For many years, few stamp collections required many steps to be taken for their security. Few were valuable enough for the average burglar to bother with and even if damaged by fire the low value of stamps in general meant that they were easy to replace. But the rise in philatelic values in the last fifteen years, both actual and relative to the rise in prices in general has made a good stamp collection eagerly sought after by even common criminals and difficult to replace in the case of fire loss.
Most people never experience a house fire. And even though burglary rates are alarmingly high, most residential areas have few and these are generally of the "steal the silver and run" kind. Still, statistics say that the average person can expect to be burglarized at least once in his life and some steps can be taken to mitigate the risk of losing your stamps.
A safe is very important in protecting a collection, but oddly, more effective for fire than for theft. This is because most stamps damaged in fire are not burned, they experience smoke damage (the paper becoming discolored or brittle) and especially water damage from fire fighters dousing the flames. Safes, too, are valuable in protecting against theft but unless they are quite tamperproof, or well hidden, they often only signal that valuables reside there. Once broken into the safe then reveals to a non-philatelic burglar that the homeowner believes his collection to be valuable. Thus a collection that might have been left behind becomes the prized piece of stealable property. But there are easy and inexpensive ways of protecting a collection. Collectors may use subterfuge in protecting their stamps from theft. Few burglars know anything about philately. Valuable collections look the same as worthless ones. This can be used to your advantage. Most burglars, like most non-collectors in general, think that old stamps mean valuable stamps. Since most collections are in many volumes, and burglars prefer taking only a few of the heavy volumes, labeling your volumes has afforded protection to some burglarized collectors. Putting "Dad's old collection" on a worthless volume and "Billy, Jr's" on your best album has resulted in many fine collections being saved.
Most collections that are stolen are stolen by someone known to the collector. Perhaps a neighborhood youth who heard of what you have or a fellow club member who believes that your collection is valuable. Discretion is required whenever discussing your stamps. Leave the price tag off when boasting to your non-philatelic friends and always preface your comments to philatelic friends with "when I last went to the bank vault...". In the end, safe deposit boxes at banks are your best assurance of safety. Even if you like your stamps at home, at least half the value of most collections can easily be put on a few stock cards and placed in a small safe deposit box.
Fires occur much less frequently than thefts and are usually discovered before the damage becomes total. While electrical fires can occur anywhere in a house, most fires are kitchen fires. Knowing this, it would be a wise choice if possible to locate your collection in a den or bedroom away from the kitchen so as to maximize the possibilities that your collection will safely weather a fire. And the protection a fire file or safe provides will minimize water and smoke damage.
The only way to totally protect your stamps from being stolen or damaged in a fire is not to collect at all. But even if you lose your stamps (remember stamp theft is rare, and fire cases even rarer) you can economically protect the financial asset that your stamps represent. Stamp insurance is available from most homeowner writing insurance companies and is available very reasonably without an appraisal requirement from the American Philatelic Society. A loss is terrible but an uninsured loss is a tragedy.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Collecting Cleverly
Most stamp collectors collect for fun pure and simple. But there is no reason why a stamp collector cannot have fun and maximize his chance at making a little money when he goes to sell. Unlike photography or skiing, philately is one of the few hobbies where the participant's investment in his pastime not only is partially conserved but in many cases it can be increased. Going about collecting with a view towards appreciation does not mean that you are an investor. But such collecting is not for everyone. Some people choose what they wish to collect for completely aesthetic grounds and will not be persuaded otherwise. That is fine. But if you want to collect in a financially clever way, here are some things that you should know.
First, foreign new issues generally do no go up for at least twenty years after their issuance. There are exceptions to this rule, but for every one, there are a thousand sets that conform. This makes new issues a rather bad buy from a conversation of capital standpoint. Typically, new issues which are bought at an average of 20% over face value trade a few years later at only 20% of that price. So if you need or want these stamps, a little waiting and a little searching can save you a great deal.
U.S. mint stamps never go up (well almost never). Only fifteen or twenty of the 1200 stamps issued since 1955 trade at enough over face value now to be worth not using as postage. True, you can always use mint stamps to mail a letter but if you have a large quantity or odd values (and who does not with constantly changing postage rates), postage is traded at discounts of from 15%-30% off face value in the trade. If you need a single, or a plate block, or even a sheet for your collection, go to it, but just buy one. Do you really want to be making an interest-free loan to the USPS which will give you a negative yield when sold? With high interest rates, one does not have to be an economist to realize that the price of this folly is huge.
Another smart thing to do to increase your chances of profiting from stamp collecting is to avoid non-Scott listed stamps, "errors" promoted in conjuction with Omnibus series, and stamps from places you (or anyone else for that matter) have never heard of. Such stamps have until now shown high initial cost and low and difficult resale. It is possible that someday everyone will want the serrated tooth variety or some scarce limited edition souvenir sheet from some piece of nowhere, but until now such buying has not seemed to have produced many examples of economic gain.
Specially prepared First Day covers and presentation booklets of stamps with lots of pretty pictures and interesting and informative write-ups are nice to own. But always remember, any modern FDC is traded on the wholesale market for about the same price, whether you paid $5 for it or made your own for 29 cents.
There are quite a few other things you can do to help maximize your chances for gain. First, you should try to collect countries that are relatively wealthy and have a large and active body of collectors buying and selling stamps. A home market is very important and it is this reason that U.S., Japanese and European stamps have performed well over the years.
