
sThe best stamps are those made in this
country. The drawings are fine and the
workmanship is perfect. The Government
departments used stamps for official docu-
ments and letters until 1879, when the pres
ent envelope was introduced. The stamps
for the Executive Department were carmine
in color, the War Department blood red, the
Treasury green, and so on. Full sets of these
stamps are now OF considerable value. Then
there are stamps which the public never see.
They are used for newspapers and periOdi-
Gals and newspapers in bulk. When news
paper, for instance, pays the postage on all
copies sent by mail, the official who receives
the money takes stamps to that amount out
of book and cancels them; the cancelled
stamps are sent to Washington and there
burned. The law forbids any other DISPOSE
ton of them. These stamps run from cent
to $50, so that any amount can be made ex-
actly. They are valuable to collectors be-
cause of the difficulty of procuring them
There are collectors who have full sets. OF
course these stamps have to be stolen by
somebody. myself have all these stamps
below 49, They are Cancelled with an iron
instrument which tears them. / got them
from man in Washington. l know he
man he got them from didn't; but the third
or the fourth or the fifth man did. The most
valuable stamp known is one that was issued
by the Postmaster of Brattleboro, VT, in
1847, and was only in circulation for a few
The first stamp ever made was made in Eng
land in $780,