Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-04

FORTUNES IN STAMPS
Extent Of the Fad of Collect
ing.
THOUSANDS EXPENDED ON IT
Postmaster General Wanamaker's
Calculation.
THE MBIAN ISSUE
THOUSANDS EXPENDED ON
Z HE COLUM BIAN ISSUE

! IL you pay @SVo loT an article Sflldil
enough to go in your YES; pocket and
eighteen years afterward sell 1t Tor $4,000.
you would think you had made a pretty
| good speculation.
That is the rate Of increase in the value
| of a set OF department stamps. / saw
recently catalogue Of stamps published in
| 1878 and the full set of depa rtment stamps
was offered for 30 cents. Today 1t is listed
| In the stamp dealers catalogues at sIiU
| In consequence of the extraordinary in
| crease in the value OF some stamps specu-
| lation in stamps has seized on tens of
thousands of people in the United States.
| Whole communities are quite daft over Il.
| L talked with an amateur collector here
the other day about the craze, and he ;old
| me of recent visit he made to New York
| to talk business with firm for which
| he is the western agent. When he called
! on the head of one of the departments he
was greeted with, You'll have to excuse
| me, my dear sir. Just heard of a lot Of
| stamps a man uptown wants to sell cheap.
| See you tomorrow" and eff he went.
Extent of the Fad.
Interest in the fad is not confined TO any
section or to large cities. 1t Is almost
everywhere. L heard today OF a prefe Sor
| I'm an Illinois college who has been buying
stamps for several years. He pu:s all his
spare cash into them, and when he received
a legacy some time ago he put every cent
of it into stamps. He buys only old Amer
lean stamps. and he has spent Oh them
up to date SlU0N0 cash. He expects 10
realize a million dollars some day
The craze for stamp collecting swept
over the country twenty-five years ago
and there was perfect fever of specula-
ton. 1t died out and stamp collecting
lost much Of Its hold the popular fancy.
In the last five years it has been gaining
strength again and taking many curious
forms. Not satisfied with having all the
possible variations of the issue of stamp
sometimes two lots of the same stamp
VIII differ in a minute detaiD, the fin de
siecie collectors must have rows of stamps
with the margin OF the stamp sheet show
ing the plate mark; they must have can
ceied stamps on the original envelopes
and they must have sets of government
stamped envelopes representing every pos
The very latest fad is one which only
wealthy collectors can afford 20 follow
1t is a fad for collecting perfect STAMPS
stamps on which the gum remains unfair
nlshed and whose perforated edge is per
fect heretofore the Cancelled stamp has
been considered much more desirable for
collections than the stamp uncanceled.
Postal Service Abuses
1t has been the custom OF collectors 10
use 81 stamps on ordinary letters ad-
dressed to themselves so as to have them
in Cancelled condition. and this has led
10 two abuses of the postal seryice-one
In the cancellation of STAMPS of hfrh a.
nomination in small post Offices where the
postmasters compensation is 4 percentage
OF his cancellation. Some years ago a ST
Louis man got into serious trouble by writ
lng to country postmaSterS suggesting that
lie would mail packages under heavy most
age. at their offices If they would divide
commissions with him. He proposed 10 use
the 81 Columbian stamp on letters ad-
dressed to himself, sent under cover to the
postElasters to he remailed. In some in
stances the postmaster receives the full
Value OF the stamps he Cancelled as conf
pensatlon, AID if he was willing TO divide
with the stamp man the cost of the 81
stamps would be reduced in this way to 20
cents. Inc government heard of this
fraud and stopped it,
Another abuse caused by tba mo ilip,, 90
stamps by collectors for the purpose of
having them Cancelled is the theft of the
Cancelled stamps by the clerks in most
offices. The department has had MANY
complaints of these thefts.
But today the Cancelled stamp is losing
caste The uncanceled, unused, unsuliied
stamp is coming to the front
l asked my friend the amateur why he
pursued the fad. He is a solid, sensible
citizen, who began to collect stamps In a
boyIsh way. Il keep on collecting" he
said, because l consider my stamp collec-
ton excellent insurance. | began 10 make
my collection twenty-five years ago.
twenty years ago it was worth 500 or
$500. L have added comparatively little to
IL, and today it is worth $1,000. 1 am add
ing to ii now because / do not know any
investment which pays so well. AT The
past rate OF increase my present collection
Will be worth $4,000 twenty-five years
hence, if l live SO long. With the additions
L am making, and in view of the rapid I'M
crease in the value of some stamps re-
Gently. it is quite likely will leave s30.oO
to $4,000 worth of stamps a legacy, il 1
live to good age
This amateur, like most of the other
stamp collectors, has his eye open for a
trade or speculation at any time.
Nearly Caught Mapping.
The most frequent source of profit in
stamps is I'm finding people who own them
and do not know their value. A St. Louis
travelling man was i'm an Illinois town re-
Gently. man with whom he did business
showed him stamp collection. The travel
ing man saw a number Of rare stamps in
the book. do you want to sell these?" he
said.
u might sell Them" said the stamp own
err "A man offered me $50 for the collec-
ton once
IN give you 500 for it," said the travel
ing man.
The owner was not anxious to sell for
$780, He thought they might be worth
more. The travelling man raised his bid
until it reached $500. This the other said
he would accept. The bidder hurried to the
station and wired his firm in st. Louis to
send him $500 by telegraph. While he was
QOlnS tnlS the prOtner OIL the stamp owner |
learned about the transaction. He knew |
something about stamps. When the travel |
ing man came back with his $500, the stamp |
owner hourished stamp catalogue at him. |
you're too Late" he said. Those stamps |
are worth ten times $500
Finally the travelling man had to pay
81 900 for the collection, and he made a |
lively profit at that.
The richest stamp collector in the world |
"a Frenchman, whose collection is said to |
be worth a million dollars-is I'm the |
''morgue class. He may buy twenty du-
plicates of one stamp, but he never lets |
one of them pass out of his hands.
An example Of rapid accretion in the |
value of a stamp is the State Department |
one-cent green. 1t has gone from 81 to |
So so in six months. The Department of /
Justice inety-cent stamp, which was ad- 1
vertised four years ago at 81. is now listed |
at $50.
The Columbian Issue.
Not all stamps increase in value greatly. /
In fact, stamps have been known to de- /
crease. The Columbian issue is a case in
point. When Postmaster General Wanna
maker was planning this issue, he figured |
on paying the cost of the new designs out /
Of the sale of stamps to collectors. In this,
he was disappointed, as he Acknowledged /
in one Of his annual reports. But In spite
NJ ha In clr Of init in