It is important that a buyer learn to evaluate quality if he is going to have a chance at a gain. Similar items can vary in price by a factor of ten or more with little apparent difference in quality to the untrained eye. Also, collectors should learn at least the basics of regummed, reperfing, and repairs (our pamphlets on these are a start) in order to be certain of what they are buying. It helps to buy your stamps from a reputable stamp dealer, just as quality goods are more generally sold at a fine store rather than a cheaper one, but this does not preclude the responsibility of the purchaser knowing about what he is buying.
Avoid paying high prices for varieties in very specialized areas. Remember, it takes two factors to create price and scarcity is only one of them. Someone else is going to have to want your missing fly wing variety, or you are in trouble.
Basically, study and searching are required to get good prices and good merchandise. But by observing the rules, you will avoid some of the most costly traps. Remember, though it is not guaranteed that your stamps will increase in value, with care and effort, you at least have a fighting chance.
First, foreign new issues generally do no go up for at least twenty years after their issuance. There are exceptions to this rule, but for every one, there are a thousand sets that conform. This makes new issues a rather bad buy from a conversation of capital standpoint. Typically, new issues which are bought at an average of 20% over face value trade a few years later at only 20% of that price. So if you need or want these stamps, a little waiting and a little searching can save you a great deal.
U.S. mint stamps never go up (well almost never). Only fifteen or twenty of the 1200 stamps issued since 1955 trade at enough over face value now to be worth not using as postage. True, you can always use mint stamps to mail a letter but if you have a large quantity or odd values (and who does not with constantly changing postage rates), postage is traded at discounts of from 15%-30% off face value in the trade. If you need a single, or a plate block, or even a sheet for your collection, go to it, but just buy one. Do you really want to be making an interest-free loan to the USPS which will give you a negative yield when sold? With high interest rates, one does not have to be an economist to realize that the price of this folly is huge.
Another smart thing to do to increase your chances of profiting from stamp collecting is to avoid non-Scott listed stamps, "errors" promoted in conjuction with Omnibus series, and stamps from places you (or anyone else for that matter) have never heard of. Such stamps have until now shown high initial cost and low and difficult resale. It is possible that someday everyone will want the serrated tooth variety or some scarce limited edition souvenir sheet from some piece of nowhere, but until now such buying has not seemed to have produced many examples of economic gain.
Specially prepared First Day covers and presentation booklets of stamps with lots of pretty pictures and interesting and informative write-ups are nice to own. But always remember, any modern FDC is traded on the wholesale market for about the same price, whether you paid $5 for it or made your own for 29 cents.
There are quite a few other things you can do to help maximize your chances for gain. First, you should try to collect countries that are relatively wealthy and have a large and active body of collectors buying and selling stamps. A home market is very important and it is this reason that U.S., Japanese and European stamps have performed well over the years.
It is important that a buyer learn to evaluate quality if he is going to have a chance at a gain. Similar items can vary in price by a factor of ten or more with little apparent difference in quality to the untrained eye. Also, collectors should learn at least the basics of regummed, reperfing, and repairs (our pamphlets on these are a start) in order to be certain of what they are buying. It helps to buy your stamps from a reputable stamp dealer, just as quality goods are more generally sold at a fine store rather than a cheaper one, but this does not preclude the responsibility of the purchaser knowing about what he is buying.
Avoid paying high prices for varieties in very specialized areas. Remember, it takes two factors to create price and scarcity is only one of them. Someone else is going to have to want your missing fly wing variety, or you are in trouble.
Basically, study and searching are required to get good prices and good merchandise. But by observing the rules, you will avoid some of the most costly traps. Remember, though it is not guaranteed that your stamps will increase in value, with care and effort, you at least have a fighting chance.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Exhibiting Your Stamps
Most collectors never exhibit their stamps, except perhaps to show their collection to a friend or family member. But many collectors derive great enjoyment from displaying what they have to others in an organized, systematic kind of way. And while a collector may exhibit in any manor that he wishes, certain guidelines can aid in securing the two goals of most exhibitors. Those goals are the accuracy, appeal and aesthetic beauty of your presentation and second, success in obtaining the awards that are part of the stamp exhibiting process.
Exhibits must be specially prepared. No one, besides your friends, want to see your album pages. Your album pages, while giving you considerable enjoyment in filling, are essentially quite like any other collectors' who collects the same material as you do. You may have some items that he is missing, or vice-versa, but there is considerable similarity in most collections.
It is wise to specialize, that is restrict what you're exhibiting, as completeness is highly prized in exhibiting. Only a multi-million dollar collection should hope to garner much praise if it is entitled "United States Stamps". Too, space constraints, the number of frames that you may use, forces limitations in what you may show so it is usually wise to limit yourself through the title of your exhibit, rather than being open to the charge of lack of completeness.
First time exhibitors often start their first exhibit by expanding on a part of their collection that they like best. If your U.S. Columbians are strong or if you like Children topicals these can be made into a winnding exhibit. But work is required as no exhibit is worth seeing (or making) that does not show and tell the viewer things that he does not know about the stamps and covers involved. And what you should tell is not just issue date and perforation, or other information that can be found in the Scott Catalog. The designer of the stamp or stamps, dates of use, rate of postage, type of mail used for, and other esoteric information is germane to your write up, but it is important not to put too much emphasis on the write up alone. Remember, the visual appeal of your stamps and covers is what is valued in an exhibit.
