The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-01-07
FACTS ABOUT STAMPS.
TALK WITH AN ENTHUSIASTIC
COLLECTOR--RARE AND VAL
IIARIE SRE(IMENS

TALK WITH AN ENTHUSIASTIC
COLLECTOR --RAREA AND VAL
UABLE SPECIMENS.
From the New York Tribune.
There are 10000 stamp collectors in
New York" said an enthusiast on the sub
ject, "and the number is constantly in
creasing. They call themselves philatel-
ists-a word that you will not find in any
but the newest editions of the dictionaries.
This has been my hobby for three years.
l got started on it in purely accidental
way. I'll tell you how it was. One day,
about three years ago, was walking along
Broadway, not far from Fourteenth street.
1t was raining very hard, and my umbrella
wasn't of much service, so l stopped I'M
der an awning to wait for the rain to hold
up. l happened to stop by the stand of
dealer in old books. While waiting there,
l naturally glanced at some of the
books. One of those opened
was a large album of
stamps. had no particular knowledge
of stamps then, but 1 saw at once that
such collection must have considerable
value. | asked the dealer carelessly what
he would take for the album. He said ST..
l took out "a at once and handed it to
and l put it under my arm and carried it
to well known dealer in stamps, coin,
etc. had an idea that the album was
worth perhaps $25. The dealer looked at
the book and then looked at me. He
evidently thought that didn't know the
value of what 1 was offering. He said ne
would give me $40 for it. at once rlade
up my mind that it was worth 800, and
of course told him l wouldn't take $40.
Finally he offered me $50, but 1 told him
the book was not for sale.
Then got stamp catalogues and set
about determining the value of the col
lection that had picked up for a mere
trife. l found that 1 had a treasure
worth $500. l have kept it, and added to it
from time to time until l have valuable
collection. You may call the phil
atelist a crank or a monomaniac,
if you please, but it is Just as
Legitimate to collect old stamps as old
paintings, or old armor or old weapons.
Their value depends upon their rarity and
the difficulty of collecting them. Every
| collection of stamps is constantly grow
ing more valuable because the number of
collectors is constantly increasing and
the number of stamps is limited. The
law of supply and demand is controlling.
Sometimes We come upon valuable stamps
In quite unexpected ways. Not long ago
l went to friend of mine, cigar dealer,
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 sug-
gested that there was box up in the gar
ret that she thought contained letters.
The box was got out, and on the letters,
which were covered with dust and yellow
by time, found some excellent stamps.
One was an old one; could find nothing
like it in any of the catalogues. took it
to the dealer mentioned before. He at
once asked if it was for sale. l told hi IN
no, but wished to learn its value. He
said it was rare stamp and was worth
$45. He offered me so for it, but kept
it, thinking it might be worth $50 in a
year.
Il went into a store one day kept by a
Turk, and after buying trifie 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