The engraving on 19th century pictorials like the Columbian series are absolutely works of art.
And these works of art are available as souvenir sheets (1992) for slightly above face value (around $16). Quite a few 19th century issues have been reproduced by the USPS, and these reproductions make for a nice looking set of classic stamp designs for not much money.
The reproductions are not produced identically, however I care little which version you buy. I don't even care if you just buy Looney Tunes stamps. The point was that stamps are works of art.
As for 19th century and early 20th century pictorials, you rarely see any such intricate engraving anymore. The fine line work is simply amazing.
The Virgil Brand Cover did not contain the other items pictured. I acquired each item independently from various sources and at various times. It would be fascinating to know what was sent in that Virgil Brand envelope, but I do not know.
A trend that I have seen in stamp collecting is a move away from mounting stamps in albums. It used to be that most stamp collectors would do that. But by soaking stamps off the letters and documents that they were on, much of the historical context was lost. An envelope with stamps on it also has addresses on it (who sent it, who received it) postmarks indicating places and dates, and sometimes commercial advertising. Over the years, the values for interesting covers and full documents seems to have held up better than individual stamps.
Here is a rare document with some high-denomination Silver Tax stamps on it. I think it is a lot more interesting as a complete document than it would be as individual stamps.
Note that when Roosevelt confiscated gold in 1933, there was also a confiscation of silver bullion from 1933-1938. That confiscation did not affect any coins. But owners of bullion silver bars were supposed to turn them in. Also, from 1933-1961 there was a silver tax. Any profits from a transaction in silver bullion were taxed at a very high 50% rate. Payment of the tax was made by purchasing Silver Tax stamps and then cancelling them on the reporting document. At first it might appear that the silver bullion confiscation and the Silver Tax Act would be contradictory. How could you have a profit in a silver bullion transaction at a time when silver bullion was supposedly confiscated (1933-1938) ? The answer is that all such Silver Tax documents during this time (that I have seen) involve one party in the transaction that was outside the United States (typically Canada).
I have been a stamp collector for many years. I collect Great Britian and US. I have a few slabbed stamps and here's a picture of one, It is slabbed by PSE (Professional Stamp Experts) has the Scott Number, the grade 98 (out of 100) and notes Mint OGnh (Original Gum Never Hinged). 1943 5 cent. It's not worth much but I like it and it seems to be well protected.
@dcarr said:
A trend that I have seen in stamp collecting is a move away from mounting stamps in albums. It used to be that most stamp collectors would do that. But by soaking stamps off the letters and documents that they were on, much of the historical context was lost. An envelope with stamps on it also has addresses on it (who sent it, who received it) postmarks indicating places and dates, and sometimes commercial advertising. Over the years, the values for interesting covers and full documents seems to have held up better than individual stamps.
Here is a rare document with some high-denomination Silver Tax stamps on it. I think it is a lot more interesting as a complete document than it would be as individual stamps.
Note that when Roosevelt confiscated gold in 1933, there was also a confiscation of silver bullion from 1933-1938. That confiscation did not affect any coins. But owners of bullion silver bars were supposed to turn them in. Also, from 1933-1961 there was a silver tax. Any profits from a transaction in silver bullion were taxed at a very high 50% rate. Payment of the tax was made by purchasing Silver Tax stamps and then cancelling them on the reporting document. At first it might appear that the silver bullion confiscation and the Silver Tax Act would be contradictory. How could you have a profit in a silver bullion transaction at a time when silver bullion was supposedly confiscated (1933-1938) ? The answer is that all such Silver Tax documents during this time (that I have seen) involve one party in the transaction that was outside the United States (typically Canada).
Wow did not know
1) there was a silver tax
2) silver confiscation
3) repeal of silver confiscation in 1938?
@cladking said:
I'm pretty good at prediction but never would have thought stamps would tank so badly. I never imagined so many people had set aside so many first class stamps over the years in pristine condition.
I believe some day stamps will come roaring back. I doubt sheets of stamps from after the '40's will but there are so many really neat stamps that can be had for a song because there are no buyers. It's a great time to be a stamp collector if you don't extend yourself too much.
And you have heirs who will appreciate them and continue the collection.
I was ahead of the curve buying only never hinged stamps and stamp auctions presented opportunities to buy well. I built some really nice collections over the years. I did have a limited budget; but I was just delighted to buy one of the nicest $1 Western Cattle in the Storm from the 1898 Trans-Mississippi set, Scott #292. It was superbly centered, defect free except for the fact it had no gum.
When PSE put together their registry sets, no gum (NG) stamps were not eligible for inclusion in Trans-Mississippi sets. Realizing that too much of the financial value of stamps was being placed on "hinging" and that many stamps had been damaged in efforts to mount them in albums, I decided it was time to sell them all. That was 20 years ago, I didn't lose money, and I started collecting coins instead. The nice thing was that nice stamps didn't cost anything near what nice coins cost.
The "never hinged" craze apparently got started in the 1950s when stamp dealers started noticing a decline in the number of new collectors entering the field. For the first half of the twentieth century stamp collecting had been a very popular hobby. In the US, Franklin D. Roosevelt's interest in stamp collecting was well known and that sparked a lot of interest among the general public.
The number of stamp collections mounted in albums was huge and they were starting to come back to the dealers who had sold them in considerable quantities. What to do about this oversupply? The answer was to start promoting "never hinged" as the only way to go. Now when a collector or his heirs walked into the stamp store to sell a hinged collection they could be told that market demand had changed and the hinged stamps were not worth as much as hoped.