Every generation of collectors has its particular prejudice and ours is Postal History. What people mean when they say this is generally, covers, as oddly just cancellations by themselves, arguably as "Postal Historical" as a stampless cover, are frowned on. Reflecting our current preoccupation with this cover mania, good exhibits usually have covers, sharing the message of the stamps involved. Strive for the exotic, unusual usage; they need not be expensive. One of the appeals of this is as your knowledge of what is unusual and rare on the particual stamps involved increases, you are able to find some very rare items at very reasonable prices. Topical or thematic exhibiting need not show the stamps exhibited on covers but rather should show interesting usages relating to their topics. For instance, a fumigated cover in a medical topical exhibit, or a blockade cover on shipmail marking in a ship exhibit would be well received.
Even the current, most fascinating material in the world will seldom produce a fine exhibit if displayed in a poor, untidy way. Just as you would not send a resume for a job with coffee stains on it, your exhibit should be as neat as possible. Mounted items must be mounted straight and pages should be nicely printed. The goal is appeal. Make it neat; make it interesting. This won't assure you a gold medal (you may not even want one!) but it will assure you an attention causing exhibit of which you can be proud.
For more techinical information on exhibiting, the American Philatelic Society published a booklet on it. Information is available from the APS, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellfonte, PA 16823.
Exhibits must be specially prepared. No one, besides your friends, want to see your album pages. Your album pages, while giving you considerable enjoyment in filling, are essentially quite like any other collectors' who collects the same material as you do. You may have some items that he is missing, or vice-versa, but there is considerable similarity in most collections.
It is wise to specialize, that is restrict what you're exhibiting, as completeness is highly prized in exhibiting. Only a multi-million dollar collection should hope to garner much praise if it is entitled "United States Stamps". Too, space constraints, the number of frames that you may use, forces limitations in what you may show so it is usually wise to limit yourself through the title of your exhibit, rather than being open to the charge of lack of completeness.
First time exhibitors often start their first exhibit by expanding on a part of their collection that they like best. If your U.S. Columbians are strong or if you like Children topicals these can be made into a winnding exhibit. But work is required as no exhibit is worth seeing (or making) that does not show and tell the viewer things that he does not know about the stamps and covers involved. And what you should tell is not just issue date and perforation, or other information that can be found in the Scott Catalog. The designer of the stamp or stamps, dates of use, rate of postage, type of mail used for, and other esoteric information is germane to your write up, but it is important not to put too much emphasis on the write up alone. Remember, the visual appeal of your stamps and covers is what is valued in an exhibit.
Every generation of collectors has its particular prejudice and ours is Postal History. What people mean when they say this is generally, covers, as oddly just cancellations by themselves, arguably as "Postal Historical" as a stampless cover, are frowned on. Reflecting our current preoccupation with this cover mania, good exhibits usually have covers, sharing the message of the stamps involved. Strive for the exotic, unusual usage; they need not be expensive. One of the appeals of this is as your knowledge of what is unusual and rare on the particual stamps involved increases, you are able to find some very rare items at very reasonable prices. Topical or thematic exhibiting need not show the stamps exhibited on covers but rather should show interesting usages relating to their topics. For instance, a fumigated cover in a medical topical exhibit, or a blockade cover on shipmail marking in a ship exhibit would be well received.
Even the current, most fascinating material in the world will seldom produce a fine exhibit if displayed in a poor, untidy way. Just as you would not send a resume for a job with coffee stains on it, your exhibit should be as neat as possible. Mounted items must be mounted straight and pages should be nicely printed. The goal is appeal. Make it neat; make it interesting. This won't assure you a gold medal (you may not even want one!) but it will assure you an attention causing exhibit of which you can be proud.
For more techinical information on exhibiting, the American Philatelic Society published a booklet on it. Information is available from the APS, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellfonte, PA 16823.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Inexpensive Specialties
Most collectors would probably love to specialize in "Inverts of the World". But few have the resources and even among those who might, there is distinct resistance in many people to spending hundreds let alone thousands of dollars for each stamp you put in your collection. But if you have reached the point of no return in your specialized "Inverts of the World" collection or are just now thinking general collecting is a bit too broad, you should know that specialization need not cost your children their college education. Specialization, like hotel rooms, comes in four categories- very expensive, expensive, moderate, and cheap. But unlike hotel rooms (where occasionally price equals quality) all you really get from expensive specialties (such as mint USA) is higher priced stamps, not more fun. Indeed, there are many specialties that a collector can come quite close to completing for a surprisingly modest amount of money. And many of these specialties contain rare and elusive items that will require more time to find than money to buy them.
Used Scandinavia (except Iceland) is a specialty in which you need thousands of stamps to complete. The stamps are beautifully printed, usually neatly cancelled, and nearly always inexpensive. In face, even counting Sweden #1 (which catalogs $3500), out of the thousands of stamps needed for complettion, in Fine condition only about 50 would cost more than $100 and only about another 100 more than $50 with hundreds costing a dime or less.
South America mint or used is another fascinating collecting area and you can almost pick your country and be assured of interesting, hard to find, inexpensive stamps. Try the Argentina Officials for a real challenge. Over a dozen of them we have never seen, and all of those catalog 25 cents or less. There are some very expensive Latin American stamps but most of these were issued before 1880. After that, the expense is incidental to the quest.
