The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-08-16
THE CRAZE FOR STAMPS
Those Of the Columbian Series Are
in Great Demand by COL
leotors.
In a Few Years They VIII Be Even
More Valuable
Still.
European Countries Want Them Too, and
the Larger Denominations Arc
Hard to Got.

These are haloycn days for tbs vid'
awake Helena boys who have access TO thsi
employsrs' waste paper baskets or the mai
of the household, for the Columbian staml
craze is Increasing svery day. and dealer
~ we'll as collectors are paying high price
for cancelled stamps of the large denomins
lions. The boy who 10 fortunate enough Il
fill his pockets with cancelled thres-een'
stamps finds an active market for then
among dealers at 81 q hundred, while %
hundred 10 The prevailing market price FOL
the six and eight cent varieties and sc (
hundred for the fifteen cent. Dealers buv
the 80 cent stamp at $l5 a hundred. she 90
cent stamp AZ 20 cents each, tho 81 stamr
at 80 GEMS each. and so on up. In turn,
she stamps are rstailsd at greatly advanced
prices, the entire Columbian set selling 81
collectors at $500. which Ia only 10 pc,
cent less than the face value Of the uncsn'
oeled STAN pc at the postofhce.
In a few years the Columbian stamp will
become rae. and the prices corresponds
ingly high. SO that many large holders are
putting their collections aside in anticipa-
tion of such prices as aie now paid for the
Centennial varieties Of 1876. which are
hard to find. This 10 especially true of the
one, two, three, fouf and five dollar Column
bian stamps. None OF these varieties is
used in the domestic msil service. as the
heaviest printed matter which the govern
ment will handle weighs bus four pounds
and requires but Ga cents in postage. Ac-
cordingly, the man who wishes to procure
cancelled stamps OF these higher values
must overpaY his postage at considerable
loss 20 himself. q fact which goes TO OK
plain tho postmaster-GeneraPs statement
that the govern ment would realizs between
81, 600, 900 and $3, 0OO, 700 profit on the sale
OF thssa stamps.
This and every other Office in town is
daily besieged BY seekers after the Column
hiRn stamps. Those which come on mail
to Helena are all the way from one cent up
TO fifty. though the larger varieties are
scarce. Tbs twos, threes, and other small
denominations up to ten cents are the most
frequent. 1t rs u noticeable fact that very
few envelopes can be found lying around
the postodioe with stamps on them. Many
peo0le are in the hNbit of opening their
mail in the postotlce and throwing the
envelopes away. The hvldity with which
the envelopes are grabbed up for the sake
Of the stamps on them brinas JOY to the
heart OF the man who cleans up for Post
master Clewell.
So great ia tho demand for the Columbian
varieties that several large business houses
in New York have made contracts with
stamp dealers. who take all the Columbian
stamps at one-third of their original value.
Cores! oadinR agents Of those houses
throughout the United States have been
ordered 10 use on their large packages only
stamps Of large den minat,on, and many OF
these agents reply taat postoftices in several
instances refuse to sell the higher values on
kho ~HonV Nhak AkA pnn -Ho@In A.
eupply. In Orange, N. j.. the ladies of one
Of the churches have discovered that by
selling 10. 600 Colombian Stang pa of the COM
moner varieties enough may be obtained to
support a bed In the local hospital for a
stated period, and, accordingly, husbands,
brothers and sweethearts in O anpe arc un-
dergoinR mild forms of torture 10 the phil
Anthropio efforts of the ladies to wiring from
them evory available bian stamp.
In Europe the crazs for the little Column
bian souvenirs Is said TO be sven more pro-
nouncsd. The other day one Of the lHrRe
insurance companies received a request
from its branch office in Berlin to use onty
Columbian stamps on tho eompany's mail,
and to select the highest denominations
possible. The letter went on to say that
every house in Berlin having American
connections had boon besieged by %collec-
tori. and that the manager had reached the
serious conclusion that. If presented with a
"a IA ~ Vs. q kOOa |
any persons could be induced to insure
their lives. A tourist who recently te-
turned from Italy relates that when he
reached his hotel in Florence and an
nounced his name he WAS instantly SUI
rounded by an excited group of porters and
aal!boys. who said that there was mail
him. and might they have tbs
stamps. Tue same gentleman
says that there is a corner of the stock ex-
change in Hamburg devoted to trafio in
stamps. and that bulls anu
bears daily buy and sell as carefully as
they handled the highest gill; edge
Venezuela has borrowed the idea of the
Columbian stamp in use in the United
statea and ia now uslng a Columbian stamp
of its own, but so neayly like those of this
country TINT only careful observers oan de.
tect the difference. The Al gentiue Itepub-
lie celebrated a centenary of some sort in
1892, and nj into circulation a set of sou
venir sthmls which appear to have sug-
Rested ths iden of the Columbian set in use
in the United States. The Argentine
stamps, however. We G only sold on one day
of the year and in Guoh small quantities.
that many Of the genuine ones can now
scarcely be bought at any price.