The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-05
SOME RARE STAMPS.
on. wsvth $4,000 the Government 1s
ANXIOUS to Get.
From the worcester Gazette

From the worcester Gazette.
The United States government would
very much like to know which of the Bos-
ton men in attendance at the
convention of the American Phi
latelic Association, which has been in
session in Boston lately has in his per-
session one of the only three 600 revenuA
stamps known to be in existence There
is little doubt, owing to his prominence an
a collector, that he is taking an active pare
in the proceedings, but for prudential rea-
sons neither he nor his associates care to
reveal his identity. So anxious is the,
government to obtain this little piece OF
information that twice it has sent on am
officer from Washington to look the mat
ter up and seize the stamp. On both &C.
casions it was out of the state, but in what
part of the country it was in hiding no+
even the astute detective force of tho
great republic could discover.
Francis s. Belden of Chicago, who has in
his great collection of nearly 1900 stamps
an exceedingly valuable set of United
States revenue stamps, some of them
worth more than 500 each, is above sus-
picion, because he is not Boston man.
for the stamp has been traced TO that city.
The other two stamps of this kind are be-
lieved to be on a mortgage bond of the
Northern Pacific railroad, although this is
a matter of dispute Not being in thu
stamp Is unknown, but, Judging by tho
anxiety shown to possess 1t, it cannot be-
much less than it's face value. This is
the rarest stamp known to be in existence
in this country, and its history is one OF
the romances of stamp collecting. That
this supposititious value is not eXtrava-
giant may be judged from the fact that at
the meeting of philatelists in London last
month a Mr. Avery of England exhibited
pair of Nautilus postoffice stamps, the
price of which was $500. The fact that
they were joined added to their value, as
stamps in sheets are more valuable than
when they are separated.
The largest known sum ever realized for
a stamp was $4,40O. paid by w. A. Castle
of Springfield and New York for a stamp
privately issued by the postmaster of Bal
timore between 1912 and 1915, when the,
postmasters were allowed to issue stamps
for their local prepaid postal matter. In
the magnificent collection of N. c. Nash
of Boston were two complete plates of the
st. Louis private stamps, a 20-cent one
being valued at $1,000 and two and a TEN
! at 5000. In this collection there was al
Milbury stamp of 1913, estimated at $1,200
a Baltimore al $780, and four Hawaiian.
| missionary stamps, one of which was
worth $500. A stamp issued by the post
| master of Brattleboro, Vt, sells at $3.50
| whenever one is to be had, for the early
issues of local postoffices are very rare.
| But two of the United States fiVe-cenC
stamps Of 1868, grlled all over, are known
! to be in existence, and one of these is
| owned in Boston and the other is in the
| famous collection of Count Ferrari.
! H. e. beats of Pennington, N J., has
| the finest collection of confederate and
| United States stamps in this country, all
| though Francis c. Foster who began col
! lecting in the SOS, contests the honor with
! him. Mr.. Foster has a specimen Of the
| rare (Ala.J stamp, made during the rebel
! lion by the postmaster under the sanction
| of the confederate government, which ha
values at $1,000 Although there were
twenty or thirty Places in the south that
| issued similar stamps during the war, but
two or three stamps are known to exist.
| and are therefore very valuable. Mr.. Fos~
ter has a Brattleboro stamp in his collec-
ton. Among the collectors in the vicin-
| ity of Boston, Willard c. Vanderlip is one
of the best known his speciality being
stamps of this country. He has one OF
| the most complete and valuable collections
| of United States envelopes in the world.
| A part of the large collection of Fred W.
Aver Of Bangor was recently sold in Lon
don for $3.50, 600 but he has retained some
of his most valuable stamps. H J. Du-
veen of New York is another large collec-
tor, and a Mr.. Thorn of the same city has
the honor of having taken a prize in Lon
| don for his great collection of United
| States stamps.