This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor Stamp Department.
The readers of the Round Table Stamp Column who intend going to Europe next summer will find the London Philatelic Exhibition very interesting. The exhibition opens July 22, and closes August 5. The stamps will be exhibited in classes: 1. Stamps of Great Britain; 2. Of British colonies; 3. Of Europe; 4. Of Asia and Africa; 5. Of America, etc. Each of these classes will be subdivided, and twelve gold, forty-three silver, and forty-eight bronze medals will be awarded to the best collections. In addition as special prizes, nine gold, nineteen silver, and ten bronze medals; besides a large number of additional medals and other prizes are offered by individual members for special exhibits. A few of the leading collectors in America intend competing for some of the prizes. It is estimated that stamps to the value of $2,000,000 will be on exhibition.
F. Lowe.—I congratulate you on the possession of the Tobago one shilling, in color of the sixpence. I referred to this stamp in the Round Table for November 10, and erroneously stated that the stamp was the first of a new issue. It turns out to be an error of the first water. It is quoted at all kinds of prices, from $5 upward. The chances are that a large block of them is in the hands of insiders. If so, $5 is a fair price.
W. W. Stockton.—The word Cave on your Ceylon stamp is a portion of the name of a firm. It is frequently found on stamps of the Straits Settlements.
E. LeRoy Pond, Terryville, Conn., wants to exchange U. S. stamps for those of Siam, Salvador, China, etc.
A. H. Green.—The English shilling is worth face only. I hope you will enjoy the next 892 numbers of the Round Table as much as you have the 892 numbers already published.
F. Mikelsky.—Apply to any dealer for onion-skin hinges. They cost 15c. per 1000.
J. A. Hall.—The U. S. charge 8c. for registering a letter, and if such letter is lost while in the hands of the post-office officials the U. S. will not recoup the loss. In Europe the various governments make allowance on letters lost by them. For instance, in England, by paying 4c. in addition to the ordinary postage, the sender of a letter lost in transmission can collect from the government $25. By paying 6c. in addition to the postage, an allowance of $50 is made if the letter is lost. Each 2c. in addition increases the amount $25.
J. H. Otrieh.—Russian locals are collected by a very few persons in this country. One of these collectors tells me that some of the rare Russian locals command as much as $100 and more. The common varieties, however, have very little value.
F. M.—I cannot give addresses in this column. Write to any of the dealers who advertise in the Round Table.
S. Heller.—You can buy 1000 different stamps in a packet for $10, or 1500 for $25. I do not know of any larger packets, but think one with 2000 stamps would cost at least $50 or $60.
B. Stow.—The Mr. Frederick Hill who has jast died at the age of ninety-four was a brother of Rowland Hill. He was connected with the London post-office for many years, and was pensioned in the year 1876.
A. W. Spencer.—The Alsace-Lorraine stamps were used by the German post-offices in France during the war of 1870. The earliest dated stamp known is September 6, 1870.
E. F. Herre.—The only rare small cent is the 1856 flying eagle. All the others are very common. The 1817 penny is worth 20c.
E. M. Gearhart.—The Olympian stamps can be bought of any dealer at double face value, unused, and at 1c to 25c. each, according to denomination if used. There are so many varieties of the Confederate stamps that I cannot give any more definite answer, until after examination. As millions of complete sheets were in the Southern post-offices at the time the civil war ended, they are very common with the exception of a few varieties. Neither the watermarked or the unwatermarked U. S. stamps of the present issue will ever be rare or even scarce, with the possible exception of the dollar stamps. The late issues of the U. S. envelopes are distinguished by the water-mark and the shape.
Philatus.
