The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-27
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC }. MAsKIN. DlreCsOr.
Washington, D. @.
UNCLE SAM AND THE STAMP
COLLECTOR.

| Washington, D. c., Dec 23.-Stamp
enthusiasts all over the country are
responding with promptness to Post
master General Hays's announcement
that the postoffice department has
| established a stamp agency and has
certain stamps for sale.
Nearly 100 letters a day are being
received from collectors who wish to
buy stamps. but a Surprising number
! indicate that the governments new
venture is not altogether understood 8
/ Some think that the government IS
selling obsolete and rare stamps. They
ask casually for such valuable old is
/ sues as those of the eighteen sixties.
! AS a matter of fact, the government
| agency is selling at present only the
! following: Three-cent Victory stamps
| all denominations of the Pilgrim Ter
| centenary issues, airplane stamps, a
small quantity of special delivery
| stamps with pink back, and the ordi-
nary current issues.
The only place from which the gov
| eminent stamp agency can get its
stock to sell to collectors is from the
| postoffices of the country In the
| past, anyone who wrote to the post
! office department to buy stamps for a
| collection was referred to his post
| office, and told that if his local post
master did not have the particular
kind desired, perhaps some other post
master would. Following this sug-
gestion often meant wild goose chase
| for the collector. Perhaps some little
country postoffiee might still have
| few of the desired stamps. But the
| chances of striking these caches were
about even with those of digging up
| buried treasure.
Now, the postoffiee department is
getting stamps, such as the Pilgrim
| Tercentenary issues. from the postof-
/ fees, and will sell them direct to
stamp collectors. PostmaSterS have
been requested to report any discon-
tinued issues of postage stamps which
remain in stock. But up to the pres
ent time only those kinds which we
have mentioned as now being sold
have been reported.
Another point of misunderstanding
| is that the postoffiee department is
| setting up commercial stamp
| agency. One man wrote to know if
| he could represent the department in
! Philadelphia to, buy and sell stamps
/ for it there.
Postoffice Does Not Buy Stamps.
The fact is the department is not
| buying stamps at all. and it is selling
them only at their face value. Tt is
written into the postal regulations
|
may buy or sell stamps at more than
their original sale price.
| Other people have thought that the
| government philatelic agency would
! be disposing of freak issues, such as
| the airplane sheet that was printed
with the design upside down, or the
famous issue of 2-cent stamps with
| several fives on the sheet.
| These are great rarities. and bring
prices which only stamp collector
| can understand. The 24-cent air
| planes have a border of red and the
airplane in the center of blue. BY q
mistake which will probably always
remain mystery. on one single sheet
of stamps the airplane design was put
in upside down.
| The bureau of engraving was itself
| turned upside down in vain attempts
| to find out how this catastrophe oc-
Cured. PhiIatelists. however. re-
| joiced. One congressman who has
| three of these stamps re-
fused $500 apiece for them.
The plate of twos on which the fiveS
occur was also due to some mysterious
mistake. Perhaps an engraver alb
sent-minded1y took up a die marked
five cents thinking it was the master
| die for the two-cent sheet. No one
| knows. And no one knows just how
many of the sheets were printed.
But we are told that one of them
might bring $3.50.
It is because such accidents are
rare-almcst unheard of-that the
misprinte1 stamps are SO highly val
ued by collectors. The postoffice de-
partment says ernphaticaIly that it has
none of these rarities for sale.
One collector suggested that the de-
partment might render q service if it
would get some of the Shanghai over
printed stamps. The conference on
limitation of ornaments plans to abo1-
T=h "
States and some other countries have
in China. The stamps of our office at
Shanghai will probably rise in value
in the collectors estimation thru this
move, since no more will be printed
when the postoffice is closed.
The Chinese Stamps.
These Shanghai stamps are or
binary United States stamps except
that over each one is printed "Shang-
hal, China" and the price in local
currency which in each case is double
the face value. Thus the two-cent
stamp is overprinted four cents. Any
one wishing to buy stamps with Amer
| lean currency at the Shanghai, China,
postoffice is given the ordinary Amer
icam stamp
That the postoffice department will
send for any of these Shanghai stamps
for its postage stamp agency to sell is
extremely doubtful. There is a regu1a-
department except for the local money
current in Shanghai known as
Mexican
The postoffice. department has been
directing collectors who desired to
buy these stamps to send a domestic
money order to the United States Pos
tai Agent, Shanghai. He converts the
order into local currency, and makes
the purchase. To sell these stamps
in the United States would need a spe-
cial order of some sort, and none is
contemplated at present
Considering all the things it is not
established to do. people who have
never collected stamps might not see
how the government stamp agency is
doing the collectors a special service
by selling them ordinary current
stamps and a very few recent issues.
The important point is that not all
two-cent stamps look alike to the ex-
pert The stamp with perforations
running into the pink design may
be all right to put on a, letter, but it