Italian and German States provide a fertile field for collectors who want the classics. The Scott catalog values are high but the stamps rarely come perfect and can be secured in most Mail Sales and Auctions at 15-20% of catalog or less. A complete collection of Prussia in such quality would be about $150 and the hundreds of stamps of Bavaria (except #1) a little more.
Italian States in Fine condition sell at an even deeper discount so that a savvy collector bidding at Mail Sale could complete all the States: Modena, Parma, Two Sicilies, Tuscany and Roman States missing about ten stamps for about $1000; and half of those ten could be had for another $1000.
In the United States area, Postal Stationery provides a wonderful specialty, especially if specialized in with regard to envelope knife, die, size and watermark, as indicated in the Thorpe-Bartel specialized catalog. For major Scott stationery numbers, Thorpe often lists twenty or more varieties, and the rarer ones are still priced only moderately more than common ones. Certain other United States areas, such as Telegraph Stamps, Revenues (except the first three issues), Playing Cards and Wine Stamps are rare but generally not pricey.
French Colonies is an area where a collector can get a lot of different stamps for his money. The Nineteenth Century tends to be expensive but the 20th Century to Independence is full of colorful sets of 20 values or more that are quite hard to find. Portuguese Colonies are pretty much the same, though a bit more pricey. In the British Empire area, India & Ceylon are inexpensive. Indian States both Convention and Feudatory are a rich field of specialty with a few very expensive ones. The perforation varieties of New South Wales and New Zealand are tough to locate and though some are costly, most require perseverence and diligence to find, not money.
There are many others too. The important thing to remember in philately is that the untilled field will reap the greatest harvest. Collectors on a budget can find fulfilled and economically rewarding collecting if they are thorough in their search and march to a different drummer.
Used Scandinavia (except Iceland) is a specialty in which you need thousands of stamps to complete. The stamps are beautifully printed, usually neatly cancelled, and nearly always inexpensive. In face, even counting Sweden #1 (which catalogs $3500), out of the thousands of stamps needed for complettion, in Fine condition only about 50 would cost more than $100 and only about another 100 more than $50 with hundreds costing a dime or less.
South America mint or used is another fascinating collecting area and you can almost pick your country and be assured of interesting, hard to find, inexpensive stamps. Try the Argentina Officials for a real challenge. Over a dozen of them we have never seen, and all of those catalog 25 cents or less. There are some very expensive Latin American stamps but most of these were issued before 1880. After that, the expense is incidental to the quest.
Italian and German States provide a fertile field for collectors who want the classics. The Scott catalog values are high but the stamps rarely come perfect and can be secured in most Mail Sales and Auctions at 15-20% of catalog or less. A complete collection of Prussia in such quality would be about $150 and the hundreds of stamps of Bavaria (except #1) a little more.
Italian States in Fine condition sell at an even deeper discount so that a savvy collector bidding at Mail Sale could complete all the States: Modena, Parma, Two Sicilies, Tuscany and Roman States missing about ten stamps for about $1000; and half of those ten could be had for another $1000.
In the United States area, Postal Stationery provides a wonderful specialty, especially if specialized in with regard to envelope knife, die, size and watermark, as indicated in the Thorpe-Bartel specialized catalog. For major Scott stationery numbers, Thorpe often lists twenty or more varieties, and the rarer ones are still priced only moderately more than common ones. Certain other United States areas, such as Telegraph Stamps, Revenues (except the first three issues), Playing Cards and Wine Stamps are rare but generally not pricey.
French Colonies is an area where a collector can get a lot of different stamps for his money. The Nineteenth Century tends to be expensive but the 20th Century to Independence is full of colorful sets of 20 values or more that are quite hard to find. Portuguese Colonies are pretty much the same, though a bit more pricey. In the British Empire area, India & Ceylon are inexpensive. Indian States both Convention and Feudatory are a rich field of specialty with a few very expensive ones. The perforation varieties of New South Wales and New Zealand are tough to locate and though some are costly, most require perseverence and diligence to find, not money.
There are many others too. The important thing to remember in philately is that the untilled field will reap the greatest harvest. Collectors on a budget can find fulfilled and economically rewarding collecting if they are thorough in their search and march to a different drummer.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Stamp Family Apfelbaum
The first stamp dealing Apfelbaum was Maurice Apfelbaum who listed his occupation in the 1910 US census as "Stamp Dealer". He began dealing when his son Earl was only four years old, and by the time Earl was ten he had begun collecting stamps and was going around to dealer shops and bourses with his father. Stamp collecting was different one hundred years ago than it is today. Most stamp business was done at bourses or in dealer shops, that is face to face, and little stamp business existed outside of major urban centers. Collectors in the country saved up for their annual visits to New York, Chicago or Philadelphia where they would go to the many stamp shops there and purchase a years' worth of collectibles. Earl and his father continued dealing throughout the teens and twenties but it was not yet a full time business, rather they dealt their duplicates and did a little trading as so many collectors did in those days to offset their stamp collecting habit.
The Apfelbaums became full time stamp dealers in 1930. The Great Depression killed off many businesses (as it did the Apfelbaum tailoring business) but it was kind to the stamp collecting hobby. Even workers who had lost their jobs could afford a few pennies to add some stamps to their albums and thousands of collectors tried to become stamp dealers when they lost their day jobs. Earl was an anomaly in the Depression-he was successful, opening a succession of shops in downtown Philadelphia and running Mail Sales and Public Auctions. The stamp business was still largely face to face and throughout the 1930's Earl would drive his car monthly through the counties surrounding Philadelphia to display his wares, sort of as an itinerant stamp salesman. Earl's father and partner, Maurice, died when Earl was 30 in 1936.
