San Saba County news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1874-19??, 1892-05-27
RARE POSTAGE STAMPS.
CNME OF THEM WORTH A GOOD
DEAL OF MONEY,
4 Nautilus Specimen valued at Thou
sand Dollars-Blg Prices Paid by
ColIectors-valuabIe Amer
lean Stamps.

A woll-known stamp dealer tells a
New York Tribune representative:
II you wish to know how widespread
this engaging pursuit has become you
have only to consider the fact that
there is at least $500. 600 OF incor-
porated capital engaged in the busl-
/ ness in this country alone and ABOUT
$50 publications devoted 10 it and
several hundred thousand people en-
gagged in it Germany has not so
many publications or collectors as
America, but the sub Jet is approached
even more seriously there than here.
Their papers are more historical and
exhaustive than ours. Great Britain
numbers her collectors by the hundredt
OF thousands too, and France is moi
far behind.
Boys no longer outnumber tho
others. but clergymen lawyers. doe
tors business men and women engage
in it heartily. One of the most ear
nest collectors in this city is clergy
man who when he attends an auction
sale OF stamps gets genuinely excited
over the bargains The market for
stamps is so lively just now that sew
eral dealers are holding auction sales
Of their accumulated stock.
The prices paid by collectors for
stamps are of course regulated by the
scarcity of the stamp not By its age
size, beauty or appearance. Probably
the highest-priced stamp in existence
is the common looking one penny OF
biauritius, issued in lS47. a single
one of these is valued at 81, 600, be-
cause there are only six or eight OF
them known TO be il existence There
is probably no genuine one in this
country but as the field for forgery is
wide there are q good many bogus
ones in existence. In order to be
valuable, proof Of the genuine char
acter of the stamp must be had. Each
of these six or eight recognized Mau-
ritius stamps has ta5ulated record
of different owners who have pos
sessed it corresponding to the pedi-
gree Of a blood horse.
One thousand dollars is a good deal
OF money to pay for a little bit OF pa
per and many people cannot be con
WINGED that the stamp would sell for
anything like that figure. There are
wealthy collectors OF stamps. how
ever. just as there are wealthy men
who pay enormous prices for gems.
A diamond as big as a walnut has lit
tie more intrinsic value than a num-
Der of smaller ones. yet its rarity puts
an enormous price on it and so with
stamps The British Museum is not
likely to place au exaggerated value
on these things; yet not long ago Mr..
TOPPING, an English member OF Par
lament left his collection Of stamps
to the museum and the government
exacted an inheritance tax OF "a. 900
on the collection, reckoning this to be
/ per cent of its value. This is con-
sidered to be the second best collec-
lection in the world. The posses
sor of the best collection is
generally conceded to be Mr.. Ferrari
of Paris 1t has cost him a great deal
of money to make it but he does not
seem to mind that; he is determined
to have the best
Something new in postal cards has
been issued by the country of Saliva
dor, in Central America in honor OF
tho anniversary of the discovery of
America II is pictorial and goolog-
ical one. On the side where the ad-
dress Is to be written appears a map
showing the route of Columbus from
Spain to Salvador Adjacent islands
and parts of continents are also shown.
and the whole is printed in light blue
and brown. The stamp too. bears a
scene in the career OF the great dis
coverer As this Columbian series
viii be limited they no doubt will be
extremely valuable at the time OF the
500th anniversary Of Columbus land
ing. Far-sighted people might get
them cheap now and leave them to
their children.
Another remarkable postage stamp
is the tiger head of Afghanistan. and
another. more rare the OK head OF
Moldavia- issued in 1854 One of
these sold not long ago for $40.
Many people in this land are not
aware that some stamps OF Their own
country have become pretty valuable
already especially those issued before
TIE war. These were all called in
shortly after the war broke out so
that the large quantity o: them held
in the Southern states should do the
Confederates no good. Some Of these
have been sold for $65 aud even S75
in this city. Many people do not
know. either. that Unclo Sam issues
stamps as great in value as $50. That
is the highest These big denomina-
tons are used for mailing newspapers |
and printed matter in bulk. They are
not delivered to the purchaser but
when paid for a;e put on by the pos
tai clerk himself; SO that the general
public seldom sees them. They are
pretty stamps almost as big as the |
little l0-csnt shinpIas.er' which used |
to be in circulation. and are printed
in lively colors. The SEQ one is pur- !
pie and white and has a well engraved /
figure Of an Indian.