Dealing With Stamp Design
by John M. Hotchner

John wrote this column several years ago, but it is as pertinent now as it was then: Collectors still complain about U.S. stamp designs.

Is there one unalterable truth for stamp collectors? If so, I would propose that it is a universal feeling that US stamp design is less than spectacular, and many of us share a belief that if we were running things, we could do better. Perhaps.

In the past two days, I have heard complaints about the Forget-me-not stamp (It needs a frame to focus the design), the last George Washington stamp (It is too dark and George is lost in the dark framing), the Winter Flowers issue of 2014 (They look too much like Easter Seals), and the World Stamp Show publicity stamps (A lost opportunity to picture stamp collecting or classic American stamps.)

While any or all of these criticisms may have merit, it is all second-guessing. And my guess is that all artists – even the great ones – had to put up with similar carping (“That’s supposed to be a smile on Mona Lisa? Looks more like she’s suffering a gas attack after too many baked beans!”)

Well, we as collectors have the right to criticize, but it is all hot air unless we actually do something about it. And there are several strategies.

• Don’t buy what you don’t like. Avoid such issues for use as postage, for your albums, and for gifts for children and grandchildren. The USPS tracks closely what sells, and just as important, what doesn’t. Vote with your wallet.
• Learn how to draw a neat “X” in the album page box for stamps you will not add to your collection because you don’t like the art style, or you class them as just plain ugly. You are the arbiter of what makes the cut. And no one has to agree with you.
• Create a Hall of Shame – a special section of your album in which you place all the stamps that annoy you.
• If you have more stamps in that section than on your printed album pages, maybe it is time to curtail your collecting by ending at a given year.

You will need to be careful to differentiate whether it is the design you dislike or the subject. Sometimes, our view can be so colored by dislike of the subject that no design will hit the mark. On the other side of that fence, the flood of multi-colored fruits, flowers, foliage, fauna, flyers, food, and flags may have great popularity with the American public, but only a few stand out as clever and original depictions.

In my view about 10% of U.S. issues really rank high on both subject and design scales. One in the current crop is the U.S. Coast Guard commemorative released August 4, 2015 [left]. Full disclosure: I was involved in development of the subject while a member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (1998-2010) but it had not gone to the artists at the point that I timed out from the Committee. So I was surprised and delighted by the exceptional art that illustrates the subject.

Contrast that with the New York 2016 publicity pair [right] – a good subject that in my opinion is a generic and uninspiring design that will inspire no one to attend the show.

What can we reasonably expect from U.S. stamp design? Certainly, we need to recognize that in stamps as in art generally, there will be a range of style. This is right and proper as stamps are a reflection of the breadth and diversity of American art; much like the stamp program having a commission to reflect the breadth and diversity of America itself and its population.

I well remember when modern art first made its appearance on a U.S. stamp with the 5¢ “Fine Arts” issue of 1964 [left]. One would have thought listening to the reaction of collectors that the world as we knew it had come to an end.

There were similar protests when children’s art in the form of stick figures on the 20¢ Family Unity issue 1984 [right] was included. And when cartoon-type art made its first appearance with the 1991 “Comedians” set of 29¢ stamps using the pen-and-ink impressions of Al Hirschfeld.

They were later followed by actual cartoons from the comics section of our daily press.

The latter complaints were especially mystifying to me as both political cartoons and the so-called “funny papers” are features of American journalism that have been developed to a high level in the United States. Stamps celebrating these American institutions are right on the mark, and the art is appropriate.

I personally don’t enjoy much of the poster art that has been and is used. The current “Summer Harvest” issue [left] is an example. And as to modern art, I think of it as a giant fraud on the public when presented as works of inspiration possessed of deep and profound meaning. And yet, a portion of the public buys it and goes to see it in museums.

Can the U.S. stamp program ignore that? Should it? Regretfully, I have to admit that it has its place.

So, my conclusion is that it is irrational to expect that every issue will please every collector. In fact, the USPS can expect criticism of some sort on the majority of its issuances if for no other reason than that the American public has a wide variety of likes and dislikes, and a wide variance of art appreciation, from those of us who merely know what we like, to those of us educated to know what we should like.

Which means that criticism will be plentiful and conflicting. And the USPS needs to listen to it, but act on it sparingly.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Dealing With Dealers
By John M. Hotchner

Dealers can be a convenient target: prices, attitudes, grading practices, stock, response times to phone calls, letters, emails, etc. – all can be critiqued, and often are. As a group, they are the opposite of the U.S. Congress, where everyone hates the institution, but the great majority like their Congress-person. (How else do we explain the incredibly high re-election rate?)

But stamp dealers? We all, I think, respect the dealer community and understand its value to the collector, but we can all come up with a story or two about dealer practices that are real head-shakers.

But is this fair? I’m certain that dealers can come up with an equal or greater number of stories about customers! And while I don’t doubt the veracity on either side of the dealer table, the stories apply to the minority of both classes.

Thus, my appeal is that we enjoy the stories but not let them taint our own relationships with dealers, singly or as a group. In my experience the great majority are good and competent people who are trying to do the right thing, while making an honest buck to support themselves and their families.

But enough of this. What I started to write about is the question of how you can help dealers to help you. And after a lot of years of experience, I want to pass along the lessons I have learned. It is all pretty straight-forward, and it is based in good communication, and the fact that each group has something that the other wants.

Yes, partly it is money being traded for material, but there is much more in the equation. Let me list a few of the wants/needs for each class from the other:

Customers: Stamps, Covers and other Philatelic Material to meet our needs, at reasonable prices, a willingness to negotiate, respect, a degree of cheerfulness (or maybe “positiveness” is a better term), information, a willingness to be reasonable, and last but certainly not least, recommendations as to where we might find material we want that the dealer does not carry.

Dealers: Money, respect, a degree of cheerfulness, information, a willingness to be reasonable, and last but certainly not least, recommendations to collectors of your acquaintance.

If you see a certain similarity between what the two groups want, that is entirely intentional. The basis of any relationship is mutual respect, a positive atmosphere in which to do business, willingness to share information, and helping each other to be successful.

If I may put this into one thought, it is that my most successful relationships with dealers are ones that are not adversarial. We start from a base of trust, mutual respect, and an expectation for fair dealing on both sides.

All of this applies regardless of the means of contact, but let us focus in on the dealer at a bourse or exhibition. Since this is mostly for my fellow collectors, here are ten things I have tried to do to contribute to a good relationship.

