FORTUNES IN POSTAGE STAMPS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 241, 1 March 1913, Page 2 (Supplement)

FORTUNES IN POSTAGE STAMPS

£20,000 FOR £lO. The luck which fell to the lot of a waste-paper dealer of Philadelphia, U.S.A., recently, should go a long way towards dispelling the belief of a great many persons that stamp-eolleeting js fit only for schoolboys and girls. To give £lO for a bale of old paper and reap a profit thereon of £19,900 does not fall to the lot of many, seldom even to the man who "plunges" on the StockExchange, draws a big sweep, or "breaks the bank at Monte Carlo," But such was the good fortune of \fr. TTemingw'ay. of the Hemingway Paper Stock Co., Philadelphia, whose office has since been constantly besieged by philatelists anxious to secure a specimen for their own collection, by excited dealers and wouldbe buyers from a speculative standpoint, since his "rent windfall. Mr. Hemingway, like many others, had no knowledge whatever of the value of stamps, and very little sympathy for any collector, be he young or old. though, we venture to state that his conversion to the ranks of "philatelists" is now well assured. In that 50-dollar purchase he found 102 stamps of curious design, and had they not been of an uncommon pattern no doubt he would have given them short shrift. To satisfy bis curiosity, he submitted them to a Mr. Henkels, president of the Philadelphia Stamp Club, and solicited bis opinion, that gentleman astounding him that bis discovery was worth 100,000 dollars in hard cash, which valuation was promptly backed by various other experts in that line. The stamps, on examination, turned out to be those known as the St. Louis "bear" issue of 1547, distinguished by the seal of the State of Missouri, and two bears rampant, classing amongsts the greatest rarities in the philatelic world to-day. Any one of them is a small fortune in itself, and it is not a very difficult matter to gauge the finder's feelings upon being the proud possessor of 102 perfect specimens, rendered intrinsically more valuable on account of them being still on the original envelopes, as posted 00 years ago. The value of the lot was then but a trifle—to-day a fortune. Some of the 20 cent, specimens he secured are so rare that for many years the authenticity of those few known to be in existence was doubted, and were looked upon as being probable '"fakes." As previously stated, having no knowledge of stamps, and naturally thinking his find "too good to be true," he did not hang on to them and dispose of each singly, but turned the whole lot over to a syndicate for a Jump sum; and no doubts i exist in his mind now but that there is value, and good value, in some of these little squares of paper so highly prized by intelligent collectors.

Nor is the above case an isolated instance of the almost incredible value of certain rarities, for the unused Mauritins 2d blue "post office" issue of 1847 also reached the tremendous figure of £14.")0 at public auction in London in 1004, it being run up to that amount by the representative of his Majesty George V.. and finally knocked down to him, amid great excitement. For that particular stamp and the Id vermilion (same issue) unused the record price of £.').">oo was paid. Of the latter value onlv fourteen are known, postally used, and are each worth from £1(100 to £l.->OO.

Another striking instance is that of British Guiana 1 cent black on magenta. of which there is only one copy known to be in existence (the same being in ' the superb collection of M. P. R. von Ferrary, of Paris), which particular stamp is worth £2OOO. This gentleman's accumulation tofals the enormous cash value of £300,000! Again, the Hawaii 2 cents blue, issued in 1851. cannot be procured umler a modest £IOOO. and. no dealer wotdd part with a good copy of the C.S.A. in cent black issued in Baltimore in 18411 under £OOO. The triangular Capo of Good Hope 4d red is at present worth CSOO in. an unused condition, many varieties of this issue being of great value. Many thousands of instances similar to the above could be enumerated, but Ihe above will serve to indicate the value which attaches to good copies of the stamps of practically all the British colonies and many European countries, and the rich return which accrues to even the small speculator, who secures a set of new issues as Ibey appear and

retains them for a few years. ft is not too much to state that in a decade or so many of the stamps above mentioned will be unprocurable, therefore nearly priceless.

To go into litis matter: if. say. our fatlicv had purchased a down nf tlir> fid scarlet Newfoundland 1857 issue wlicn j thev appeared, and put them liy, to-day j lie 'would !><■ able to obtain. £I2OO for j (hem—a good return for six: and yot it, j was possible" to buy a few hundreds at] lid each then. Every British n»d Id of ISSS bad a number inscribed on it (hardly discernible to the naked eye), and 1 should anyone be lucky enough to unearth one numbered 77. it would be worth a fortune in itself, there being only one known specimen, which at present reposes in the British Museum, in the valuable collection of T. Tapling. Esq.. which he presented to the British nation a few years ago. The recent 'christchtirch Exhibition is still fresh in our memories, and anyone could purchase a set of the series then issued for 10'/.<l—to-day the catalogue value is just, on 10s. In 11)11 some of the stamps of Fiji were overprinted, (filbert and Kllice Protectorate, the set. then costing 2s od, and though that was very little over a year ago. they arc worth to-day at least £2. and it is not too much to forecast that in five years they will be worth £2l). During the Transvaal war some provisional type set stamps were issued by the Boers' for about one month only in the "Northern Transvaal (and printed at lVtersbuvgh (he set of six values being on sale at Is IV-d. Xow this small lot are worth close upon £lO.