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Fifty Years Ago Today Space, Man, and Stamps Came Together

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:54:02 +0000

At the time the Project Mercury stamp was released -- at every post office in the U.S., unlike most that have their first day of issue at one site -- the rule was that no living person could be depicted on a stamp. But like the stamp released for Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic, which even named the flyer on the stamp and pictured his plane The Spirit of St. Louis, while not picturing him, there was absolutely no question about who was hurtling through space in the Friendship 7 capsule.

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Stamp Deals -- And Dealers -- Abound Online

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:21:23 +0000

Near the beginning of the 21st century, a time when the hobby of stamp collecting was being dragged kicking and screaming into the Internet age, there was an article in the philatelic press about a stamp dealer who was offering questionable philatelic material on eBay. It was not just any dealer, as the article breathlessly pointed out, but one who consistently offered about 10 percent of eBay's offerings of 19th and 20th century U.S. stamps. How many stamps did that 10 percent account for? Would you believe about 600 stamp lots per week?

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The A Part of the Philatelic Q & A

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:26:39 +0000

Well, those of you who tried to find the outhouse stamps in the Q part of our Philatelic Q & A were obviously stumped...or didn't want to touch the challenge with a ten foot pole. Anyway, the two stamps that contain images of the rural American privy are...

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Stamp Collectors as Guardians of History

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:38:39 +0000

Barry Landau, the so-called presidential memorabilia super-collector, has pled guilty to stealing historical documents, which may include drafts of FDR speeches, a land grant signed by President Lincoln, a letter ...

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Quick Take On Stamps: We Are The Stamp Market

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:50:44 +0000

"The collector is in reality the stamp market. It is he, for whatever irrational reasons, who buys this otherwise worthless piece of paper and puts it in an album never to sell it until dotage or death. One group of market analysts watches the larger stamp dealers, who sell primarily to collectors, to see what they have in short supply-- for it is collector demand that has pruned these dealers' supply. Such items usually go up in price. Theories on how much a particular item will go up once it has begun its move abound; unfortunately, they do not predict much better than chance."

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RIP Whitney

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:19:49 +0000

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012)

Stamp image © Poste De Cote D'Ivoire

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012)

Stamp image Â© Poste De Cote D'Ivoire

Stamp Collectors Lead Interesting Lives

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:58:34 +0000

I dealt with some of the changes in the stamp collecting world in Top U.S. Stamp Stories 2011. For such a relaxing and sedate hobby there is certainly a lot going on, especially as clubs and their publications, not to mention stamp dealers, migrate to the Internet. It almost makes one think of that curse people would throw at enemies: "May you live in interesting times."

Philatelic Q & A: In Search of a Vanishing American Icon

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:02:27 +0000

Looking at the new USPS international rate stamp picturing an Amish horse and cart on a road in Lancaster County, PA I noticed something in the background.

A closer look showed me that they were cars and vans, parked near the barn-like structure. I was struck by the randomness of that. Most stamps are thought out to the extent that there is nothing extraneous in the design. But then again, there have been odd items appearing here and there on a stamp that defy easy categorization.

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Lawrence Block's Not-so-Hardboiled Philately

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:23:01 +0000

Are you up for some philatelic adventure? If you like philately in literature to play a large role in your vicarious fictional reading adventures, look to the exciting hard-boiled fiction of Lawrence Block. His character Keller is a philatelist and Block's stamp knowledge comes through in the stampish touches he puts in his novels. It is a great way for collectors to enjoy their hobby while also being carried along by a great yarn.

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Delivering Mail: National Postal Museum Wants You to Know What It Takes

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:50:52 +0000

The National Postal Museum wants us to be aware of what it takes to move the mail from here to there. Their new exhibit is titled "Systems at Work." It's filled with hands-on attractions that allow visitors to virtually cancel stamps from various eras with ever changing canceling devices; sort and scan, to get a feel for what a postal job feels like; and play with lots of postal stuff, short of you busting someone as postal inspector for reusing stamps.

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