Evening star., 1944-07-16
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|telic GATHERINGS In New York,
|Wa4hneton and elsewhere there has
been; consadersblc discussion of .
discetnila chanse Of etnphasis in
part sttl ntsble to the war and
IN pert - 50. For example, IL
has been noticed that auctions dur.
ing the past several years have
been distinguished By . rising
market for 18th century and early
nth centany covers. An accmula.
ton lately sold by Philip II. Ward.
Jf. Of Philadelphia, brought more
than Ss0,D0o.
But suppose that the stamps re-
feTTed to had been removed from
the envelopes to which they origin.
ally we're attached for postal pur-
poses: What sum would have been
realized? The answer obviously Is:
Less than half the amount men.
toned.
The explanation, Of course, must
b that collectors want the whole
item IN each individual instance,
not merely . part of it. A stamp
amxed 70 . cover is interesting az
|a stamp, but it has q more COM
Ipelling attraction in position on
the envelope with which its serv-
ice is identified II 1t is permitted to
remain In stu. BY way Of illustra-
ton Of the principle involved, q
well-known local collector not long
ago acquired . series, OF letters
written by celebrated American
authors, including: Emerson, Long,
fellow. Whittier. Lowell. Hawthorne,
Holmes, Th0reau, Alcott, Walt
Whitman and others. Each mahu-
script was accompanied by the
cover in which 1t had been posted,
and each cover bore q stamp. The
stamps In their aggregate, however,
did not catalogue more than . few
dollars. It was only In their rela-
ton to the work they had done a.
postal adhesives employed by fa-
NOUS men that they were worth
the prices their purchaser willingly
paid for them-many times their
ordinary "off cover" value.
SCOTS specialized United States
catalogue takes into account the
essential difference between 4
stamp, regardless Of its price rs q
stamp. and q cover carrying q
stamp. The Scent Benjamin Frank
lin red brown adhesive released
July l, 1S47. Type Al, Catalogue
No. 70. Is Appraised at $40 unused,
$3.50 used. But the same issue on
an envelope Is listed at $175O; and
/ II the cancellation happens to be
in green, gridiron or town, 1t is
judged to be merit 500 In any
collectors money.
Meanwhile. the 10-cent black
George Washington, also put into
use ON July /, lS47, is priced at
$50 mint, $3.50 cancelled and $50
On cover.
The logic Of making such distinc.
tions needs no argument. A stamp
Is something more than a pretty
fptcture. When applied to q cover,
It becomes part Of an incident in
the history Of the Nation and Of the
world et large. Possibly, the event
is nothing more important than an
exchange Of thoughts between
friends. Nevertheless, it is Q fras-
ment OF the network of civilization
in which every man, woman and
child, without arbitrary considera-
ton Of race or creed or condition,
is embraced.
1t Is granted without debate that
the pioneer philatelists of Europe
ana America collected stamps spe-
cincally and not covers. One reason
for their habit Of separating postal
labels from the envelopes to which
they had been adixed was that the
earliest albums, especially those
manufactured and sold in Paris and
Brussels, were laid out" to accom-
modate the little colored scraps Of
postal paper In isolation from their
natural environments. Neatly ruled
pages afforded exactly the proper
sized spaces for the premier issues
OF Great Britain, France, Belaium.
Spain. Portugal, the Netherlands,
Italy, Germany and their divisions
and colonies in sets. The custom
derived from the fact that the early
dealers hahitually bought leftover
stocks OF stamps for resale to col
lectors. It was good business to
oner them In groups, and 30 far as
mint material Is concerned the same
rule stin prevails.
But the pattern of collecting Is.
tablshed by the fathers" of the
philatelic trade undoubtedly has re-
suited In the destruction Of hundreds
OF thousands Of dollars worth of
covers which never can be replaced,
- well - the ruin Of approximately
equal amounts In cancelled stamps
ruined In the processes Of washing
and soaking. S1rface-printed stamps
OF Russia, heavily gummed stamps
OF Austria, Japan and Hungary,
stamps printed In fugitive inks Ike
those Of Great Britain and The
Netherlands, stamps cancelled with
inks bearing acid like those of the
Soviet Union and stamps injured by
initial perforations like some OF
those Of the United States may bs
damaged beyond repair by INNER
SION IN water. The folly Of taking
chances" with delicate material Ia
not open to challenge.
Perhaps In the next decade on
two the traditional types Of albums
VIII disappear completely.
Stamp meetings for the week are
listed as follows:
Tomorrow evening at 8-wood.
ridge Stamp Club, residence of Mrs.
Henrietta Hickerson, 3l02 Twenty.
fourth street NE.
Tuesday evening at sACollectors'
Club Of Washington, Thomson
School, Twelfth and l. streets NV.
! STAMPS AND COINS.
Pesad Pkge. Foreign U. S. stamps
| ,cssssisisf thesssals. Only o. -
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