The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-08-24
POSTAGE STAMP FAD.
1T BEGAN AS A HARMLESS AMUSE-
MENT AND BECAME A MANIA,


lous Prices Are Asked md Given.
Tho postage stamp mania is one of
the most curious of human fads, re-
marks a Now York writer A collection
OF coins is at the most worth the weight
of tho metal. Not so q collection of
stamps. The fashion may go out as it
came In, and then the stamps will be
only so much waste paper.
The fad broke out in 1861 in the form
OF few sporadic cases among school
boys and maiden ladies. 1t was not only
harmless fad, but i'll tho case of the
sohoolboys it was even an educative
one 1t proved the easiest the pleasant
est and the most efficacious way of
driving knowledge of geography into
the adolescent mind.
But now that these first few sporadic
attacks have developed into something
alarmingly like All epidemic one begins
to speculate whether tho craze Of tho
philatelist is not distinct bar to hui
man progress, inasmuch as 1t consumes
largo amount of brain force and vital
energy that might better be turned into
other and moro useful channels of nc
tivity.
In the United States alone there is an
organization called the American Phila-
telic association, which numbers 1000
members. But this represents only a
small fraction of tho philatelists actual
~ i'll the country.
The greatest and most famous of liy-
ing philatelists = considered merely
from tho philatelist point of view-is
f1n ~
courteous and white haired old gentle
man who lives i'll Paris. He is n sou of
the late Duchess dc Gallicra, who was
also passionate lover of stamps
His collection is valued at $500, 600.
He has been known to pay $500 for al
album which contained only single
stamp that he coveted. For moro valu-
able collections he has never limited his
expenditures.
Next to the Ferrari collection comes
that of Baron Arthur dc Rothschild,
which is so valuable that its owner, with
the true jealousy of the collector, re-
serves tho pages containing his rarost
treasures for the dclcctation only of
himself and his most intimate friends
Now, what constitutes the enormous
value of these collections? 1t is not the
number of the specimens. There arc
more than 5000 different varieties of
stamps now actually i'll existence. A
certain number can be obtained at COM
parativcly light expense.
But tho rarer ones command largo
prices. Never mind whether tho rarity
was created by age or accident
Tho MacMahon stamp in Franco is
the blue rose, the unattainablc ideal Of
the collector. When the marshal was
president of France, his wife was anx-
ious to see his image set In stamps.
Designs were accordingly prepared,
but the postal commissioner rejected
them and adopted another design. Nov
erthelcss there is legend that somo of
these MacMahon stamps got into circu-
lation. If single specimen ever turns
up, it will be priceless
Another lost pleiad is postage stamp
issued by the government Of British
Guiana i'll 1886. 1t has disappeared from
the market, and specimens hold In tho
hands of private collectors are valued
at $3.50.
A set of four 1850 stamps also issued
i'll British Guiana bring anywhere from
Hawaiian stamps arc valued at 81. 500.
The 5 and 80 cent reunion stamps
bring $500. The New Brunswick 5 cent
stamp, with the head of O'Connell, is
rarely parted with under $3.50
Rare is also the black Canadian 10
penny stamp, valued at 1925.
But the collector does not stop at Ie-
climate issues Of stamps He gives
fancy prices for varieties of shades, for
perforations, errors and watcrnarks.
At a recent stamp exhibition in Wen
ma an enthusiastic collector named Gil
webb displayed with pride the "error"
of Francc-a stamp of 20 confines
printed i'll blue instead of black, the
'erlnr' of Afghanistan and stamp
with missing ornament i'll corner.
DR.. Mailman of Vienna had even
more wondrous delights to unfold, for
he was the proud possessor Of tho two
rare errors of the Cape of Good
Hope, stamps of penny and pence
respectively, which are blue instead of
red and red instead of blue
Such errors fetch very high
price, kept down only by the uneasiness
of creating new values" by wanting
misprinting.
No article on philately could be com
plete without some notice of the 1,OOO,-
O0C postage stamps myth. This still
survives i'll vague and uncertain forms
IN the rural districts, where it is beliet-
ed that some vast benefit, financial or
other, will accrue to any ono who COL
lects 1000, 600 stamps and forwards
them to the proper address. But the
proper address is never known.