Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-04
Uo Be Continued.)
RARE STAMPS ON LETTERS.
Finds of Value Sometimes Made
Stamps to Look Out For.

Stamps to Look Out For.
 Never burn up or throw away old l letters or papers without first giving them careful examination" advised a TWenty-third street stamp dealer. 1 flor there's many an apparently worth I less piece of paper that bears a stamp which would bring in open market hundreds and maybe thousands of dol. l lars.
 There are plenty of the old post I master stamps still in existence, for I instance, as there were a great many I of them originally issued, and it has not been so long ago, say lfty-five years, when they were in active use.t Now, 1. any one of these early issues is worth $500 up. Any one who has access to old files of correspondence from 184O l to 1865 ought to hunt for such stamps.
 The chief reason why more of these old stamps have not come to light is probably that they have so or dinary and unattractiye an appearance that person unacquainted with their value would not waste second glance upon them. They were very similar ill most cases to the postmaster can ceilation marks now i'll use in the post offices, with the exception that tho postmaster was required to sign his name to them.
 The rarest of the whole lot of post master issues is the 1O-cent Baltimore stamp, with the name of James NJ. Buchanan One specimen of this stamp sold for $4,4OO, which is the rec ord price for stamp of United States I issue. There's no reason in the world why there shouldn't be more of these stamps packed away somewhere. h. the case of this stamp none of them was used on envelopes, but all on let ters.
 ''The design of the Baltimore stamp is box made of hair line rule, one and half inches long and half an inch wide. In the center is the sigma. 5 ture, James M. Buchanan while un- der the name is the denomination, either 5 or 10 cents. ss
 There, are two kinds of these stamps in black and blue. The ten cent black is the scarccr.
 Next to this series probably comes the New Haven stamp, at the bottom of which is the signature sE A. Mitch ell, F. M h the center is the figure $ 5 with the word Paid directly under heath. At the top are the words Post office, New Haven. Ct The words are all enclosed in a black border with a small curve, in the corner.
 Among the rarities of this grade may also be mentioned the Lockport, N. Y. postmaster issue. This brings a very high figure, and there ought to still be some of them in the Upper part of the state
 { 'In looking through the stacks ot old correspondence don't expect to see the older stamps on envelopes--that is those stamps used previous to 1850. Envelopes did not come into use until that year, the old custom being to fold the letter, seal it, and then place the stamp above the address.
 Another class of correspondence that will yield good return if found is that used in the south during the jsWar, The Confederate apostmasters ran out Of stamps and used special ones made in their own localities, most of these set up in type and then
 printed on the envelopes. A good many of these envelopes were made from wall paper.
 Ut was the custom at that time to send the letter with the postage to be
 collected from the receiver, and a
 good many of these Confederate stamps are nothing more than cancel
 lation marks showing that the post
 age has been paid. But no matter
 what was their original purpose, every
 one of the stamps was well worth the
 finding, thet value of some Of them
 running into the hundreds of dollars.
 'Janitors of public buildings and postmasters are in the best positions to
 come across old stamps A good illus
 tration of this was the case of the jam
 itor of the court house at Louisville
 Ky. who made the famous find of
 the then rare St. Louis postmaster
 stamps of 1S45 in a lot of old rubbish
 in the cellar
 These were discovered just in time
 to keep them from going into the furnace. As q matter of fact a grea,
 many of them were burned by the
 janitor before he found out that he was consuming the equivalent of mon, ey.
 IA stamp dealer only last summer i, while spend few weeks al a small town up the Hudson river called at the local postoffice and asked the postmaster if he had any old stamps. The postmaster said he hac . some in the safe that had been there for years. He brought them out an6 they proved to be sheet of fifty 8
 cent stamps of 1S69 unused. These stamps are valued at $2s apiece i'll this condition, but the deale, , only paid the postmaster 25 cents apiece for them. The postmaster
 could just as we'll have made this little difference himself if he had only talk en the trouble to be up 10 date. Al , ways be careful not to tear the stamp , from it's original envelope.
 } United States revenue stamps alse bring high figures, some of then , bringing as much as $500 apiece There are three 5000 revenue stamps
 which are worth any figure that would be offered, and are probably valued at more than even the Baltimore. 'fOne of these 5000 stamps is il the headquarters of the Union Pacific railroad at Omaha, Neb. It WAS uset : on the bill of sale of the Union Pa | cific railroad, which sold for some thing like $6O,0oO,OOO, and in all prob ! ability the stamp was made for this special purpose, only three impress
 sions being taken.'
 Good as Any.