• When I approach a dealer, I know what I am after, and convey my wants clearly. In some cases that may be general, as in “20th century U.S. covers.” Or it may be specific, as in “1938 Presidential color varieties” and “Korean War postal history.” This tells the dealer where to direct my attention, and allows him or her to dig into stock for material not yet filed that may be of interest.
• If I find some material of interest at good prices, I may well branch out into other areas of displayed stock without bothering the dealer; but depending upon how busy the dealer is, I might also ask for secondary interests.
• If I find an item that seems puzzling, I will ask about it if the dealer is not swamped with customers: “I have not seen this marking before … Do you know what it means?” Most dealers are happy to have an opportunity to show off what they know. Likewise, if a dealer asks me why I am buying something that puzzles him, I am more than happy to explain why and the philatelic significance of the item. Sometimes this may seem like idle chatter, but it educates the dealer about your wants.
• If the dealer says that there may be material in stock at home, or back in the store that may be of interest, I am happy to provide a card noted with my wants and my contact points. This often enough results in sales by mail or the Internet, and the opportunity to check out a dealer’s website.
• Having selected material I want to purchase, I often ask the dealer what he or she needs for it. Yes, there is a marked price, and if it is a small purchase, it is understood that I am expected to pay it. But with larger purchases, dealers usually expect to be asked for a discount, but it cannot be demanded. There is no automatic discount, unless discounts according to purchase level are posted. But most dealers will come down a bit on price on larger purchases if asked. They want you as a long-term customer, and this is one way to help that to happen.
• If a dealer goes to the trouble of finding additional material in my areas that I can use, I will often buy it if the price is reasonable, even if I don’t have an immediate need for the item. Why? Because I want to encourage the dealer to keep looking. The next item(s) s/he comes up with may be a long-sought want, and it has happened many times.
• My checkbook is not bottomless. If I find something that I want but can’t afford all at once, I offer a payment schedule; usually a down-payment and the rest in 30 days, or in 30-day increments. If accepted I pay on time, or early if possible.
• I keep the names of dealers from whom I have bought specific types of material, and if I expect to see them at another show or bourse (dealers in attendance are usually shown on the website of the sponsoring organization), I will write to them ahead of time and ask them to bring whatever from their stock that I am looking for at the time. Often enough, dealers who know my wants will do this without being asked, but it is still a courtesy for you to let them know you will be there.
• In going through a dealer’s stock, if I find material that I know others are looking for, I will often ask if so-and-so has seen this. If not and they are at the show, I may borrow the item and go find the collector to show it to them. Or I may ask the dealer to put it aside, and suggest to the collector that they stop by and review it. If the collector is not at the show, taking a photo of the item and sending it to them by email may well turn into a sale. Not only do you help a friend, but you help the dealer. By the same token, I am not hesitant to ask a dealer who else on the floor carries the material I am looking for, and have gotten useful referrals.
• However obvious it may be, politeness counts. There is usually only one dealer and often many customers. Waiting your turn is the right thing to do when the dealer is occupied making a sale or digging for material for another collector. My time is no more important than the dealer’s.

I’m certain that many readers of this column will have developed their own methods of dealing with dealers. If so, your thoughts on this column, and additional ideas would be welcome. Please post them here or write to me at PO Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or by email at email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

When my children were in the 8- to 12-year-old range, each one in turn tried stamp collecting. Three of the four even did exhibits. They did not have to be cajoled into it by a clearly involved helicopter father. Rather they were, I think, curious what I found so attractive, and got involved through participation in a Ben Franklin Stamp Club established at their school (a system the USPS sponsored nationwide, providing a monthly multi-color newsletter and other support materials such as membership cards, etc.). I was the adult sponsor for the local school’s club.

Unfortunately, the hobby did not stick with them. And I can list several reasons why not. First, while there were lots of stamps available to collect, and they were all given free. And yet, one of the major areas of interest they had about stamps was their value. I contrast this to my earliest years in the hobby, where the value of my collection was the last thing on my mind.

Now, by the time I was 12, and going to club meetings with my father, I was spending my paltry allowance on stamps. But I was a confirmed collector, and my concern was in filling the blanks in my album, not with what I might get if I sold the stamps.

Some might fault me for allowing my kids to grow up thinking about possessions in monetary terms, but I contend that by the 1980s, the social fabric of our country was intensely intertwined with money and its value/what it could buy. We have in fact bred generations of children who have grown up with ever increasingly targeted advertising, telling kids what they should have; a relative rarity in the days when I grew up with a ten-inch, black-and-white TV screen.

So, in this day of $200 sneakers, $75 jeans being sold new with ripped knees, must-have electronics, and designer tops for kids that adults can’t afford, is it any wonder that money is high on the radar screens of kids who are probably not told enough, “No, we can’t afford that!”?

The result is that kids have learned to monetize everything. And when they learn that their entry-level collection is essentially worthless, a reasonable question is “Why do I want to be involved in this?”

That phenomenon was just beginning to kick in when my kids were approaching their teenage years. Also kicking in was the advent of a wider range of TV channels, and one of the great time-wasters of the 20th century, TV video games. My kids were far more interested in how high they could score playing Pacman and the immediate feedback that offered, than in spending time on the laborious process of building a stamp collection; which offered no element of competition among their peers, and little in the way of immediate feedback.

Yes, there was some enjoyment in trading stamps with their friends, but nothing compared to the status gained in the ‘friend community’ by playing Pac-man well.

If anything, this challenge to our hobby has increased exponentially with the multiplicity of electronic gadgets, and the ability to communicate instantaneously with friends and acquaintances; now with both words and images. Stamp collecting could be addictive if one got serious about it, but today’s electronic gizmos are both instantaneously addictive, and the social pressure to engage in using them is enormous.

One of my grandchildren said to me a couple of weeks ago “Grandpa, you may know the basics of how to use your iPhone, but you really need to take a course to understand the power it has and the things it can do.” My reaction is that I don’t want to get involved in

additional functionality. I already spend more time on it than I find comfortable. But I, like them I suspect, can’t seem to help myself! And they are pressured by their peers to obtain and use the most recent gadgets and their full power.

My observation of the behavior of my grandkids, who range from 2-years old to 21 years, is that they spend so much time with their noses buried in their electronic devices it is a wonder they have time to eat or do homework. There is just no time for working with physical objects like stamps.

We did it as kids because we had time on our hands, with few other distractions, and we enjoyed the act of organizing our collection, and the pride of learning about other nations and American history from stamps.

