SECOND-HAND STAMPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 132, 5 June 1923, Page 5

SECOND-HAND STAMPS.

A RISKY TRADE. "Do you see anything wrong with that stamp? " was asked a "Star"' re-

porter this morning, and the answer was in the negative. To all appearance the stamp was a perfectly good one, but on looking at the back it could be seen that the gum was missing. The face of j the stamp, however, was apparently just as it had left the printing plate, and it was rather a surprise to be told that it had been through the post, and if it had not fallen into the hands it had, it would most likely have gone through the post again. It" seems that there is some sort of a demand for "second-hand" stamps that do not show much signs of being second hand. In the case of letters the stamping is done by machinery, and as all stamps have to ue placed in a certain position on the envelope the chances of any escaping cancellation arc about one in a million. With parcels, however, it is different. Stamps are put in all sorts of places, and as parcels sometimes present most uneven surfaces, the cancelling stamp does not come down with the same effect as it would on a flat surface. And moreover, the cancelling has to be done by hand. It seems that stamps on parcels are sometimes missed and some lads have hit on the idea of carefully j taking them off and selling them. There ! is also stated to be a demand for stamps that have been very lightly cancelled, the inference being that the "cancellation marks can be removed by some means and the stamps used again. One lad said he got as much as 4/ worth of these uncancclled or semi-cancelled stamps off parcels in a day and disposed of the lot—innocently in his case, as he was told they were wanted for purposes oj a collection. This dealing with stamps that have been through the post is. of course, quite illegal, and persons found trafficking in this way are linWe to a heavy penalty.