The World War II era was good to the stamp business. The war effort made for full employment, overtime made for fat paychecks, and rationing meant that there was little (except stamps) for people to buy so business was good. The Apfelbaum firm began to run regular monthly Public Auctions and Earl still traveled a lot but now more to acquire philatelic material than to sell it. In the early 1950's Earl's son Martin joined the business after a stint in the service during the Korean war. Marty's responsibilities included revamping the retail division of the company which he did by eliminating selling stamps to collectors from stockbooks, where a one on one relationship between the seller and buyer was necessary. He instituted the Self Service Stamp Shop where thousands of individually priced stamps and sets rested in counter books that could be browsed through by collectors. The Self Service Stamp Shop was so successful that it billed itself as the "Grand Central Station of Philately" and attracted hundreds of visitors each week. Marty was responsible for establishing the Mail Sale business where stamps of a more moderate price point than those sold at Public Auction were offered in the popular competitive bid process. The company increased its advertising and its presence at national philatelic exhibitions. In the mid 1960s Earl started his Apfelbaum's Corner weekly column for Linn's Stamp News which ran for over twenty years and was the most popular feature in that magazine. By 1970 Apfelbaum was one of the largest and most respected stamp dealers in the country.
The World War II era was good to the stamp business. The war effort made for full employment, overtime made for fat paychecks, and rationing meant that there was little (except stamps) for people to buy so business was good. The Apfelbaum firm began to run regular monthly Public Auctions and Earl still traveled a lot but now more to acquire philatelic material than to sell it. In the early 1950's Earl's son Martin joined the business after a stint in the service during the Korean war. Marty's responsibilities included revamping the retail division of the company which he did by eliminating selling stamps to collectors from stockbooks, where a one on one relationship between the seller and buyer was necessary. He instituted the Self Service Stamp Shop where thousands of individually priced stamps and sets rested in counter books that could be browsed through by collectors. The Self Service Stamp Shop was so successful that it billed itself as the "Grand Central Station of Philately" and attracted hundreds of visitors each week. Marty was responsible for establishing the Mail Sale business where stamps of a more moderate price point than those sold at Public Auction were offered in the popular competitive bid process. The company increased its advertising and its presence at national philatelic exhibitions. In the mid 1960s Earl started his Apfelbaum's Corner weekly column for Linn's Stamp News which ran for over twenty years and was the most popular feature in that magazine. By 1970 Apfelbaum was one of the largest and most respected stamp dealers in the country.
The last forty years have seen many changes in the firm and in the stamp business. As technology has changed, Apfelbaum has been in the forefront of computer and internet use bringing rapid listings, scans, and better prices that results from using the newer technologies. Under the direction of the fourth generation of philatelic Apfelbaums-John, Ken, Missy, and Susanne- the company runs over 25 Auction and Net Price Sales per year offering over $20 million dollars sales value in fine stamps and covers. As we have always done, we guarantee every collector's complete satisfaction with every stamp that they buy from us, and we guarantee every stamp that we sell as being genuine and as described without time limit. We continue to be major buyers of stamps and stamp collections that are needed to fill our sales and our buyers comb the country constantly looking at collections that collectors have for sale. If you are buying or selling you will find that the Apfelbaum Family will meet your highest expectations. For one hundred years we have been satisfying tens of thousands of philatelists and it is our goal in both buying and selling to treat you as we would wish to be treated ourselves.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The History of Philately
May 6, 1840 was an important date in English history. Postage rates were reduced to one penny throughout Great Britain, and pre-payment of mail became compulsory. Also, the first postage stamp was issued. The stamp, what we collectors seek after and fight for, was actually not Rowland Hill's great innovation. In an age before computers, the maze of rates based on distance traveled, number of pages in the letter, or whether prepaid or collect added a large layer of bureaucracy and accounting that made mail carriage expensive. Hill saw too that lower rates would add to volume and thus to profits because of a relatively fixed overhead structure. He was right and to effect accounting and facilitate postal service a stamp was issued to be applied on letters and cancelled when used.
Part because of their intrinsic appeal, part because of the beneficient change that they represented, stamps were instantly popular. Saving them, usually by peeling them with a knife off the envelope, became fashionable, especially in the 1850's as more and more countries were issuing more and more stamps. Most popular in France, early collecting was called "timbremania" after the French word "timbre" for stamp. Not dignified enough, Georges Herpin invented the word philately using the Greek word meaning something like "the love of prepayment or tax". Timbremania was probably later.
By the 1870's, just thirty years after the first stamps had been issued, philately was a flourishing hobby. There were stamp catalogs (Gibbons in Great Britain, Scott in the United States as well as a few others) and numerous stamp societies and philatelic magazines. About this time, the complexion of the hobby began to change. Previously, philately had been a drawing room diversion, engaged in idley or thoughtlessly like the young lady who advertised in the Times of London in 1841 that she wished people to send her their used Penny Blacks as she wished to paper her dressing room with them (a modest 5 foot X 8 foot dressing room would have required 1/2 million stamps- $75 million catalog value at today's level). Presumably the bedroom would have had to be done in Penny Reds today.
