Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-08
PRICED BY COLLECTORS
SPECIMENS OF ISSUES OF DE-
PARTMENTAL STAMPS.
Recommendation of Post Office Officials
to Abolish Franking Privilege Re-
wives Interest in Old System.

The recommend ton of Third Assistant
Postmaster General Nsddea that the frink-
Ing privilege be abolished and that senators.
| representatives, and depart mental ofHcias
| be required to use pest Ee stamps on all
! classes of maf-funds for the purchase or
stamps 10 be appropriated by Congress-is
| being given very careful consideration by
! senator's and representatives Various OBJ
1ections to the recommendation of Mr..
| Madden have been raised. chief among
| winch is the difficulty that would be ex-
| per.esced In adjusting appropriations so as
| 10 meet the official needs of members OF
| Congress A uniform allowance would bs
necessary, of course. and what would be
| ample for one member would rot be n drop
| In the bucket for another An old stamp
collector suggests that this difficulty might
| be overcome by Issuing two distinctive
series of postage stamps-one for senator's
and representatives and the other for use
of the officials of the departments The
| proposal of the stamp collector is bel eyed
TO possess considerable merit and will be
given attention.
third of century ago-rom 1873 to
| 1853 10 be exact-all departmental mail re-
CURED Postage stamps. though mail sent
| by senators and repre- sentatives was frank
| ed by the signing of the name. as at pres
! emit Each of the departments however,
had Its own distinctive postage st amps,
| which were supplied without cost, except
| for manufacture. These stamps were print
| ed from the same plates as the current
! postage stamps, except those used by the
Post Office Department, the latter being
| labels with the denomina ton in large fig
ures printed within an oval. with an APP
| Office Department. official stamp, L. s."
Departmental Stamps.
| The stamps for the Department of Agri-
| ryp
rich orange yellow. and were of the de-
nominations of 1. 2. 3, 0. 10. II. 10, "a and
! 30 cents The executive stamps for frank
ing the Presidents mail, were a. rich car
mine color and of the denomina lions OF 1.
2, 3. and 10 cents. The Interior Depart.
! ment stamps were printed in vermilion and
| OF tne values of 1, 2 3, g. TO- T. 10 "a 30
and 20 cents The stamps for the Depart
| ment or Justice were of the same denomi-
nations as Interior, but printed In royal
, purple, and the Post once Department
| stamps were in black. I-cent stamp was
| added to the Navy. War and Treasury for
| foreign postage, the rate at that time be-
| ing cents instead of cents as at present
The Navy was printed in brilliant u ira
| marine. the War in rose and the Treasury
| In brown. Stamps for the Department OF
| state were of a dark green color, and In
| addition to the 7-cent there were also de-
nominations of 81, IS. $40 and $50. Tho
| Tour iast-named stamps were twice as large
| as the others, as large as those OF any
! other department and bore the likeness OF
| William II. Seward. The $40 State Depart
ment Is the stamp Of highest denomination
for postal uses ever issued by the United
States
| The coors of all of the department
stamps were brilliant and the designs at
| tractive. Complete series OF the stamps, in
| unused condition, arranged on sheets make
| a display that never fails to interest be-
| holders, even though they be wholly lack
| ing in the ''phiatelic'' instinct. Stamp coll
| lectors desire these stamps above almost
all others. and the person who possesses a
| complete collection of departments is held
| In higher esteem among philatelists than 10
| j. Pierpont Morgan John D. Rockefeller
among financiers.
Bring Good Prices.
| Some of these department stamps are ex-
tremely cheap. and others are very expen-
| sive. A complete set of the Interior De-
| partment may be obtained, in unused con-
| dition, for $500. but a small advance
! over the face value. similar set of the
| State Department costs 500, and the Jus
| tice Department about 500
One OF the rarest of United States stamps
| is the 50 State Department. 1t would nat
| urally be supposed that the $50 would be
more valuable but the IS is ca talogued at
! $3.50, while the $50 is listed at $50. the $40
| at $40, and the 81 at $3.50 For some rea-
| son less number of sheets of the IS de-
nomination were printed than of the $40
| and $50
| Many of the older officials in the depart-
ment Will recollect the time when all off,
! cial mail required stamps and how stamp
collectors swarmed the offices to obtain tho
| stamps. On saturdays II appeared that
| half of the school boys in Washington
| swooped down upon the departments after
| stamps, and among them were many boys
| with whiskers on their upper lips
J But the grand rush occurred in 1870. when
| the use of the department stamps was dis
| continued, and the penalty envelopes SUBJ
stituted. Everybody wanted the unused
remainders left on hand and the stamps
possessed no intrinsic value and could not
. be used for postage on ordinary mail or
any other mall for that matter, after the
new order, officials gave the stamps away
in unused condition, or. as was the case
with dollar values of the State Department
sometimes drew pen mark across the face
OF tho stamp.
In those good old days. as philatelists
are wont to refer to that period. states"
executives Justices" and ''navies" were
traded about and sold for mere song. To-
day many of these stamps cost more than
full dress suit. and as the numbers Of
collectors increase and the stamps get into
private collections, the available supply Is
constantly decreasing and prices Climb
higher.
Cornered the Market
An interesting story is told how a col!ec-
| tor cornered the market 90-cent justice
| stamps. This philatelist discovered that
| only a comparatively small number of the
9O-cent denomination were ever printed, and
| figured that some day it would command a
! high price. Accordingly he set about buy
| ing at auction and at private sale every
| copy OF this stamp that was offered for
sale. At that time the current price for
the 0O-cent justice was about So. After a
time collectors and dealers noticed that
they were never able to get this stamp at
auction: that some strange person go5hled
them up, matter what anybody else bid.
The price advanced and yet the stranger
got every copy offered. Then after this
party had gathered In many copies of the
stamp and dealers and collectors had awak-
ened TO the fact that he proposed to take
all offerings regardless of price. there was
a tremendous scramble for the 90-cent JUS
tice, and the price advanced by leaps to 500.
Today when one mentions 90-cent justice"
the collector thinks of peaches and cream.
The only well-authenticated error in
connection with the department stamps &C.
Cured In the printing of the navy stamps,
which normally were of ultramarine.' Just
how 1t occurred, whether by accident or
by design. nobody processes to know; bG-
in some manner sheet OF the 2-cent de-
| 4i..., ..-.,. Iaxi Id