The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-10-08
PHILATELIC FADS.

nations and colonies for observing or
rather concentrating important events
in their history. This is in the issuance of
sneciaIlv designed postage stamps and the
now universal custom OF preparing all
mail matter between countries, though
thew NAV be separated by half the circum-
ference of the earth, makes the means en-
Moved the most effective that could posi-
bly, be devised.
These stamps are usually of an ephem-
eral character. their life varying from one
day to an indefinite period. Among the
shortest lived were those issued by the
Argentine Republic on October IL, 1892, to
commemorate the quadrennial of the dis
covery of the New World. They were
Serviceable for that day only, and the
struggle to secure specimens of them led
to a riot on a small scale in the neigh
borhoOd of the postofice In Buenos
Ayres. This intense desire to procure
them was principally due to the demands
of philatelists throughout the world, who
| had knowledge in advance that the stamps
were to be issued and who had flooded
! their correspondents in the capital OF
Argentine with orders for them. Two
stamps of the den nominations of 2 ceDtavOs
and centavOs, respectively. were issued.
OSAOtO dS HIGH dS GU III Sulu
was offered for each of them, but the pair
can now be purchased for about 81 so.
Thus far the lougest-lyed commemora-
tive stamps are those which were issued by
Great Britain in 1887 In honor of Queen
Victoria's golden jubilee, or the fftleth
year OF her reign. This set comprised
twelve values. from I'd TO Is. and is still in
design issued in 1890.
Some of the other countries that have
had Jubilee or commemorative postal issues
are Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay. Sal
vadOr. Uruguay and Venezuela, to cele-
brate the discovery OF America; Hong
Kong, in honor of its fiftieth anniversary
as a British colony; Montenegro, to COM
memorate the quadrennial anniversary OF
the introd uctiOn of the printing press; New
South Wales, in celebration of its centen-
Mai birthday as part OF the domain OF
Great Britain; ROumania, to mark the sill
Yer jubilee, or twenty-ifth year of King
Carts reign, and Switzerland. to celebrate
the fiftieth year of the existence of the
postal system.
But the jubilee issue par excellence.is
that of the United States of America as
part of its celebration of the four hun
dredGh anniversary of the discovery of the
American continent by Columbus. These
are now current and are popularity known
as the Columbian stamps. The set COM
prises siXteen values. ranging from l cent
to SIS, with an aggregate face value OF
SIC "a. They were placed on sale at the
beginning of the year, with the announce
ment that they were to be issued for the
succeeding twelve months only. As is
generally known, each stamp is minia-
ture reproduction of a celebrated painting,
executed TO commemorate an important
incident directly connected with the great
discoverer and his achievement
Despite the numerous jbes and jokes
IL hx,f ha
the United States. they attracted more
comment of a favorable character from
tne press OF the rest of the world than any
previous postal emission. The excellent
work on them compelled universal admi-
ration; the only weak point about them
and which subjected them to the attacks
of the humorlsts OF this country being
their size.
In philatelic circles their appearance
was looked forward to with the most
pleasurahle anticipation, and the artistic
tastes of the stamp collectors were graft
fed indeed They more than realized
their highest expectations. For months
after their issue the philatelic journals of
this country and of Europe and other
parts, mum bering somewhere in the neigh
borhood of a hundred contained some
thing in their praise in each number; and
even the regular daily newspapers in for
eign lands went to the trouble of repro
ing them high need of praise.
Though the contract made by the Gov
eminent calls for 3,000.000,0o0 stamps,
which would allow generous quantity to
every collector, there is demand for them
that is simply unDrecedented in the history
of philately. Nearly every phelatelic pub
LEGATION in this country contains one or
more advertisements 10 which dealer or
speculative collector offers to buy any
quantity of the Columbian stamps in a
Cancelled condition. For the 2-cent denom-
ination only cents per 100 is offered; for
the 1-cent about 10 cents per 100 the mar
ket figure; the Scent is worth about 81
per 100; the Accent. 60 cents; the 5-cent, 30
cents; The 6-cent, 81 so; the Scent, 81 go
the 10-ceDt 70 cents, and the 15-cent up
ward. One-thrd the face value is read
lily paid. These are the prices offered in
the United States, but in foreign coun-
tries all the denominations above the 3
cent even though Cancelled, are worth a
slight premium over their face value.
When ex-Postmaster Wanamaker made
his report recommending the issuance of
these stamps he predicted that 81. 900
worth of them would be sold to collectors
for their albums and would never do
postal service. thus giving the Government
a clear profit of this entire amount, the
stamps costing about IL cents per 1000
There is now no doubt that the forecast
will be fully realized, as the demand for
unused specimens by philatelists continues
with comparatively little abatement. While
there are not very many who feel able TO
invest in complete set, there are thou
sands upon thousands who have bought
or will buy all of the values up TO the 81.
But the Columbian stamps have made
market for themselves among even those
who had heretofore never known the pc
culiar fascination of stamp collecting, and
have been the means of creating thousands
of embryo philateists, as the more ad-
vanced stamp collectors are termed. Ihey
have thus incidentally been most effect
i've advertisement of the enterprise. liber-
ality and progress of our country.
Among the first to obtain complete
unused set Of this issue was the young
Queen of Holland. through her representa-
tive at Washington.
AS the day approaches when these
stamps are to be withdra WI from issue the
desire to secure supply of them grows
stronger. and every possible device is used
by collectors and dealers to obtain them.
The commercial value of these apparently
worthless objects has even tempted letter
carriers in various cities to unlawfully
remove them from mail matter. In several
cases they have been detected, convicted
of felony and sentenced to Imprisonment.
Shortly after the issuance of these labels