The decline of stamp collecting has been underway, very slowly, for a very long time. There are still many dedicated collectors out there including those that compete in APS exhibits. (They hate slabbed stamps.) "Investors" seem to like the slabbed stamps but stamps as an "investment" strikes me as being a very risky venture.
The trend toward collecting complete covers rather than single stamps has been underway for many decades. Covers with unusual, non-philatelic, use are the most desired.
I still have a small stamp collection, mostly covers and items of personal interest I created over the past 60 years. Not much value but still interesting.
I had been collecting stamps in the early 80’s. One day I was examining my $5 Hamilton with original gum. Using tongs I looked at it with my glass of water nearby. Somehow I managed to get a tiny but of water on it which disturbed the gum. It lost over 50% of its value. I concluded that stamps were too fragile and decided to focus on coins instead.
Comments
The reproductions are not produced identically, however I care little which version you buy. I don't even care if you just buy Looney Tunes stamps. The point was that stamps are works of art.
As for 19th century and early 20th century pictorials, you rarely see any such intricate engraving anymore. The fine line work is simply amazing.
My favorite stamp as a kid.
Yes! Just look at that engraving!
Here are a couple circa 18> @oreville said:
The Virgil Brand Cover did not contain the other items pictured. I acquired each item independently from various sources and at various times. It would be fascinating to know what was sent in that Virgil Brand envelope, but I do not know.
A trend that I have seen in stamp collecting is a move away from mounting stamps in albums. It used to be that most stamp collectors would do that. But by soaking stamps off the letters and documents that they were on, much of the historical context was lost. An envelope with stamps on it also has addresses on it (who sent it, who received it) postmarks indicating places and dates, and sometimes commercial advertising. Over the years, the values for interesting covers and full documents seems to have held up better than individual stamps.
Here is a rare document with some high-denomination Silver Tax stamps on it. I think it is a lot more interesting as a complete document than it would be as individual stamps.
Note that when Roosevelt confiscated gold in 1933, there was also a confiscation of silver bullion from 1933-1938. That confiscation did not affect any coins. But owners of bullion silver bars were supposed to turn them in. Also, from 1933-1961 there was a silver tax. Any profits from a transaction in silver bullion were taxed at a very high 50% rate. Payment of the tax was made by purchasing Silver Tax stamps and then cancelling them on the reporting document. At first it might appear that the silver bullion confiscation and the Silver Tax Act would be contradictory. How could you have a profit in a silver bullion transaction at a time when silver bullion was supposedly confiscated (1933-1938) ? The answer is that all such Silver Tax documents during this time (that I have seen) involve one party in the transaction that was outside the United States (typically Canada).
I have been a stamp collector for many years. I collect Great Britian and US. I have a few slabbed stamps and here's a picture of one, It is slabbed by PSE (Professional Stamp Experts) has the Scott Number, the grade 98 (out of 100) and notes Mint OGnh (Original Gum Never Hinged). 1943 5 cent. It's not worth much but I like it and it seems to be well protected.
Wow did not know
1) there was a silver tax
2) silver confiscation
3) repeal of silver confiscation in 1938?
And you have heirs who will appreciate them and continue the collection.
I was ahead of the curve buying only never hinged stamps and stamp auctions presented opportunities to buy well. I built some really nice collections over the years. I did have a limited budget; but I was just delighted to buy one of the nicest $1 Western Cattle in the Storm from the 1898 Trans-Mississippi set, Scott #292. It was superbly centered, defect free except for the fact it had no gum.
When PSE put together their registry sets, no gum (NG) stamps were not eligible for inclusion in Trans-Mississippi sets. Realizing that too much of the financial value of stamps was being placed on "hinging" and that many stamps had been damaged in efforts to mount them in albums, I decided it was time to sell them all. That was 20 years ago, I didn't lose money, and I started collecting coins instead. The nice thing was that nice stamps didn't cost anything near what nice coins cost.
The "never hinged" craze apparently got started in the 1950s when stamp dealers started noticing a decline in the number of new collectors entering the field. For the first half of the twentieth century stamp collecting had been a very popular hobby. In the US, Franklin D. Roosevelt's interest in stamp collecting was well known and that sparked a lot of interest among the general public.
The number of stamp collections mounted in albums was huge and they were starting to come back to the dealers who had sold them in considerable quantities. What to do about this oversupply? The answer was to start promoting "never hinged" as the only way to go. Now when a collector or his heirs walked into the stamp store to sell a hinged collection they could be told that market demand had changed and the hinged stamps were not worth as much as hoped.
The decline of stamp collecting has been underway, very slowly, for a very long time. There are still many dedicated collectors out there including those that compete in APS exhibits. (They hate slabbed stamps.) "Investors" seem to like the slabbed stamps but stamps as an "investment" strikes me as being a very risky venture.
The trend toward collecting complete covers rather than single stamps has been underway for many decades. Covers with unusual, non-philatelic, use are the most desired.
I still have a small stamp collection, mostly covers and items of personal interest I created over the past 60 years. Not much value but still interesting.
I had been collecting stamps in the early 80’s. One day I was examining my $5 Hamilton with original gum. Using tongs I looked at it with my glass of water nearby. Somehow I managed to get a tiny but of water on it which disturbed the gum. It lost over 50% of its value. I concluded that stamps were too fragile and decided to focus on coins instead.