Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-10

come ever SO much more
elaborate. For example. a collector is no
longer satisfied necessarily with one stamp OF a
kind 1t NAV be that the same stamp has been
Issued on more than one kind OF paper, and in
that case one of each sort must be secured
Suppose the government OF Heligoland gets out
atwo-pence stamp this year on 'woye' paper and
next year prints the same stamp on laid paper,
the collector must have both varieties else
spend nights OF sleepless grief over the vacancy
IN his album. 1t frequently happens, too that
the same stamp Will be issued with different
sorts of perforations AT the edges; one edition
of it Will have perforations Ike those of Mr..
Wanamakef's stamps, another viii have what
are called pm perfOratlOns.' another will have
'ro!letted edges like theater coupon. for tear
ing purposes, while sui another will have no
sort Of perforatIon or other convenience for
tearing whatever. But all those varieties must
be had
TO MAXI THE COLLECTION COMPLETE.
Equal importance exists in the water mark
Of the paper on which a stamp is printed Que
edition OF Guatemala stamp ia on paper with
no water mark as all; another edition Of the
Bame stamp Is on paper with star for a water
mark, while still another Il on paper with a
crown and the letters &C c.. All three Of
these are necessary to q proper collection OF
Guatemala stamps. Occasionally it happens
times from photographic stone, a wooden
block and q steel plate; specimen of each Is
necessary to the collectors happiness. And so
much difference do these distinctions make
that stamp with one sort of perforation or
water mark viii be worth. may be. hundreds of
dollars, VIXEN precisely the same stamp per-
forated or water marked in another way has a
selling value OF only few cents. An other
wise worthless blue Cape OF Good Hope stamp,
printed by accident In red, brought SlZ1 at
in Ne no W a
common one-penny red of the same country
printed by accident in blue, fetched S90.'
HIGH PRICES.
''That seems a good deal to pay for a stamp"
''Not for . rare specimen. As high as Il, 900
is sometimes paid for single stamp. You have
no idea, probably, what mania it is; never has
tie stamp-gatheriDg fever been so prevalent as
at present. Some of the great millonaires of
Europe have 1t badly. The greatest collection
IN the world Is owned by the multi-mi lliOuaire
Ferrary and is worth $500. 600, by which mean
that it would bring that amount at auction to-
morrow. Baron Rothschlld has "a collection
worth 300, COO These and one other i'll possess
sion Of an English millionaire named Tapeling
are the three great collections of the world,
but smaller ones, worth from $4,000 to $50, 900,
are common. Il can't be said that money spent
IN this way Is unproductive. lnasmuch as stamps
are continually increasing III value. Rare
stamps have doubled in value within the last
four years. and those OF the United States have
trebled in worth"
Where do stamps come from?"
The dealers the original collectors, if
that Is what Won mean. There are at prese mt
about one thousand stamp merchants in the
United States, doing business on d capital Of
al the way from 500 TO 100000. The dealer
gets most OF his stamps from the countries
issuing them by sending directly to postmasters
in those countries, with orders and drafts for
money. II my stock of Shanghai stamps is low
send draft tor !. 100 to the post office in that
British colony and receive in return 500
worth Of whatever sort of Shanghai stamps
may have requested. In this way keep myself
supplied with new stamps of all sorts from
every part OF the world But there are
MANY OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPLY.
dealers In stamp-issuing countries make a
business Of collecting and trading in the
stamps Of local manufacture. With them am
in communication and from them | get many
stamps that have ceased TO be printed. May be
send 500 worth OF United States stamps in ex-
change TOR 800 worth of Russian stamps thus
reducing the transaction 10 d basis OF simple
swap. Another thing dealers do is TO adver-
tlse IN the stamp periodicals that they will pay
good prices for collections which are cout!nu-
ally being sold out by amateurs tired of the
amusement. Also they buy large quantities
OF waste paper from the great business houses
that have much foreign corresponds and
by looking the stun over they secure stamps.
Or they pay so much TO professional buyers of
Old paper for the privilege of looking over
their stock. Whenever a great collection is
sold they try to be present and bid in what
they want At such sales where u single book
full OF stamps will sometimes bring a consider
able fortune, the rare specimens are cataIogued
slngly-catalogues are sent to dealers and
known collectors IN adyauce-while the ordi-
nary stamps are disposed OF IL lots. named as
SO many Of this country or that. Such are the
ways III which dealers get their stamps"
HOW STAMPS ARE SOLD.
snow, to sell them, they make up packages oil
all sorts of stamps, greater or less number in
each package. at prices running all the way
from 10 cents TO $50 perhaps. A 75-cent pack
age. may be, will contain % foreign stamps OF
different countries and will be an attractive
investment for person Just beginning to col.
lect. In fact. these packages are intended
chiefly for beginners, because collectors of long
standing would get too many duplicates By
purchasing them. The dealer advertlses the
Packages and other stock on hand. PARTICULAR,
rare specimens, IN the stamp magazines ant
elsewhere. Likewise he issues Catalogues anC
lrlCe lists. Approval sheets he always has
ready TO send out. These are sheets of paper
on which 4 certain number of select stamps oil
the rarer sort stuck. An application FOL
approval sheets reaches the dealer from a col
IectOr and, If he has reason TO entertain cont
dence III the applicant. he sends several of til,
sheets 20 HIM by registered mail. The col
lectOr looks over the sheets and detaches from
to buy, sending the rest back TO the dealer to
gether with the money for those taken OF. til,
price OF each stamp being marked on the shee
alongside Of IL Ii often happens that collect
ors whose enthusiasm Is greater than thei
honesty don't send back the sheets at all o.
money Tor them, and the dealer has 20 briu,
s1it To recover his property. Big dealers pub
Hsh albums Tor collectors, some Of winch cos
as much as $50 and are very elaborate though
as good one as anybody has reason 10 wan
can be had for $50, with printed spaces il
outline for the stamps. Containing DESCRIPTION
OF the stamps 20 be put III each spot and pic
lures Of the designs on the stamps where the
are desirable. Every stamp known To collect
Ors Is provided 1Or III this way and new edi
lions Of the albums are printed every tire,
Years to provide tor fresh Issues"
FOKGTD POSTAGE sIAMrs
'Are not postage stamps foe ed to a grea
extentI'
There is not much OF that sort o, bushes
done IN tins country now. \ few years az
there was a olS dealer III New York who prose
cuted a fraudulent trade o.. "a large scale H.
advertised enormously and sold millions o
CASTOR a. 20 invent a certain foreign stanp il
order that II might be sold as d great rarlt Is
But the law against obtaining money on f.!s
pretenses Is applicable 10 that SOFT of swIndllni
and very little Of 1t goes on at present Ii
scarcely possible 20 deceive n collector OF 4
perlence with forged stamp. The rirst thin
lie examines i the engraving. IL that bear
scrutiny, he lusPects the paper; then he look
81 the post cane citation and finally at the gun
IN the back. IL 10 fault Is found with any
these particulars, the stamp is surely goo,