The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-10-26
POSTAGE STAMP FAD.
tT BEGAN As A HARMLESS AMUSE-
MENT AND BECAME A MANIA.

MENT AND BECAME A MANIA.
MiIlioAs of Dollars Are Locked Up In Bits
of Paper That Have No Real Wholesome
Of the Rare Specimens For Which Fabu
Ious Prices Are Asked and Given.
The postage stamp mania is one Of
the most curious of human fads, re-
marks a New York writer A collection
of coins is at the most worth the weight
of the metal Not so a 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
a harmless fad, but in the case of the
schoolboys it was even an educative
one. It 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 an epidemic one begins
to speculate whether the craze of the
philatelist is not distinct bar to hui
man progress, inasmuch as it consumes
a large amount of brain force and vital
energy that might better be turned into
other and more useful channels of &C
tivity.
In the United States alone there is an
organization called the American Phila.
telio association, which numbers 1,00G
members. But this represents only,
small fraction of the philatelists actual
ly in the country.
The greatest and most famous of liv-
ing philatelists = considered merely
from the philatelist point of VIEWS
NJ. Philippe de Ferrari dignifed,
courteous and white haired old gentle.
man who lives in Paris. He is son OF
the late Duchess de Galliera, who was
also a passionate lover Of stamps.
His collection is valued at $500, 600.
He has been known to pay $500 for an
album which contained only a single
stamp that he coveted. For more valu-
able collections he has never limited his
expenditures.
Next to the Ferrari collection comes
that of Baron Arthur de Rothschild,
which is so valuable that its owner, with
the true jealousy of the collector, re-
serves the pages containing his rarest
treasures for the delectation " Of
himself and his most intimate S.
Now, what constitutes the enormous
value of these collections? 1t is not the
number of the specimens. There are
more than 5000 different varieties of
stamps now actually in existence. A
certain number can be obtained at COM
paratively light expense.
But the rarer ones command large
prices. Never mind whether the rarity
was created by age or accident.
The MacMahon stamp in France is
the blue rose, the unattainable 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
theL nd adopted another design. New
ertheIess there is a legend that some Of
these NIacMahon stamps got into circu-
lation If a single specimen ever turns
up, ii i'll be priceless.
An her lost plead is p postage stamp |
issued ~ the government of British
Gui~ II 1856. 1t has disappeared from
the lrl5et and specimens held in the
han = grivate collectors are valued
at 500
a set IF four 1850 stamps also issued
in Britisl Guiana bring anywhere from
$500 t. $500. md set of four 1861
Hawa ie2 81 Ups are valued at 81, 500 |
The IS aud 80 cent reunion stamps |
bring $780, The New Brunswick cent |
stamp with the head of O'Connell, is
rarely parted with under $3.50.
Rare II also the black Canadian IL |
penny stamp valued at $125.
But the collector does not stop at lie
gitimate issues of stamps. He gives
fancy prices for varieties of shades, for |
perforations, errors and watermarks.
At a recent stamp exhibition in Wen |
ma mn enthusiastic collector named Gi. |
webb displayed with pride the "error"
of France stamp of % confines
printed in blue instead of black, the
error of Afghanistan and stamp |
with missing ornament in a corner.
DR.. Mailman of Vienna had even
more wondrous delights to unfold, for
be was the proud possessor of the two
rare errors of the Cape of Good
Hope, stamps of penny and pence
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
No article on philately could be COM
plete without some notice of the l, 000,
BOO postage stamps myth. This still
survives in vague and uncertain forms
in the rural districts, where it is believ-
ed that some vast benefit, financial or
other, will accrue to any one who col.
Iects 1000, 900 stamps and forwards
them to the proper address. But the
proper address is never known.
Homogeneous.