Soon study of stamps not only became fashionable it became the only ticket to admission to the august collecting societies such as the London (now Royal) Philatelic Society, and the American Philatelic Society (founded 1886). Stamp printing methods were investigated, plating studies done and the rudiments of postal history study was developed. Contacts between collectors in different places was expanded so that collectors now could be apprised of new issues rate changes and stamps to be withdrawn. Mint stamp collecting became popular for the first time.
The period 1875-1916 was the golden age in the development of philately. Great collections, probably the greatest, were formed by men like Ferrary, and Tapling (now on irregular view at the British Museum). A collector then could collect the world since prices and the quantity of different issues had not yet made that impossible. And even when a collector did specialize, he often amassed huge quantities of a given stamp, for varieties and study.
World War I marked a changing point in philatelic history. Easy intercourse between nations was disrupted, destruction of life was huge (mostly men, the next generation of collectors). This change was perhaps symbolized by the selling in the early 1920's of Ferrary's collection, the world's greatest, by the French government to pay war reparations. The 1920's were a fractious, busy time and stamp collecting began to show a change that is still with us today.
As postal administration became more attuned to the revenue that could be gleaned from stamp collectors, we saw the beginnings of continuing commemorative issues, mainly issued for collectors' albums. Many collectors' appetites could be sated by the stream of new issues and so, unlike the earlier period where all collectors had to go back and collect earlier issues or there would be nothing to collect, now a two tiered collecting state was established with "serious" philatelists who collected earlier as well as modern stamps and more casual post office collectors.
The depression lowered stamp prices, of course, but not nearly as much as what happened to many other collectibles and nothing like the 85% reduction that hit the Dow Jones average. Stamp collecting cound be and still can be an inexpensive avocation and even in hard times people have a few pennies for diversion. World War II left most Europeans too destitute and most Americans too busy to be astute collectors, and few changes occured during this period.
The post-war philatelic era, our era, has been marked by two significant factors. First, cover collecting and arcane subspecialties have become ever more popular as stamp price inflation and tens of thousands of new issues per year make completion impossible. And second, for the first time in philatelic history we have government postal agencies actively encouraging people to collect stamps. Previously, solicitation for new collectors was done privately by word of mouth or commercially such as "The Captain Tim Stamp Club" by H.E. Harris. Now the USPS, through its Benjamin Franklin stamp clubs, is exposing millions of youngsters to philately. What this will produce, whether it will be a boon or a bane, is still too soon to say. In any event, the history of philately is long and like a nation or a family, it evolves. What it will be tomorrow, no one can say, but it has remained for over 125 years a vibrant active hobby, truly "The Hobby of Kings."
Part because of their intrinsic appeal, part because of the beneficient change that they represented, stamps were instantly popular. Saving them, usually by peeling them with a knife off the envelope, became fashionable, especially in the 1850's as more and more countries were issuing more and more stamps. Most popular in France, early collecting was called "timbremania" after the French word "timbre" for stamp. Not dignified enough, Georges Herpin invented the word philately using the Greek word meaning something like "the love of prepayment or tax". Timbremania was probably later.
By the 1870's, just thirty years after the first stamps had been issued, philately was a flourishing hobby. There were stamp catalogs (Gibbons in Great Britain, Scott in the United States as well as a few others) and numerous stamp societies and philatelic magazines. About this time, the complexion of the hobby began to change. Previously, philately had been a drawing room diversion, engaged in idley or thoughtlessly like the young lady who advertised in the Times of London in 1841 that she wished people to send her their used Penny Blacks as she wished to paper her dressing room with them (a modest 5 foot X 8 foot dressing room would have required 1/2 million stamps- $75 million catalog value at today's level). Presumably the bedroom would have had to be done in Penny Reds today.
Soon study of stamps not only became fashionable it became the only ticket to admission to the august collecting societies such as the London (now Royal) Philatelic Society, and the American Philatelic Society (founded 1886). Stamp printing methods were investigated, plating studies done and the rudiments of postal history study was developed. Contacts between collectors in different places was expanded so that collectors now could be apprised of new issues rate changes and stamps to be withdrawn. Mint stamp collecting became popular for the first time.
The period 1875-1916 was the golden age in the development of philately. Great collections, probably the greatest, were formed by men like Ferrary, and Tapling (now on irregular view at the British Museum). A collector then could collect the world since prices and the quantity of different issues had not yet made that impossible. And even when a collector did specialize, he often amassed huge quantities of a given stamp, for varieties and study.
World War I marked a changing point in philatelic history. Easy intercourse between nations was disrupted, destruction of life was huge (mostly men, the next generation of collectors). This change was perhaps symbolized by the selling in the early 1920's of Ferrary's collection, the world's greatest, by the French government to pay war reparations. The 1920's were a fractious, busy time and stamp collecting began to show a change that is still with us today.
As postal administration became more attuned to the revenue that could be gleaned from stamp collectors, we saw the beginnings of continuing commemorative issues, mainly issued for collectors' albums. Many collectors' appetites could be sated by the stream of new issues and so, unlike the earlier period where all collectors had to go back and collect earlier issues or there would be nothing to collect, now a two tiered collecting state was established with "serious" philatelists who collected earlier as well as modern stamps and more casual post office collectors.
The depression lowered stamp prices, of course, but not nearly as much as what happened to many other collectibles and nothing like the 85% reduction that hit the Dow Jones average. Stamp collecting cound be and still can be an inexpensive avocation and even in hard times people have a few pennies for diversion. World War II left most Europeans too destitute and most Americans too busy to be astute collectors, and few changes occured during this period.