The other thing we enjoyed was sharing the hobby with others in our circle. With the Postal Service’s murder of its Ben Franklin Stamp Clubs in the early 1990s, it became increasingly unusual for kids to find other kids who collect. Why did they kill the BFSC? The proximate costs of developing collectors for the future were not being covered by young people buying stamps. So the program was a net financial loss, and the bean counters insisted that the budgeting process could not justify those costs. Guess they never heard of what private industry knows as “loss leaders.”

So, the practical result was that more than ever before, kids were suddenly reliant for support on adults; but how to find an adult collector if kids develop an interest? This makes the network of local clubs especially important. But keep in mind that available evidence is that the number of adult collectors has been falling in this country for many years if measured by numbers involved in organized philately, and subscription numbers for philatelic periodicals. There may still be a lot of collectors, but it seems a good share of them are lone wolves; not being involved in local philately, and not available to be mentors.

Add to this that, regrettably, all adults are now suspect; so much so that formal mentoring programs for their own protection are vetting mentor applicants against law enforcement data bases. Parents without that resource are often not pleased with the thought of having their child interacting with an adult stamp collector that they don’t know.

Then there is the cost of the hobby, which has been on an upward curve for many years. Stamp collecting implements such as catalogs and albums (with thousands more stamps being issued worldwide each year) are beyond the reach of most kids’ allowances. The cost of a first-class mint stamp has gone from 3 cents when I was a kid to 58 cents today, and the number of issues and postal products has mushroomed. I tend to discount this as a major reason for kids dropping out for two reasons: First, the actual cost of a year of single US mint stamps is still way less than a pair of stylish sneakers, a couple of trips to the movies, or a few meals out at your local fast food outlet.

Second, as they make a fine and relatively inexpensive gift for parents and grandparents to give, mint US stamps need not be beyond the reach of kids. But the adults must be willing to navigate the USPS Internet ordering system, as limited numbers of commemoratives, and sometime none at all, are available from local post offices.

These phenomena are driving kids in the direction of used stamps, and I would have no great problem with this; in fact, it could be a positive, but it isn’t. Why? Used is less expensive, but more difficult to acquire; not to mention more difficult to store and house in an album because they can no longer be soaked free of the paper they went through the mail on. And there is another major problem that has been developing for the last 40 years: Though a few remain, local stamp stores have gone the way of the Dodo, stamp clubs are not thriving for the most part, buying used stamps from dealers by email is complicated, and the Postal Service in its zeal to keep collectors from clogging the lines at local post offices has done everything possible to push collectors to buy their wants on the Internet.

This has the predictable effect of keeping commemoratives off daily mail. So, current stamps, which should be a major focus for kids who get many of their stamps from friends and family, get little more than the current definitives from those sources.

No one set out to make collecting more difficult for kids. We are dealing with 50 years of actions and phenomena that have had a deadly set of unintended consequences.

And some of those consequences are also affecting adult collectors and dampening our ardor for stamp collecting. Do we just lie down on the tracks and let the train run over us?

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

by John M. Hotchner
Click on stamp illustrations for larger versions

Quick – What is the first U.S. postage stamp to have a face value of a dollar or more? What was the first U.S. postage stamp to have a face value of over $10? Are there any U.S. Air Mail stamps with a value of more than a dollar, prior to the 2012 $1.05 Scenic American Landscape issue (“Amish Horse & Buggy on Road, Lancaster, Country, Pennsylvania”)? The answers will be found later on in this column.

There are a surprising number of U.S. dollar-value issues. If we include booklet panes and se-tenant blocks and strips that total to more than a dollar, the list is quite long. So, let’s ignore those for the present. The dollar-value single stamps are a significant challenge by themselves.

Believe it or not, there were 28 different dollar value stamps issued through the end of the Third Bureau Issue (the so-called “Washington-Franklins”). They are not all face-different. There are 16 different major designs, including the same design with different values. The rest are minor design variations, or varieties of watermark, perforation gauge or color.

In mint condition, a complete collection is well beyond the resources of most collectors. It is certainly beyond mine! But owning even a few is a thrill! And many of them are quite reasonable in used condition. Beginning with the 1922 Fourth Bureau Issue, even the mint examples are reasonable, and almost all used copies are not much more expensive than a movie rental, and usually less than their face value.

Let’s skip around a bit and look at some of the dollar stamps of the United States: First, the answer to the first question above. Surprisingly, the first dollar values were issued on January 1, 1893, 46 years after the first U.S. stamps. They were the $1, $2, $3, $4, and $5 commemorative stamps issued to publicize the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, to be held from May 1 to October 30, 1893; a total of $15.

Beautiful as these stamps were, and they remain popular today, there was considerable public outcry about the length of the set. Remember, back then, a dollar was a prized amount of money. For example, in 1893, a laborer earned about $9.50 for a 60-hour work week! And even though a dollar went a lot further — $1 from 1893 would be equivalent to $29.67 in 2021 dollars — I am certain that the average collector would have had plenty of other uses for $15 in 1893! But it would have been a decent investment for someone on behalf of their great- great- grandchildren, as the Scott Catalogue value for a mint set of the dollar values is now $8,150; $29,300 if never hinged!

A 1901 penny postal card from a dealer in California [above] advertised to buy used Columbians. Note that he is offering 90 cents for each $5 stamp that he accepts. Today, a used $5 Columbian catalogues $1,200!

Moving along, one of my favorite designs from the early years of dollar stamps is the 1894 gem picturing Oliver Hazard Perry; a figure I’d bet precious few college seniors could place in historical context today – if they ever heard of him at all!

There are four versions: Unwatermarked Types I and II, and double-line watermarked Types I and II. [The watermarked versions of this stamp, both Types, were also overprinted for use in Guam and the Philippines.]

The difference between the Types is found in the circles at the lower right and left corners surrounding the $1 denomination. On Type I stamps, the circle is broken where it meets the curved line below “One Dollar.” On Type II stamps the circle is complete. 75% of the stamps produced were Type I; the remainder Type II. It follows that the catalogue values are twice as high for Type II as Type I.

Colors play an important part in the story of the $2 1918 Franklin. The first issued was the $2 “orange red and black” (as listed in Scott, #523), on August 19, 1918. Max G. Johl, in his monumental The United States Postage Stamps of the 20th Century, tells us that the official descriptions prior to release of the stamp, and afterward as well, said that the colors were red and black. Clearly what came off the presses is not red, so the Scott listing of orange-red and black is correct.

