by Lloyd A. de Vries

Amos Media, the largest philatelic media publisher in the U.S., appears to be having financial difficulties. Amos publishes the Scott Postage Stamp Catalogs, Linn’s Stamp News and Scott Stamp Monthly, as well as publications for other hobbies.

In a discussion in The Stamp Collecting Forum started by veteran philatelic writer Ken Lawrence, readers reveal they have not received their printed copies of Monthly for several months and columnists report no payments for their articles since June. In addition, printed editions of the Scott catalogues that were due for release on or after September 1 are on back-order, with no date of delivery. Digital editions are available.

Printed editions of Coin World magazine, also published by Amos, also are not available. In a post on a coin collectors forum, a customer service representative was quoted as saying that no date was available for the resumption of printing.

Abruptly in mid-August, Linn’s Stamp News announced it was immediately halting the printing of its weekly newspaper and it would only be available online. The announcement said SSM would continue to be printed and mailed to subscribers who had chosen that option.

The Virtual Stamp Club has asked Amos Media executives for comment.

The Scott books are the major catalogues for stamp collectors in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The first Scott catalogue was a 21-page pricelist in 1886 by New York City stamp dealer John Walter Scott. Scott Publishing was acquired by Amos in 1984 and the operations moved to Sidney, Ohio, near Dayton. Today, the catalogue is six volumes plus related specialty catalogues and thousands of pages and costs nearly $700 from the Amos website (list price $1,034.92).

The major catalogue publisher for British Commonwealth issues, Stanley Gibbons, has been in financial trouble, reorganizing in December 2023 to relieve itself of a debt burden. (The Linn’s Stamp News story is here.)