Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-12-13

was ever issued In any country of
the world where stamps have been
used for postage or to pay for tele-
grams. or the exhibitors, fifty-two
were foreigners. Henry J. Crocker
OF San Francisco made the most i'm
portant display of any American. 1t
attracted unusual attention because
of tragic Interest excited by the
fact that IL was shipped from San
Francisco to London only two days
before the earthquake and fire and
probably would have been destroyed
had 1t remained In Its accustomed
place in the residence of its owner.
Mr.. Crocker's collection Is insured
for $4,000. which gives an idea OF
its value, and includes a full collec-
tion-and no less than twelve speci-
ment OF some issues-of all the post
age stamps that were ever issued by
the government of the Hawaiian
Islands. One of the stamps Is unique
the denomination Of two cents, is
sued, believe. In 1866. A day OIL
two after the entire stock OF these
postoffice building and all its contents
were destroyed by fire. Only a sheet
or so of the two-cent stamps had beer
Sold and that accounts for theii
scarcity. Mr.. Crocker paid $3.700 dol
lars in 1897 for the only specimen
known TO exist This makes his col
lection complete. and he is the onl,
man who enjoys that distinction.
The best collection OF United States
stamps was exhibited by the Earl OF
Crawford. and contained one unique
specimen, the only five-cent red
stained envelope issued by the City
of Annapolis known to exist. 1t Is
worth several thousand dollars. Lord
Crawford also has a ten-cent staml
issued by the City of Baltimore In
lS46. for which he paid $4,OSO in 1898
1t bears the signature of James NJ,
Buchanan, postmaster OF Baltimore
TWO others of these stamps art
known to exist, one of them being In
Count Ferrari's collection and the
other in the album OF the prince OF
Wales. The highest price ever paid
for an American stamp was $3.50 b,
an American collector (whose name
| could not ascertain) for a twenty
cent stamp issued by the City of st.
Louis In 1S45.
The earl of Crawford. whose collec
tion is said to be worth $125,00O, ex.
hibited an almost complete set OF
telegraph stamps issued In England,
In the United States and other coun
tries. One of these. franked form
Issued In 1851 by the Electric Tele.
graph company OF England, is the
only specimen OF Its kind In exist
ence.
The royal family OF England was
represented in the exposition by the
prince of Wales. who presided and
loaned his wonderful albums, which
contain practically complete collec
ton of the stamps OF Nautilus. an
island lying in the Indian Ocean, five
hundred miles east of Madagascar.
with population of about 100000
The Mauritius stamps are even more
rare and valuable than those OF Ha-
wall and have brought the highest
prices ever paid for philatelic treas
ures. The prince of Wales lacks
one-cent stamp. issued In l847, which
Is considered the rarest and most
valuable OF all postage stamps. The
Count Ferrari has the only one
known. 1t was discovered by school
boy in Bordeaux and after passing
through several hands was sold ulti-
mately for $4,000. the highest price
ever paid for stamp. The next rar-
est Is a Mauritius "two-cent blue
stamp" in the possession OF the
prince of Wales on the original en-
yelope. 1t was purchased by him at
auction two years ago for 37,250. II
was discovered shortly before in the
accumulated correspondent of an old
gentleman in London who had at one
time lived In Mauritius. Two other
stamps of this issue are in existence:
one OF them belongs to Count Ferrari,
who paid several hundred dollars for
II many years ago. The prices of
stamps have increased rapidly within
the last ten or twelve years since
rich men began to amuse themselves
by making collections.
The album OF the duke of Edia-
burgh was shown at the exposition
and contains many rare specimens.
although he has not added to II for
several years. Prince Edward OF
heir to the throne OF England,
who is following In the footsteps of
his father, Is the triumphant posses
sor of complete collection OF Liber-
N stamps, the only one in existence.
ONE OF the Liberian issues are very