But on November 1, 1920, a new printing was released, and these are without question red [which Scott calls “carmine”] and black. They have been given a separate Scott listing, #547. A total issued for both is 791,000, and fewer than 10% of those are #523.

Jumping ahead to the 1938 Presidential issue, there are several color variations of the $1, caused by the fact that production methods and ink composition elements changed during the production period which extended from 1938 to 1956. Over 340.4 million were released. In addition, all the Prexie dollar values (as well as the $5 Fourth Bureau Issue; issued in 1923) were bicolors printed in two passes.

There are no known inverts, but there are plentiful color misregistrations. On the example shown on the left, Wilson’s portrait and other black printing is shifted to the right.

The first Air Mail dollar values are the so-called “Zeppelins” of 1930. Of the three stamps in the set, two (Sc. C14 and C15) are dollar values: a $1.30 and a $2.60. The former was intended to pay the postage on letters dispatched by steamer to Friedrichshafen and then via the Graf Zeppelin to Seville, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro. The $1.30 also covered the entire trip, with the addition of Rio to Lakehurst, New Jersey. The $2.60 paid the rate for the entire trip on letters all the way to Lakehurst.

Short of the 24¢ Jenny invert, the Zeppelin set is the key for Air Mail issues, and gives a collector bragging rights when showing off his or her U.S. collection.

In the modern era, dollar value stamps became ubiquitous with the inauguration of Priority and Express Mail. The first high-value U.S. stamp above $5 was the first Express Mail stamp of 1983; a $9.35 jumbo. The first stamp over $10, was issued just two years later when the Express Mail rate was boosted to $10.75. In fact, the Express Mail and Priority Mail rates have changed so rapidly that over 40 face-different stamps have been issued for these services. For a collector of mint U.S. stamps, this represents an expenditure of about $375 as a contribution to the USPS bottom line. Of course, used examples of these large, beautiful stamps cost much less; the challenge being to find examples in good condition with light cancels.

Covers with dollar values are interesting and collectible. In general, they are not scarce, with the exception of solo usages where a dollar-value stamp covers basic postage and additional services; the cost of which tote up to the face value of the stamp.

On-cover usage is often listed in the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue, and there can be some nice surprises. For example, the $5 Alexander Hamilton of the Liberty series of 1954 (Sc. 1053) has a used value in Scott of $6.75. It is a fairly scarce stamp in used, well-centered condition with a light cancel.

But find this stamp on the following covers, and you may have a real bonanza:

• On registered bank tag: $25.00
• On air parcel-post tag: $75.00
• On commercial cover: $1,800
• Single franking on registered cover: $7,000

An unusual usage of the Americana Series $5 (Scott #1612) pays the major part of charges for Air Mail, Special Delivery and Registry (with a return receipt) service from Miami, Florida to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Scott does not yet list a special premium for usages of this stamp, but I am certain that will come, as they are anything but common.

We have hardly scratched the surface of dollar-stamp collecting, but I hope you catch a little of my enthusiasm. It is a worthy challenge as a specialty, and yet, one that at least in the modern era, need not cost an arm and two legs!

“Investing” in U.S. New Issues
by John M. Hotchner

My Dad was a serious collector who knew his philatelic A, B, Cs. He loved especially U.S. and German stamps, and went so far as to make his own albums. I learned much at his knee; both things to do and things not to do. After an unhappy incident when I was 12, we came to an agreement that we would collect different countries; with one exception, which I will get to.

The incident took place at a meeting of the New Delhi, India, Stamp Club in 1955, while he was assigned to India as the U.S. Information Agency’s liaison officer to All India Radio.

The meeting happened to have an auction, and I had just gotten my allowance – the princely sum of 5 Rupees per week (or about $1 U.S.). Added to money I’d saved, I had about 30 Rupees burning a hole in my pocket, and when a lot of Indian “Service” overprints came up, half a dozen hands went up around the room. I was in the back, looking in the equivalent of a penny box. I joined in the fun.

As the bids passed 10 Rupees, the sport of it all took hold of me, and I was determined to get the lot. As bidders dropped out, I failed to realize until too late that I was bidding against my father. He may not have realized he was bidding against me. But when he dropped out and I got the lot, and had to announce my name and club number, the cat was out of the bag.

On the way home, he was characteristically quiet; as was I. I had no idea of the storm to come. He was quiet for a week, and ultimately it was my mother who told me that he was furious, and I was guilty of improper behavior. To make a long story short, that was the end of my India collection, and he and I agreed not to be competitors in the future; enforced by our splitting of our collecting interests – except for United States, which he would collect mint, and I would collect used.

As part of his collecting he had been buying several sheets of U.S. mint new issues since the end of World War II, and he continued to do so – along with a lot of other stamp collectors – as a hedge against inflation. He saw stamps from the 1920s and 1930s doing fairly well in Fine-to-Very Fine condition, and made the assum

ption that the trend would continue. So, he made an effort to put away at least a few VF panes of each new issue until he was disabled by Parkinson’s disease in the late 1980s. On his passing, I assumed his rather nice India collection, among others, and was also heir to a two-foot-high stack of U.S. mint sheets, not to mention a hefty holding of plate blocks that he had stashed away over the years.

I was not alone. It seemed that a great many collectors had the same idea post-WWII, and the Post Office Department thoughtfully upped the production runs to make certain that there would be plenty of stamps to satisfy demand.

The result was, and continues to be today, that panes of mint US commemoratives from the late 1940s onward are pretty much a drug on the market. Oh, there are a few that are “better” than face because of the subject portrayed, or because of shorter than usual production totals, but I found out to my chagrin that the holding was not going to bring even face value if sold. It was a buyers’ market as lots of other heirs had bales of mint U.S. to sell in bulk.

Luckily, I was by then writing columns for several philatelic publications, and – this being before the era of widespread use of the Internet – I had a considerable correspondence, and began to use the stamps for postage. Here it is 25 years later, and I am still using some of Dad’s hoard.

But it seems that the collector community and the heir community never connected, because collectors continue to buy and salt away panes of mint U.S. stamps. What with multiple designs in a pane, and smaller panes with fancy marginal art, a higher percentage of these more modern emissions do have premium value in the secondary market. But for the original buyer trying to sell them among quantities of other mint stamps including plate blocks, booklets and coil rolls, face value is about what can be expected if one is lucky.

