Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1892-08-17
RARE POSTAGE STAMPS.

New York Tribune representative: IF
you wish to know how widespread this
engaging pursuit has become you have
only to consider the fact that there is ut
least three hundred thousand dollars of
incorporated capital engaged in the
business in this country alone and about
one hundred and 6fty publications de-
voted to it, and several hundred thou.
sand people engaged in it. Germany
has not 80 many publications or so
many collectors as America, but the
subject is approached even more Sc
riously there than here. Their papers
are more historical and exhaustive than
ours. Great Britain numbers her coll
lectors by the hundreds of thousands,
too, and France is not far behind.
boys no longer outnumber the
others, but clergymen, lawyers, doctors,
business men and women engage in it
heartily. One Of the most earnest coll
lectors in this city is a clergyman, who,
when he attends an auction sale of
stamps, gets genuinely excited over the
bargains. 1 expect to see him active
purchaser at our next auction at the
Knickerbocker conservatory, No. 44
West Fourteenth street. The market
~SA I'D ~ AANClJ JuSO III" GIlibG 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 it's age,
size, beauty or appearance. Probably
the highest-priced stamp in existence
is the communicating one penny of
Mauritius, issued in 1S47. A single one
| of these is valued at one thousand dol
lars, because there are only six or eight
of them known to be in existence.
There is probably no genuine one in
this country; but as the field fer forgery
Is wide there are good many bogus
| ones in existence. In order to be val
liable, proof of the genuine character of
| the stamp must be hand. Each of
these six or eight recognized Mauritius
stamps has tabulated record of differ
ent owners who have possessed it, COR
responding to the pedigree of blooded
| horse.
One thousand dollars is a good deal Of
money to pay for little bit of paper,
and many people cannot be convinced
that the stamp would sell for anything
like that figure. There are wealthy
collectors of stamps, however, Just ms
there are wealthy men who pay enor-
| nous prices for gems. diamond as
big as a walnut has little more intrinsic
| value than O number of smaller ones;
yet its rarity puts an enormous price on
it, and SO with stamps. The British
museum is not likely to place an exag.
gerated value on these things: yet not
long ago Mr.. TOPPING, an English men,
| hnTs nf 1aTliorSoan$ Loft hso II
stamps to the museum, and the gov
eminent exacted an inheritance tax of
; four Thousand pounds sterling on the
collection, reckoning this to be four per
cent. of its value. This is considered ~
be the second best collection in tho
world. The possessor of the best col
lection is generally conceded to be M.
+ Ferrari, of Paris.
Something new in postal cards has
just been issued by the country of Sal
vador, in Central America, in honor of
/ the anniversary of the discovery of
America. 1t Is pictorial and geo.
! graphical one. On the side where the
address is to be written appears 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 will
be limited to this year, they no doubt
will be extremely valuable about the
time of the five hundredth anniversary
! of Columbus landing. Far-sighted peo-
pie might get them cheap now and
leave them to their children.
Another remarkable postage stamp is
the tiger head of Afghanistan, and an
other, more rare, the OK head of Mol.
davia, issued in 1854. One of these
sold not long ago for forty-nine pounds,
Many people in this land are not
aware that some stamps of their own
country have become pretty valuable
already; especially those issued before
the war. These were all called in
shortly after the war broke out, SO that
the large quantity of them held In
southern states should do the confed.
1 \.