Stamp Collecting.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 19, 6 May 1908, Page 4

Stamp Collecting.

An instance df how a stamp appreciates in value is the scarce 2 cent stamp of British Guinea. A pair of these stamps realised the high figure of £lOOO. The story is an interesting one. A lady in Georgetown discovered a pair of these stamps among some old papers, and she, thinking them to be of some little value, placed them in the offertory at Christ Church. Canon Josa, the incumbent, sold them for £205. That was in 1896, and the price has risen enormously since then. In 1807 another pair changed hands for £650. • • • Sometimes people have a good thing in hand, and do not realise the fact. For intance, the knowledge of the existence of diamonds in South Africa was first obtained by the fact that some children were seen playing with “a piece of glass,” which turned out to be a precious stone, and as a result the diamond industry was developed in South Africa. Just the same people occasionally have valuable stamps without being aware of the fact. For instance, some years ago in lamdon a man took eight unused 5/ English stamps to a post office and tried to sell them, but was told he mu,st take them to Somerset House to get them exchanged for current issue. He, how ever, sold them to a stamp dealer for face value, and was glad to get it. The dealer was equally glad to get the stamps, which he sold for £7O. This is only another instance of the truth of the old copy book headline, “Knowledge is valuable.” • • • The 2/6 stamp of Tonga has appeared in dark lilac. • • • A 10 dollar green and black stamp has been added to the issue of Straits Settlement.

The year 1900 was a very busy one in the surcharging department of Salvador. The remainders of the 1 centavo of 1808 were overprinted “1900,” and then all the remainders of various values of both the 1898 and 1899 i ssucs were surcharged "1900” and a new value. Whenever there were small blocks or single specimens they were pasted together, with strips of paper so as to reconstruct a sheet, and these reconstructed sheets were run through the press with the complete sheets. This is economy with a vengeance. , « • • “The Right Rev. I. O. Stringer, the Bishop of Selkirk, has charge of a diocese comprising 209,000 square miles—a vast tract of land usually known as the Yukon Territory of North-west America. Mrs. Stringer, who is a true helpmeet to her husband, finds the postal arrangements of Yukon somewhat trying at times. Letters do not reach her remote dwelling more often than twice a year.;! and if, after waiting patiently six months, the mails fail to arrive, the disappointment is keen indeed. One occasion when this calamity took place is still fresh in Mrs. Stringer's memory. The mails are conveyed on sleighs byj Esquimaux dogs, accompanied by two natives; but over the very rough ground, where it is impossible to make progress with the sleighs, the bags have to be carried by the men. In this particular instance the Esquimaux to whom the duty fell found the bags so heavy that he hung the lightest of them in a tree, intending to fetch it when he passed that way again—in six months’ time. When the post was delivered at Mrs. Stringer’s house, it was found to consist of newspapers and -advertisements, and the much-longed for letters from friends at home were still hanging in the branches of the tree, many miles distant. After some delay, they were recovered and forwarded, but their failure to turn up at the proper time was a- c,r eat disappointment.”—'“Collectors’ Journal.”