And that ain’t so good when one considers the impact of inflation, and the rise in postal rates. More often, quantities of US mint stamps sell in clubs between collectors at 80 to 85% of face. And if selling to a dealer, the offers drop off precipitously as the face values of the stamps offered decrease. In fact, I recently saw a dealer describe his business practices as follows:

“I own thousands of face value stamps in my warehouse, and rarely take any to stamp shows. Yes, if I buy for 25-40% of face depending on content and condition and sell it for 70-80% of FACE, that is a great percentage markup. In my experience, the volume of sales will not justify the table space regardless. I really am not a great buyer for postage except as part of a much larger and better collection.”

I do see dealers at shows selling U.S. mint at face from large boxes of stock. And there seem to be lots of collectors poking through the material though I don’t know how much actually sells. The point is that a dealer who has to make a profit, and pay himself for the time he or she has put into acquiring and preparing the material to sell, has to buy at 30-40% below the sale price.

Many feel that this is unfair given what they or their collector relative put into the stamps. But “fairness” really does not enter into it. Supply-and-demand is what governs. And there is far more U.S. mint material for sale than there is demand to absorb it. Just like selling stocks at a loss, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

My father was not looking to get rich quick. He bought prudently, in small quantities with low amounts of money, and based on what he saw as past performance. It was not irrational to expect that 20-25 years down the road, he would reap a modest profit. But, as it turned out, he would have done better to put the same amounts into, say, used $5 Columbians, or other premium U.S. stamps.

And yet, there continue to be collectors who follow the path of investing in mint panes, booklets and coil rolls. A few dynamics make this problematic. First, though the production quantities have decreased markedly, so has the percentage of collectors in the population. Add in the facts that inflation continues to rise, and postage rates continue to rise, while mail volume has declined and will likely continue to do so.

What this means is that the Postal Service is the only guaranteed winner in this equation. They get to use the money right now that collectors pay for stamps they stockpile and don’t “redeem” for many years into the future. And make no mistake: a great many of these “old” stamps are indeed ultimately going to be used for postage.

There are several lessons here. First is that buying mint U.S. stamps in quantity as an investment strategy will likely not turn out well. Second, if you decide to sell your accumulation while you can still benefit, do not sell everything as a single lot. Do your homework, and don’t be in a hurry. Watch buy prices for thematic commemoratives, booklets, coils, etc. that have acquired some premium value. You may not make a lot more than face, but at least you will do better than the 50-60% you would be offered for a large accumulation.

Third, find ways of selling what is left to other collectors at a small discount rather than to dealers at a large discount. Being a member of a stamp club is a plus because many collectors like to use older colorful stamps on their mail.

Fourth, be grateful that you are getting something back on your investment. For most hobbies and pastimes, you are buying pleasant memories, and maybe an investment in physical fitness, but you will get nothing back on the money you have spent on event tickets, golf club entry fees, tennis balls, etc.

Fifth, unless you are a movie star or a sports hero at the professional level, there is no such thing as easy money; and even for them that spigot can be turned off in a hurry if their performance or drawing power drops off. If you want to make money you have to work for it. And in stamps that means what may seem like an easy and sensible scheme, be it in mint stamps, first day covers, plate blocks, gold-replica stamps, or foreign new issues, rarely pans out. To be a successful investor, one must study the investing alternatives, past performance, collecting trends, supply versus demand, the real liquidity of different kinds of investment alternatives, and then make informed, clear-eyed, choices that are still only educated guesses.

But all of this is work, and in some sense is incompatible with why we start a hobby in the first place – to occupy our free time with a pleasurable activity. Investing may seem like a natural extension of collecting, but it is a different level of effort if done seriously; and one that can lead to disappointment with what had been at one time a fun hobby.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

By John M. Hotchner

I once traveled professionally with a lady who said she loved traveling so much that when she landed at a foreign airport, she’d look up in the sky and see an airplane, and wish she were on it! I wasn’t that rabid, but I did love traveling to experience other countries; their peoples, languages, history, food, attitudes, practices, etc. And to compare what I saw on the ground with what I knew of their philatelic history.

And I feel the same way about stamps. If money and time were not an issue I would collect the entire world. That’s how I started out collecting 70 years ago, but as a matter of practicality I had to whittle my efforts down to about 25 countries that I still play with today. A few are serious collections with errors, plate varieties, multiples, sheet markings, covers, and other fodder of the specialist; but most are simply fill-in-the-blank album collections that I enjoy.

Yet all stamps are fascinating when you get behind the design, and study the printing methods and the usages of the stamp and the ways it could be cancelled. I’ve enjoyed my collecting choices but if I had to do it all over again, I believe I’d opt for the world 1840-1940, with some selected issues beyond.

Another approach was taught to me by a lady named Alma Snowa, of Richmond, Virginia, whom I got to know in the 1970s. Alma answered the “What do you collect?” question with a wonderful three-word response: “Any given stamp.”

She chose not to be boxed in by countries, dates, subjects, or art form. When it came to choosing stamps for her collection, she couldn’t provide a want list. Looking over dealer stocks, or club auction lots, stamps or sets would say to her, “Buy me.” Sometimes she knew why, and other times she didn’t, but more often than not, her response was “Absolutely!” She was not trying to build a complete or valuable collection. Rather she was engaged in maximizing her enjoyment of her hobby.

I wish I had had the confidence to collect that way from the start. But because of Alma, I do have a side collection of “anything-that-appeals-to-me.”

It’s common these days for collectors to box ourselves in from the start. We collect a country (perhaps limited to a span of years), or a theme/topic, and ignore everything outside our box. But I’d like to advocate for spreading your wings. Try something new: a country you identify with, a different theme, stamps that seem to you to be especially attractive or meaningful, stamps showing places you would like to visit but probably never will!

Discover more of the broad world of stamp collecting. Add “Any given stamp” to your repertoire.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Seeing is believing
by John M. Hotchner

One of my favorite U.S. issues was the creative World at War series of five sheetlets released over five years from 1991-1995, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of World War II. An example of the 1941 sheet (Sc. 2559) is shown here.

Combining ten images per sheet with a map showing where 1941’s most important events took place was pure genius. And the people who made the series happen were Jack Williams, the Postal Service project manager, Howard Paine, the Art Director and typographer, and William Bond, the designer.

Take a look at the 1941 sheet. Do you notice anything wrong? I’m reading a book now titled Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. One of the many points it makes in discussing how our brains work is that our default is to see what we expect to see. I asked twelve stamp collector friends what was wrong with the sheet shown here. None identified the problem. Several studied the sheet for over a minute.

