Evening star., 1935-04-07

Fort Arthur, Winnipeg, Regina, Moose
Jaw, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat. Leth-
bridge, Calgary, Edmonton, Van
couver and Victoria, May a.
Harold B. Atkinson, jr.. 14-year-old
philatelist attending Bethesda Chevy
Chase High School. is the author oi
an article on Stamp Oddities,
printed in the March number of the
Junior Red Cross News.
The text, in part, is as follows:
Many times, I am sure, the ques-
ton has been asked, Which is the
most valuable stamp in the world?'
Strangely enough, it is not the first
stamp issued, but a 1-cent magenta
stamp of British Guiana, issued in
1856. 1t gets its value simply because
cnly one specimen is known to exist.
This stamp is valued at $4,000 by
its present owner
THE first postage stamp in the
world was issued in England on May
6, 1910, and is known as the '1-penny
black from its color. The English
post offices soon ran into difficulties,
for they found that their cancellation
marks did not show up on the black
stamp: so '1-penny red was issued.
It bore an engraved head of Queen
Victoria and set a precedent for the
future stamps of England, which have
always borne illustrations of the
reigning monarch. Instead of being
rare or very valuable, as one might
suppose. this stamp was recently
quoted at So if used or $18 if unused.
THE United States first used
stamps for postage in 1845, when
stamps were issued locally by post
masters in several cities. The first
Government in 1647, although it was
a long time after that before our
postal system was nationally organ
lied. Before the organization of our
postal system, city dispatch compa-
nies handled local mail These COM
panies used franks instead of stamps.
and today these franks are priced
possessions in many collections and
bring high prices The first United
States stamps did not, as might be
supposed, bear a picture of our first
L SCOI &c pul
of Benjamin Franklin, who was our
first Postmaster General.
mo one knows who was the world S
first stamp collector, but it is known
that collections had been started as
early as 1860. In 1861, Frenchman
by the name of Alfred Potique pub
lished the first stamp catalog. Today,
there are countless fine collections
in existence. and philately has become
firmly established throughout the civ
ilized world.
mot quite 500 countries, cities, colo
nies, states and provinces have issued
postage stamps. Tibet, in Asia, has
issued the fewest stamps in the world
having only five varieties. On the
other hand, the United States has
issued more postage stamps than any
other country. Five thousand, six
hundred and twenty-eight varieties
are listed. Great Britain, which issued
the first stamp, has issued mere SAC
varieties, if its colonial possessions are
not included.
While stamp collectors are inter-
ested in rare stamps as rule, there
is, perhaps, much more general in
terest in unusual stamps. For ex-
ample, one unusual set of stamps that
has never failed to evoke interest is
our own Columbian issue. Issued ir
1892 to commemorate Columbus dis
covery of land in the New World, they
present an amusing oddity. The one
cent stamp shows Columbus in sight
of land as a beardless individual. Or
the two-cent stamp, Columbus land.
ing, apparently a few hours later, Il
depicted with a full beard. The