The post-war philatelic era, our era, has been marked by two significant factors. First, cover collecting and arcane subspecialties have become ever more popular as stamp price inflation and tens of thousands of new issues per year make completion impossible. And second, for the first time in philatelic history we have government postal agencies actively encouraging people to collect stamps. Previously, solicitation for new collectors was done privately by word of mouth or commercially such as "The Captain Tim Stamp Club" by H.E. Harris. Now the USPS, through its Benjamin Franklin stamp clubs, is exposing millions of youngsters to philately. What this will produce, whether it will be a boon or a bane, is still too soon to say. In any event, the history of philately is long and like a nation or a family, it evolves. What it will be tomorrow, no one can say, but it has remained for over 125 years a vibrant active hobby, truly "The Hobby of Kings."
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Is It Regummed?
When Rowland Hill invented the postage stamp, an integral part of his design was a "wash of mucilage applied to the back, which, when moistened would allow the stamp to adhere to paper". In the very early years of stamp collecting, collectors primarily collected used stamps. After all, the reasoning went, why spend good money when stamps in the late 1860's was the height of folly? After all, what could they ever be worth?
Led by the Belgian stamp dealer Moens, collectors began collecting unused stamps in the 1870's and 1880's. True, they dind't display the purpose for which stamps were invented (that is, postal use) but the collectors didn't have disfiguring cancellations to worry about. So, they pasted the unused stamps in their albums, or if they received stamps with gum, they just licked them down. This is shocking to modern day collectors, but we must all be aware that gum was a meaningless annoyance until the turn of the century. And the hinge, which now seems so barbaric to so many, wasn't even used by most collectors. Paste was used as often as not. Indeed, in stamp papers of the 1890's one can page through an entire year's run without encountering any references to gum, except for methods of removing it. Until 1930, controversy raged over whether to collect unused stamps with original gum at all. "Is it original gum?" may be the most common question in philately today, as it has taken on a much greater meaning than ever before. Due to the extreme rise in price of never hinged stamps, great emphasis has been placed on ascertaining original gum, as this is the only way that you can be sure of never hinged.
Determining whether a stamp has original gum is not an easy matter. So very many stamps are found regummed nowadays. When our firm was first started, only comparatively expensive stamps were regummed. But today, a regummer, armed with his pail and mucilage, can buy hinged stamps, wash off the gum, and regum them. An afternoon's work will net this moral dwarf 300 or 400 percent profit. So it behooves collectors to know how to tell original gum. It is inconvenient, expensive and time consuming to send every one of your purchases off to the Philatelic Foundation or the American Philatelic Expertization Service. And they just expertize using the technique outlined below.
Knowledge of stamp printing is required in telling regummed stamps. When stamps are printed, they are printed on a sheet of paper which is then gummed and perforated. This is the clue to expertizing gum. On genuinely gummed stamps the perforations are applied after the stamp has been gummed. On regummed stamps the gum is applied after the perforations have been made. If you take an ordinary 15c commemorative and break it from the sheet, you will notice the way the perforations slightly fray and how the gum does not extend around the perforation tips. On regummed stamps, the gum tends to glob on the perforation tips, extending microscopically beyond them, and making the perforation tips brittle to the touch.
This is the major test. Now, we are told, regummers are using micron sprayers to nearly duplicate the characteristics of genuine gum. More times than not, they wash the original "hinged" gum off the stamp and reapply, with no "hinged" characteristics. The best advice is to buy never hinged stamps, if it is important to you, back to about 1920, which is the period where reasonable stocks of philatelic material were available and so true "NH" material could surface from these stocks when the "NH" fad began. But, before 1920 (and this is increasingly true for each decade that you go back) a hinge mark is your surest guarantee that you are indeed buying original gum.
But what does "never hinged" really mean anyway? It does not only mean, as some literal graders would have it, "never hinged". An "NH" stamp must of course be never hinged, but it must also be, to use the German term for "never hinged" Post Office Fresh. The stamp may never have been touched with a hinge and the gum must be, in all ways, pristine. A description such as "small gum soak, and large sticky pieces of black gummed paper stuck to back, otherwise NH", means no more than "Very Fine but for small hole" or "choice but for large disfiguring tear". A stamp is either "NH" or it is not "NH"; there is not "NH but"!
Gum is a vital determinant to stamp value. It was not always so, but it probably will always be. But, consider this, early no gum stamps are beginning to rise as fast as original gum ones are. A perfect original gum set of Colombians would sell for about $8,000, never hinged about $15,000, and no gum about $4,000. It might be too much to go out on a limb and predict the renaissance of no gum stamps, but certainly this prediction is no more outrageous than was the prediction twenty-five years ago for the immense rise of "og, NH".
Be cautious in your condemnation of regummed stamps though. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing", Pope wrote, and he was right. Consider this: the advent of modern stamp mounts, sealed on 2, 3, or 4 sides has put severe strain on gum. Gum, especially in hot and humid climates tend to sweat or run similar to the adhesive on Scotch tape. This is a natural process, but one that is hastened in its process when a stamp is in a mount. A mount is a miniature sweat box, so if you have your stamps in mounts be sure there is adhesive ventilation and that the stamps are left cool all year round.
We have seen stamps that we know have original gum condemned by the unknowledgeable because improper storage has allowed the gum to "run" or "sweat" ever so slightly out over the perforation tips. This is criminal. In our opinion, it is just as bad to condemn a good stamp as to pass a bad. But, too often nowadays stamps are sold by people whose parents weren't even alive when the gum was being applied to them. The difference between regummer's work and "sweated" old gum is small, but it does exist. Original gum bears cracks and seems to adhere to the stamp paper in a way that is different from a regummed stamp.