This is not a criticism of them. None were error specialists and they are not oriented toward looking for errors, or what might be wrong with a stamp. If you have identified the fact that there is no intaglio inscription saying “29 USA” on each stamp, you get a gold star. Compare this sheet with the normal one below and the error will become obvious. Once you know what to look for it is instantaneously to see in the fourth stamp in the top row; the one with FDR and Winston Churchill.

Only two of these sheets are reported. It seems only one pane with two sheets escaped the printing operation and were sold. It likely happened when two panes together, instead of one, went through the press adding the engraving. The one underneath did not get the engraved image.

The current Scott Specialized Catalogue values the error at $6500. Had you been the lucky buyer, would you have noticed the error?

This is my point. Some varieties are obvious: stamps you can’t tear apart to use (imperfs), misperfs with a split design, inverted airplanes, even some missing colors. But unless you have trained yourself to look for the more subtle varieties, you may use a stamp worth hundreds or thousands of dollars on your electric bill!

How to train yourself? First and foremost, pay attention. Know what the normal stamp should look like and if you see anything you are not certain about, compare it with the normal. It also helps to know what exists. For example, the 1917 perf 11 flat plate carmine 2¢ George Washington, see the strip nearby, exists with the denomination “5” instead of “2”, as you will note on the middle stamp. This error is found on one or two stamps in some sheets of 100 of the perf. 10 (Scottt #467) and perf. 11 printings (Scott #505). You can go through tens of thousands of these cheap stamps and not find one, but if you do, you will be well rewarded as the catalogue value for a used single is $600.

A good way to orient yourself to errors and other varieties is to join the Errors, Freaks & Oddities Collectors’ Club. Information is below, or on its website.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here, below.

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The EFOCC was founded in 1986 in recognition of the fact that collecting printing varieties had become its own specialty, not just adding odd stamps to a normal collection. The international membership is made up of collectors who seek EFOs to make their country album more interesting, and collectors who enjoy studying production methods and the philatelic material that results when it doesn’t work properly.

EFOCC has a 28-page full-color quarterly, The EFO Collector, with feature articles, new discoveries, member information, free member ads, club activities, and an EFO auction in each issue. The EFOC and the broad and deep website, www.efocc.org, are managed by club Vice President Cemil Betanov, from New Hyde Park, NY.

Membership is $20 a year in the U.S. An application form is on the Society website.

Mint U.S.: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (at a Reduced Rate)
By John M. Hotchner

My father, gone nearly 30 years, would be stunned if he knew how his “investment” turned out. He was among those stamp collectors who, coming out of World War II, surveyed the value of U.S. new issues of the 1920s and 1930s, and thought “Hmmm…Mint U.S. commemorative stamps are popular, and the retail value seems to go up. So, I’ll buy a couple of sheets of every new issue, and when little Johnny gets to be college age, there is a little nest egg.”

[Above, Howard Hotchner in 1943, when he was working for the Voice of America (Office of War Information). And, yes, with part of his collection.]

He was assiduous in making sure every new issue was represented in his mint sheet files, and many regular issues, Air Mails, and other stamps too. Fortunately, he was wise in that he bought only what he could afford, and what he could afford to lose; because when it came time to sell in the early 1960s, the market for sheets of U.S. commemoratives had tanked.

There were many reasons; not least among them the fact that the Post Office Department anticipated the new demand, and began to issue two to four times the number of stamps for each issue as compared to the pre-1940s issues. They also ratcheted up the number of issues per year to previously undreamed of totals. And in the 1950s, the basic First Class rate began to creep up.

So, when all the little Johnnies and Janies got to college age in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands who had the same idea went to the well to collect on their investments, and found that there was far more supply than demand. If they could get 75% of face for routine stamps and full face for plate blocks, they were doing very well. Crank in the reduced purchasing power of the dollar, thanks to inflation, and even the realizations received were not nearly high enough to cover the initial outlay.

As the number of collectors has dropped, and the First Class postage rate has increased, the value of quantities of U.S. post-WWII mint stamps has continued to fall. Who wants to buy 3¢ commemoratives when it takes 18 of them (plus 1¢) to pay the current First Class rate?

And yet, habits are hard to break. Having begun to buy sheets, my father couldn’t bring himself to stop. Even when he knew that his expectations for the earlier purchases had not panned out, he kept right on buying; almost to the day he went into a nursing home with Parkinson’s Disease and a broken hip.

It isn’t uniformly true that all modern era U.S. stamps have only scrap value. Some limited printings that have topical value — such as Space-related, some sports heroes, the first stamps of a continuing series (such as Black Heritage) — still bring a modest premium. Also, some booklet panes, line pairs, plate number coils, and souvenir sheets. But for the vast majority of post WWII stamps, people selling them in quantity are now able to realize a mere 50-60% of face. And even some booth-holders at stamp shows who used to offer sheets of stamps to collectors for face value, are now forced to undercut their prior pricing in order to remain competitive.

Now, don’t expect this dynamic to hold for single stamps being sold to collectors. Dealers who retail modern- era U.S. singles have to do more than buy and sell in large quantities. Even if they buy cheap, they have to break up sheets, put single stamps in glassines or make up year sets, advertise by individual Scott numbers, provide storage space for what is pending sale, and haul their wares to wherever they retail; or pay commissions if they are selling online using established websites. It all takes an investment of time and space, in addition to the investment of money. So you will pay more than face for single stamps to complete your album pages.

And the beauty of the stamps, and the joy of completing pages makes the modest outlay worthwhile. But realists know that you will not be able to sell these stamps for what you paid for them.

The holder of quantities of U.S. mint, often in my experience survivors of the original purchaser, rarely have a clue that what they have is not so much windfall as white elephant. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to explain to the new owners the facts of philatelic life; that they have only a few alternatives:

1. Use most of what they have as postage for the relatively few letters and packages that they send.
2. Share the stamps with family members to do the same.
3. Take up stamp collecting themselves.
4. Sell to a dealer at the prevailing (reduced) rate, or to friends and neighbors at 25% off.
5. Donate them to a 501c3 charitable organization for the tax benefit.
6. Or if you can find one, donate to a school or youth stamp club.

The saving grace for some is that they are not desperate for the money; and they understand that their collector enjoyed his or her collecting activities, and even reveled in the acquisition of new issues and understanding the story behind each new stamp; even if their dreams of profits could not be realized. My father was in this class. He was a passionate collector who often got out a magnifying glass to study the design of each new stamp. While I think he would be surprised by how low the market has gone, I doubt he would be losing any sleep over it!

