The morning call., 1893-11-05
HOW TO COLLECT STAMPS.


| is more interesting than the methods in
vogue by collectors and dealers for accu-
muating the diminutive objects which
stimulate and keep alive The phiatelic
mania.
There are certain recognized means for
rsplenishing the stocks of the dealers and
| the albums of collectors, but frequent and
ingenious departures are made from them,
which have for their basis the ignorance
Of the urphilatelic portion of the popula-
ton.
| Stamp-dealing was begOt of stamp-col-
lectng Before any one found it profitable
to cater to the wants of collectors the latter
secured their specimens by ransacking the
old trunks and desks in their homes and
| the homes OF their friends for them, lying
IN walt at the poStOffice and asking recip-
tents OF foreign mail for the stamps on it
and by exchanging among themselves.
Soon, however. Jew individuals saw a
chance Tor profit i'll selling some of the
scarcer varieties to their fellow Collectors.
VINO bad no desirable specimens to barter.
In this way the dealer was eventually
| evolved, and there is now one firm in this
business In London whose stock approXi-
mates in value half million dollars, while
there are probably half dozen or more in
this country and Europe who carry phila-
| teIc merchandise TO the extent of 500, 600
| to 100000
Both used and unused specimens must
tc 81 al hT"d. y" Sarura unused speci-
mens tie large dea.ei, l.ll.!;..i.. a~rr.s.
who are usually collectors in 2 pr0minen,
city. in all Stamp-iSsuing countries, with
| Instructions to purchase, up to given
amount. every new issue as faS; as it ap-
pears. Smaller dealers obtain their sup
/ plies from the large firms. Unused speci-
! n tI.t nn Inv tt1.. /, Of
. collections OF which the owners have be-
come tired, by wholesale exchange with
| dealers in other counties and by eX-
! change 18th collectors, who, in the course
of building uD their collections. incident
ally become pos, eSSed Of many duplicates.
Large quantities of stamps are also Sc
| cured by purchasing from various Govern
mentS what are known as remalnders.
! These are stamps which have become Oh
| sOlete and unavailable for postage because
| of the adoption of a new issue. In this
way very desirable and valuable stamps
are secured at low price and the enter
/ prisiDg dealer who is ShreWd ana bold
enough To buy an entire lot of rpmainders
/ Is frequently in position TO make re-
! spectacle fortune from single tranSac-
ton of this kind.
| y knowledge Of these facts has been the
means Of large engraving firm in this
| country adopting scheme by which its
ptnse of unsopnistcatet! collectors. 1t has
contracts with San Salvador, Nicaragua,
Honduras and Ecuador by which it fur
EisheS these countries with new issue of
stamps each year without charge on coDdi-
uon that all the remandeTS at the end of
each year shall accrue 20 il. 1t, Of course,
takes care that sufficient are printed TO
leave generous quantity over as
its perquisite. These are sold to
dealers at a fraction of their
face value, and are thus placed Oh
the market .for the collectors. The gen.
tleman at the head OF the firm is n. T.
Seebeck, and The STAMPS printed bv his
firm are now known as SeeDeck's. When
they were first thrown on the market a
very large sale was found for them, but
recently, since these facts have been
thoroughly disseminated i'll the stamp
journals. there has been a decided falling
off in their popularity, collections prefer
ring 10 collect them in used condition only.
While collectors depend to-day mostly
on dealers for their stamps they avail
themselves of every meth OH that will add
to their store 1T less cost tnan the regular
market prices. In order to facilitate ex-
changes between collectors in different
cities and countries numerous phiiatelic
societies have been organized. These have
various aims in view. but the chief s the
maintenance OF Il department or bureau
for the exchange of stamps between
members.
The stamps are placed on sheets.
marked with selling price. and the sheets
are then made up into books and circu-
lated, often in several continents, among
the s0riety'S members. All members have
the right 10 place sheets in circulation,
only nominal amount being charged for
the sheets. Collectors in different cities
also esta blsh direct exchange relations
with one another. Facilities TOR this are
offered by the numerous directories of COL
iectors that are published and the adver-
tisemeDtS that appear in stamp journals,
of which the following are few eX-
amples:
Russian letter cards free. Against sc Colum-
bian STAMPED envelope (the larger sizes always
preferFed). addressed to me. address the sender
a Russian 10 kopec letter card and tnclose un-
stamped envelope address the sender kopec
and kopec letter card, fully prepaid. and inclose
unused 4 EOpec and kopec stamp. JOHN
-, Moscow, Russia.
want all kinds OF U. S. and British North
American stamps in exchange for good foreign
H. -, ST. Louis, MO.
exchange wanted ard correspondence solicited
with all parts OF the world. Use stamped envelope
and stall do the same. send your address
postal card and receive an Austrian postal card in
reply. CARL -, Carlsbad, Austria
In few cases do collectors depend upon
local dealers for their wants, as it is just
as feasible for them to DO business with a
dealer in foreign country by mail rs it is
win n q alpr in thar own town, and deal
ers are atW.Aole ~ to >"nd r"nsi signme uts
on approval, providing the InttnuiDl pm
chaser is member of some national or in
ternatiOnal society, or can give good refer
ences. Where neither of these conditions
exists deposit is usually required. but as
n ppupraI thing munh accented faith