Chats on Postage Stamps

by Frederick John Melville

Among the best dealers we find some of the most advanced students of philately, who when it comes to research have many a time risen above considerations of commerce. Some of the most valuable contributions to the literature of philately have come from their unaccustomed but painstaking pens, and most of the dealers of repute take a pleasure in assisting the student to unravel a problem. In whatever spirit we form our collections, and with no matter what object in view, it is but human to nourish the hope, even if some shrinking from the admission of pecuniary motives never permits us to express it, that the collection formed with loving care and a considerable expenditure of money shall not, if parted with, result in a loss, or if retained suffer a heavy depreciation. If we desire to interest others we must be prepared for the motif of the primary questions of the uninitiated, "What is it worth?" "What did you give for it?" though one can never hope to satisfy the ingenuous folk who ask the collector of many years' standing "How many stamps have you got?" and "I suppose they ought to be worth pots of money—how much do you think?"

There are several factors in the stamp trade which are worth noting, as they have contributed in no small measure to the prosperity of the business, and they must increase our confidence in the security of our collections as investments. A world-wide market is open to the vendor of rare stamps; it is convenient of access beyond all other markets for bric-à-brac, because the rarest stamp in the world may be safely transmitted anywhere, within an envelope, through the post. The adaptability of the postage-stamp to effective and convenient arrangement is not of more importance to the collector than the portability of his goods, rare or common, is to the dealer. It involves no more trouble to sell a rare stamp in Yokohama than it does over a counter in that thoroughfare of stamp-dealers, the Strand. Nor is there the risk of damage that would attend the transmission of a bulky article of vertu to a customer in a remote country.

It is this same portability which is constantly increasing the demand for good and rare stamps from collectors. For the majority, almost any form of collecting brings with it a serious problem of space, arrangement, and security. We may display our collection of old English porcelain about the house, and beautify our surroundings, but it is at the cost of no little risk from the philistine fingers of the abigail. We may bring together a great array of ornithological specimens, but the cabinet space taken up by a collection of but moderate proportions is out of all comparison to the compact album, which may contain a large and portable collection of stamps. I would not be understood to even cursorily enter upon comparisons of different hobbies, but it is useful to mention the comparative facility with which transactions in rare stamps can be negotiated to indicate the cumulative effect this convenience must have in the value of old stamps.

Another important factor is the comparative standardisation of stamp values. No person of average intelligence need ever be totally in the dark as to the approximate selling value of the majority of old postage-stamps, for in nearly every language, excepting some of the Oriental tongues, there are standard price-lists of the leading dealers which serve as guides to the majority of both buyers and sellers, for these works are accessible both to the dealer and the collector.

When we come to consider the supply of old postage-stamps, we cannot but recognise a further important factor in their security as an investment. The majority of the rare, medium and common postage-stamps have been issued with the Government imprimatur; re-issues and reprintings are known, but they are the exception. Generally speaking, a stamp is no sooner obsolete than it commences to soar in the stamp-dealers' price-lists. In the cases of stamps of the larger countries which have had a long period of currency the rise is slow, but the frequency of the occurrence of unusual circumstances which cut short the life of a stamp on the active postal list has introduced a sporting element into even the collecting of current stamps. But it is inevitable that, with the retirement of a postage-stamp from use, there must come sooner or later a stoppage in the supply at the normal rates prevailing during its period of currency. The older stamps, most of the early issues of all countries, have for fifty years past been gradually absorbed in the great collections, some of them extremely limited in their original use, now withdrawn from the market into the stable repositories of national museums, and the supply is the one serious difficulty with which the dealer has to contend. This difficulty has its value to the collector, for to replenish their stocks the dealers have to buy back from the collector, and they compete keenly for the acquisition of collections formed by private individuals, if they contain the right class of stamps. My endeavour in this chat will be to indicate the character of the stamps which have risen in the philatelic period 1862 to 1911, all of which may be classed as "Collector's Consols," but most of which are at this date and at present prices likely to yield an excellent return in the future.

To take our own country first, for here purchases would have been made at first-hand, that is, at the post-office, there are many stamps, some of comparatively low facial value, that would have formed most desirable investments if one had only been able to prophesy, and prophesy correctly.

The most notable examples amongst British stamps of rapid and great appreciation in value are the Twopence Halfpenny of 1875, with error of lettering, the Two Shillings, orange-brown, the Ten Shillings and One Pound of 1878-83, the Five Pounds—both telegraph and postage in the earliest shade—and certain "Officials": there are, of course, others which show an even greater appreciation on their original face-value, but the reason in that case is that small printings were made of certain stamps from a particular plate or on certain paper—"abnormals" to give them their usual name—and such stamps were not obtainable except by accident.

The Twopence Halfpenny error, though not known to the philatelic world until 1893, was present in every sheet printed from Plate 2 of that value, to the number of no less than 35,000, and yet, in mint unused condition, it is a very scarce stamp, probably worth £25. And yet none amongst the thousands who purchased and used one of these errors thought—even if he noticed the fact—that a mistake in one of the corner letters would some day cause a great rise in value.

Another well-known example is the Two Shillings, brown: issued originally in 1867, the first colour of that value was blue; but in 1880, to avoid confusion with other stamps, it was changed to orange-brown. It is said that only 1,000 sheets, or 240,000 stamps, were printed, a large number certainly, but comparatively small when it is remembered that of some stamps many millions were issued; small, too, when it is considered that the minimum charge on telegrams was a shilling, and foreign postal rates were high. An early price in dealers' catalogues was seven shillings and sixpence; now a fine unused copy realises more pounds than it formerly did shillings.

The desiderata of British stamps—ignoring the "abnormal" varieties of plate and paper—are the Ten Shillings and One Pound of 1878-83. Few among the great multitude of collectors purchased the two stamps, each on Cross paté paper and each on that watermarked with a Large Anchor, when current. But those few who did, and who kept them through the years when the rise in value was very slight, ultimately realised at the top of the market—say, £175 to £200—towards the end of the 'nineties. The £1 "Anchor" on bluish paper, which one could have bought in 1882 for twenty shillings, is now priced at £80, showing a profit which makes many a collector in these days sigh over lost opportunities.