The Hardest Part of Collecting is Beginning, Part 4: Finding U.S. Stamps in the Catalogue
By John M. Hotchner

In the last three editions, this column looked at what it takes to get started as a stamp collector, choosing what to collect, and how to get stamps for your collection, and how a Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue can help you identify your stamps and build your collection. This may also help if you don’t have a catalog, and are simply trying to find the correct box in a stamp album where your stamp should be placed.

Let’s start by picking nine U.S. stamps that we need to find among the nearly 5,500 U.S. issues shown in the Catalogue. We’ll stick to stamps issued after 1890, as they are the stamps most likely to find their way to a beginner. Looking at these stamps, sometimes with a magnifier, will give us clues to help us find them in the catalogue or album.

The 23¢ purple stamp showing Mary Cassatt has a couple of helpful attributes in addition to Cassatt herself. It is an airy design with lots of white background, identifies the country of issue as “USA” and it has a value of 23¢.

But the subject may be all we need, as the catalogue has a “Subject Index of Regular, Commemorative & Air Post Issues”. (It also lists U.S. Semi-Postals, but does not include them in the title.) There we find that stamps featuring Mary Cassatt are numbered 1322, 2181, 3236o, and 3804-3807. It is a simple matter to check each of those numbers until we find our stamp. In doing that we will also find that Mary Cassatt was an artist, and the stamps mostly picture her iconic paintings. But Scott number 2181, issued in 1988 as part of the Great Americans series is a match for our stamp.

If we did not have the subject index, the design itself would be a great pointer. American stamps into the mid-20th Century tended to have little white space, single color designs, and a lot of fancy elements that filled the design space. A good example is the 5¢ George Washington stamp. It says across the top “U.S. Postage,” has laurel leaves around the portrait of Washington, spells out the word “Cents,” and has ribbons under the portrait. This level of complexity marks this stamp as being from the first part of the 20th Century. Not only were the designs “heavy,” but they were repetitive. Almost every U.S. stamp issued into the 1920s pictured Washington, Ben Franklin, or a portrait from a very limited cast of characters emphasizing presidents, major political figures or military heroes. Another feature to notice between the 23¢ Cassatt and the 5¢ Washington is the method of showing the country name: “U.S.” or “USA” replaced the spelled-out version or “U.S. Postage” on most stamps starting in the mid-’60s. So, the heavy design and the “U.S. Postage” again mark the 5¢ stamp as something from early in the 20th Century. Here the Index is not a lot of help as there are dozens of stamps picturing or honoring George Washington. Leafing through the catalogue for the early part of the century will quickly identify the set of 1918-1922 Washington-Franklin stamps as being where the 5¢ Washington comes from. The problem is that there are no fewer than 14 different versions of this 5¢ design — sheet stamps, coils, different perforations, different watermarks, different papers. (And the 5¢ is easy compared to the 1¢, 2¢, and 3¢ stamps of the Washington-Franklin series!)

How to tell which one you have? This is where you will have to learn to use some of the implements that are essential to the collecting of U.S. stamps: a perforation gauge, watermark detector, a magnifier. But once you learn to use them, you are no longer a beginner! The easiest way to master these implements is to learn from another collector. I’ve touted elsewhere in this series the value of joining a stamp club. Nowhere is that more useful than when it comes to learning the basics of collecting.

But you can start on your own by reading the introductory material in the catalogue, and reading the instructions that come with your philatelic instruments. In the next column, I will provide some guidance on where these implements are available, and some hints on how to narrow down the complicated Washington-Franklins and other such issues where there are multiple listings for stamps of the same basic design.

Let’s summarize, and provide a few more general guidelines to help you find your stamps in the catalogue:

(a) The vast majority of U.S. stamps up until the mid-1950s are single color stamps. There are plenty of single-color stamps after that, but as time went on improved printing technology allowed a greater and greater percentage of U.S. issuances to be produced as multi-color stamps.

(b) Classically designed stamps give way to more colorful, airy designs that some would call poster art starting in the late 1950s.

(c) Use a magnifier to look for dates in the design of stamps, as many of them commemorate an event or note the year of issue in the design. Since 1995, the U.S. Postal Service has actually added the year of issue in the mar- gin at the bottom of almost all designs.

(d) While we continue to see founding fathers and government officials on small mail-use definitive stamps today, the range of people and other content is considerably broadened starting with the Liberty issue of the mid-1950s. Christmas stamps begin in 1962. U.S. flag stamps on small definitives begin in 1963. And methods of transportation are included starting in 1981,

(e) Modern stamps, starting in the early 1970s, much more often than not abbreviate “United States” to “U.S.” or “USA” instead of writing them out, or using “U.S. Postage.”

(f) Often the first place to look for your stamp is in the Stamp Subject Index in the Scott Catalogue. If there are many numbers listed for a given subject, check the numbers to see if you can find a match. If there are many numbers listed for a given design, you may need to use stamp collector implements to determine which stamp you have.

(g) Because they are used more often than odd values, remember that U.S. stamps issued for First Class postage predominate, and that almost all commemoratives are issued at the First Class rate. Keep in mind that U.S. rates from 1890 on were in the following progression: 2¢, 3¢ (WWI rate), 2¢ (1919), 3¢ (1932), 4¢ (1958), 5¢ (1963), 6¢ (1968), 8¢ (1971), 10¢ (1974), 13¢ (1975), 15¢ (1978), 18¢ (1981), 20¢ (1981), 22¢ (1985), 25¢ (1988), 29¢ (1991), 32¢ (1995), 33¢ (1999), 34¢ (2001), 37¢ (2002), 39¢ (2006), 41¢ (2007), 42¢ (2008), 44¢ (2009), 45¢ (2012), 46¢ (2013), 49¢ 2014), 47¢ (2016), back to 49¢ (2017), 50¢ (2018), and now 55¢ (2019). And of course there are Forever stamps that began in 2007, and continue today.

So, if you have a stamp with one of these denominations, and the design and design elements described above comport with the complexity-to-simplicity time line, then the era of that First Class rate may be the first place to look.

If you are stumped after trying these guidelines, try to find a collector with more experience who can help you; most readily at a local stamp club, or at a nearby bourse or stamp show where there are collectors and dealers. [You can also ask in The Virtual Stamp Club‘s Facebook group.]

Now, let’s apply the guidelines to more stamps. The 2¢ purple commemorative has the dates 1492-1892 at top, and is a heavy design. “United States of America” is spelled out, and the scene description “Landing of Columbus” is noted in the Index. That is more than enough to find that this is an 1893 stamp, with Scott No. 231.