In the end your surest bet is to buy your stamps from knoweledgeable professionals. Apfelbaums, on all Public Auctions offers an unconditional guarantee of genuiness and we back our descriptions with a lifetime money back guarentee. We are the only stamp dealer in this country to do this, and we do what no other expertizing group does. We guarantee our opinions.
Led by the Belgian stamp dealer Moens, collectors began collecting unused stamps in the 1870's and 1880's. True, they dind't display the purpose for which stamps were invented (that is, postal use) but the collectors didn't have disfiguring cancellations to worry about. So, they pasted the unused stamps in their albums, or if they received stamps with gum, they just licked them down. This is shocking to modern day collectors, but we must all be aware that gum was a meaningless annoyance until the turn of the century. And the hinge, which now seems so barbaric to so many, wasn't even used by most collectors. Paste was used as often as not. Indeed, in stamp papers of the 1890's one can page through an entire year's run without encountering any references to gum, except for methods of removing it. Until 1930, controversy raged over whether to collect unused stamps with original gum at all. "Is it original gum?" may be the most common question in philately today, as it has taken on a much greater meaning than ever before. Due to the extreme rise in price of never hinged stamps, great emphasis has been placed on ascertaining original gum, as this is the only way that you can be sure of never hinged.
Determining whether a stamp has original gum is not an easy matter. So very many stamps are found regummed nowadays. When our firm was first started, only comparatively expensive stamps were regummed. But today, a regummer, armed with his pail and mucilage, can buy hinged stamps, wash off the gum, and regum them. An afternoon's work will net this moral dwarf 300 or 400 percent profit. So it behooves collectors to know how to tell original gum. It is inconvenient, expensive and time consuming to send every one of your purchases off to the Philatelic Foundation or the American Philatelic Expertization Service. And they just expertize using the technique outlined below.
Knowledge of stamp printing is required in telling regummed stamps. When stamps are printed, they are printed on a sheet of paper which is then gummed and perforated. This is the clue to expertizing gum. On genuinely gummed stamps the perforations are applied after the stamp has been gummed. On regummed stamps the gum is applied after the perforations have been made. If you take an ordinary 15c commemorative and break it from the sheet, you will notice the way the perforations slightly fray and how the gum does not extend around the perforation tips. On regummed stamps, the gum tends to glob on the perforation tips, extending microscopically beyond them, and making the perforation tips brittle to the touch.
This is the major test. Now, we are told, regummers are using micron sprayers to nearly duplicate the characteristics of genuine gum. More times than not, they wash the original "hinged" gum off the stamp and reapply, with no "hinged" characteristics. The best advice is to buy never hinged stamps, if it is important to you, back to about 1920, which is the period where reasonable stocks of philatelic material were available and so true "NH" material could surface from these stocks when the "NH" fad began. But, before 1920 (and this is increasingly true for each decade that you go back) a hinge mark is your surest guarantee that you are indeed buying original gum.
But what does "never hinged" really mean anyway? It does not only mean, as some literal graders would have it, "never hinged". An "NH" stamp must of course be never hinged, but it must also be, to use the German term for "never hinged" Post Office Fresh. The stamp may never have been touched with a hinge and the gum must be, in all ways, pristine. A description such as "small gum soak, and large sticky pieces of black gummed paper stuck to back, otherwise NH", means no more than "Very Fine but for small hole" or "choice but for large disfiguring tear". A stamp is either "NH" or it is not "NH"; there is not "NH but"!
Gum is a vital determinant to stamp value. It was not always so, but it probably will always be. But, consider this, early no gum stamps are beginning to rise as fast as original gum ones are. A perfect original gum set of Colombians would sell for about $8,000, never hinged about $15,000, and no gum about $4,000. It might be too much to go out on a limb and predict the renaissance of no gum stamps, but certainly this prediction is no more outrageous than was the prediction twenty-five years ago for the immense rise of "og, NH".
Be cautious in your condemnation of regummed stamps though. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing", Pope wrote, and he was right. Consider this: the advent of modern stamp mounts, sealed on 2, 3, or 4 sides has put severe strain on gum. Gum, especially in hot and humid climates tend to sweat or run similar to the adhesive on Scotch tape. This is a natural process, but one that is hastened in its process when a stamp is in a mount. A mount is a miniature sweat box, so if you have your stamps in mounts be sure there is adhesive ventilation and that the stamps are left cool all year round.
We have seen stamps that we know have original gum condemned by the unknowledgeable because improper storage has allowed the gum to "run" or "sweat" ever so slightly out over the perforation tips. This is criminal. In our opinion, it is just as bad to condemn a good stamp as to pass a bad. But, too often nowadays stamps are sold by people whose parents weren't even alive when the gum was being applied to them. The difference between regummer's work and "sweated" old gum is small, but it does exist. Original gum bears cracks and seems to adhere to the stamp paper in a way that is different from a regummed stamp.
In the end your surest bet is to buy your stamps from knoweledgeable professionals. Apfelbaums, on all Public Auctions offers an unconditional guarantee of genuiness and we back our descriptions with a lifetime money back guarentee. We are the only stamp dealer in this country to do this, and we do what no other expertizing group does. We guarantee our opinions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
