STAMPS

Southland Times, Issue 21897, 24 December 1932, Page 16

STAMPS

THE COLLECTOR’S COLUMN.

(By

“Star N.Z.”)

A special Christmas air mail will arrive in Invercargill to-day from Palmerston North. It is expected that quite a number of “covers” will be carried. Some collectors are very keen on “air mail covers” and stamps and there is no doubt that philately has been of considerable assistance in helping to put air mail services throughout the world on a commercial basis.

With reference to the proposed flight by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith from Australia to New Zealand which is to take place early in the New Year, I saw it advertised somewhere, (just where it was, I am not sure) that covers autographed by “Smithy” would be available at a small charge. These should, be very interesting souvenirs of the great Australian aviator s second flight from the Island Continent to Maoriland. One of the most interesting things I have seen of late is a pair of imperforate current N.Z. Id stamps (King George in Admiral’s uniform). They were priced at 25/- per pair. The extraordinary thing seems to be that none of these rare things appear ever to be issued for sale at the Invercargill Post Office counter. It is well-known that all Postal officials are debarred from being stamp collectors, but evidently some of them (I do not refer to those in Invercargill, but to officials nearer the seat of Government) have good friends whose philatelic collections they are anxious to enrich. Impartiality is one of the essential requisites of a good civil servant and I trust that this broad hint may lead to a widening of the circle of those sharing the “good things.” The new “Health” stamps have been enjoying a very good sale. I have received quite a number of covers containing Christmas greetings stamped with these very attractive stamps. The stamps of the United States of America form a very interesting study indeed. In them is written much of the political, industrial and social history of the world’s greatest Republic. They have the finest series of commorative stamps of any country. Quite a number of the makers of history who occupied “White House” appear on one or other of the ordinary issues, the favourites being Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, Grant, Jefferson, Jackson, Roosevelt and McKinlay. Commemoratives have been issued also, giving the history in miniature of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers from England, the founding of the New Netherlands, the battles of the War of Independence, the colonization of the West, and the purchase of Louisiana from the French.

The development of transport, the generation and growing use of electricity, the evolution of the postal services, especially of the parcel post and special delivery departments, the growth of aeronautics and of air mails, the founding of the Red Cross organization are all “writ large’’ in the stamps of Yankeeland. From a philatelic point of view the stamps of U.S.A. require very close inspection if one is to succeed in making a thorough and correct classification of them. There are so many slight differences in the dies of various stamps, so many variations of watermark and particularly of perforation, so many shades of colour and (in the case of earlier issues) the presence or absence of the “grille” on the back of the stamps. There must be over 2500 stamps of the United States listed by Stanley Gibbons Ltd., including colonies such as Cuba and the Phillipine Islands. Some of the earlier stamps are exceedingly rare including the postmaster’s stamps of Alexandria (Virginia) and of Annapolis (Maryland). These stamps (all of 5 cent value) are catalogued at from £2OOO to £3OOO apiece, used. Just fancy an absolutely worthless scrap of paper acquiring such a tremendous value in a comparatively short period of 86 years. Opportunities, although much more keenly availed of to-day, probably still exist if we were only sufficiently discerning to see and recognize them. Even in the case of our own beloved New Zealand we have a stamp (6d Brown without watermark, perforated 13) catalogued at £2OO used and it was issued for the first time 60 years ago. Do not despise the common stamps because they are cheap and easily acquired. The common stamps of today become very often the rare stamps of to-morrow.

Now, whilst I hold no particular brief for the stamps of the United States, there is no doubt that they form a fine field for the collector to work on and, at a very moderate expense, one may acquire a collection which if well annotated will prove very interesting. One’s powers of observation will be considerably sharpened in the process of classifying the stamps, if no other benefit be gained.