The multi-color 5¢ “poster art” stamp labeled “Magna Carta, 1215” is a commemorative, so will most likely be found in the 5¢ rate era. “United States Postage” is spelled out. The label is also listed in the Index, where we learn it is Scott No. 1265.

The 2¢ red stamp with the light bulb [below] has a dense design with lots of repetitive design elements. It is a commemorative (for “Edison’s First Lamp,” so the face value likely equates to the First Class rate. Edison is listed in the Index, so that narrows down the choices to Scott Numbers 654, 655 and 656. This is not a coil, with two matching straight edge sides (as defined in the Catalogue’s Introduction), so you will need a perforation gauge to determine whether this is flat plate-printed, perf 11×11, #654, or rotary press-printed, perf 11×10-1/2, #655. (It is the former.)

The multicolor “Christmas” issue [above] with a “13¢” face value, has to be post-1962, and likely in the 13¢ First Class rate era. “Mail Box” is not in the Index, but there is enough information to find this stamp as part of the Christmas issues released in 1977, Scott #1730.

Even though it is a single-color stamp, the “23usa” “Lunch Wagon” stamp [above] is a simple design with lots of white space, and is a coil, so it will probably be found among the Transportation coil series, which began in 1981. It is in the Index, as Scott #2464.

The 32¢ multicolor Georgia O’Keeffe stamp featuring her painting of a Red Poppy has the year of issue “1996” in the lower left corner just below the design. Between that and the fact that O’Keefe is listed in the Index, there is no problem determining that this is Scott #3069.

Finally, the 10¢ Red Pears is a design with lots of white space. The Index does not list Red Pears, but does list several stamps under “Pears”. Looking at the candidates we see that the design was first used for a coil in 2016, but our stamp is not a coil, and it has the date “2017” in the lower left corner. So it is the sheet issue (with perforations around all four sides) identified as Scott #5178.

There will still be some challenges among the stamps you have to find, but the great majority of U.S. stamps can be identified using these guidelines.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

The Hardest Part of Collecting is Beginning, Part 3 — Catalogues
By John M. Hotchner

An essential tool as you add to your collection is a stamp catalog. In the United States, that means having, or having access to the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogues.

Scott covers the world in what used to be six ungainly volumes that took up 14+ inches of shelf space. Effective with the 2018 Catalogues, each was divided into two thinner (about one inch) volumes as follows:

• Vol. 1A: United States and A countries through Australia./ Vol. 1B: Austria through B countries
• Vol. 2A: C through Cur countries
• Vol. 2B: Cyp through F countries
• Vol. 3A: G countries
• Vol. 3B: H through I countries
• Vol. 4A: J through L countries
• Vol. 4B: M countries
• Vol. 5A: N through Phil countries
• Vol. 5B: Pit through Sam countries
• Vol. 6A: San through Tete countries
• Vol. 6B: Thai through Z countries

Where to get Scott Catalogues? They are published by Amos Press, and available on the Amos Advantage website. They are sold as complete volumes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) for about $105 each. While this is a steep investment in your collection — especially for someone getting started — catalogues are a gold-mine of information and an essential reference for every collector.

Why? First, they tell you what stamps each country has issued since they began issuing stamps, and a vast number of them are pictured to facilitate your finding the ones you have in your collection. Each stamp listed is valued in both Mint and Used condition. And each stamp is assigned a number that becomes its universally understood reference point for all collectors and dealers. The latter is important when you look at printed price lists, offerings on Internet sites, or in auction catalogues.

As a beginner, you may want the current year’s catalogue(s) that include the countries you collect; and that may be important if you are going to buy high-priced stamps. Each year the values shown for each stamp are reviewed in light of actual prices being paid and adjusted up or down.

But for most of us, steeply discounted older catalogues from one or two years earlier are adequate as references. You may even be able to find Scott Catalogues in the reference section of your local library. But that means you can’t check them out of the library. If you want one that you can use at home, stamp clubs often have a set of current or at least recent catalogues that members can borrow.

If you want one or more volumes of your own, you can often find prior years’ volumes available on Internet sales sites, in club auctions, advertised by dealers, or available on their tables at stamp shows. You can also get together with another collector to buy catalogues that you can share.

How to use the catalogue? Each of the 12 catalogues has a section at the front that tells you how to use the catalogue: how to understand the listings, definitions for the terms used, how the values shown are arrived at, and much more. I won’t repeat all of that here. But what is most important for the stamp buyer is to understand how the values shown in the catalogue translate to selling prices that you are asked to pay when you buy.

As noted earlier the Scott editors arrive at prices based on actual prices being paid in the marketplace for stamps in the grade of Very Fine. On the low end, Scott prices every used stamp at a minimum of 25¢ and every mint stamp at a minimum of approximately twice face value. This recognizes that the cost of any given stamp has to include a dealer’s overhead (equipment, space, staff, and time) needed to set up as a dealer. It does not mean you have to pay that price.

In fact, dealers (and collectors who sell their duplicates) often discount from the Scott prices based on the desirability of the stamp. That is defined as a combination of the popularity of the collecting area, the level of rarity of the stamp, its condition, and if used, the intensity of a cancellation. It is unusual that actual price will equal or exceed the Scott Catalogue value. Usually that happens when dealing with a popular collecting area and the condition of a scarce stamp is at the high end of the condition continuum.

The catalogue number identification of a stamp being offered cannot always be taken as gospel; especially when the stamp being offered is an older, expensive one. The catalogue is accurate, but the identification of the stamp may not be. Such complicating factors as watermarks, perforation sizes, paper types, design types, precise color identification, and, on modern stamps, the presence and type of tagging can affect proper identification. It is also possible to “make” a more valuable stamp from a less valuable one; say a coil pair from an imperf pair. One version of a given stamp may be 25¢, while another stamp that on first glance looks just like it, may have a catalogue value of tens of thousands of dollars.

Take a look at the picture on the right, in which are copies of Scott #610 and #613. The former, a perf 11×11, flat plate-printed black stamp, is catalogued 25¢ used. The latter, a perf 11×11 rotary press printing in black, catalogues $37,500. The difference is a quarter millimeter in the height of the stamp design!

For this reason, and because the art and science of repairing damaged stamps has reached a high level in the modern era, a certificate of authenticity is well advised before committing to buy a valuable stamp.

In another column, we will continue this series for the beginner with hints on how to find the stamp you hold in your hand among the catalogue listings.

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Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.