+THE ART & BEAUTY OF STAMP COLLECTING +











































































































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Sound-On

Visit The World Without A Passport

A Delightful &
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Transporting Pastime

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Travel & Explore Our Lovely Planet Through Stamps
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A Hobby 4 All, From The Late Cardinal Spellman
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To The Children Below

<<< OPENING UP BEAUTIFUL NEW WORLDS >>>
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The rewards of stamp collecting blessed much of FDR’s
life. As a child, he looked to stamps for knowledge about
the world. As a polio-stricken adult, they offered solace.
Throughout his entire life, including his presidency, he
spent time each day with his collection. During the 1930s,
he and Postmaster General James A. Farley
enthusiastically brainstormed over stamp designs, colors,
and themes. Roosevelt actually sketched numerous ideas
for stamp designs.

The time each day spent with his stamps relaxed President
Roosevelt during those very tense times. He claimed, “I
owe my life to my hobbies – especially stamp collecting.

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John Apfelbaum on the Penny Black
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Before 1839, most postal services charged for mail delivery by calculating distance traveled and the number of paper sheets used, as envelopes did not exist. The recipient paid for the mail, a policy that did not always work out. With the advent of transportation by rail and steamship, corresponding over long distances became more feasible; and as more people became educated, they wrote more often. British educator and postal reformer Rowland Hill came up with a way to simplify the system: the Penny Black.
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The first official adhesive-backed postage stamp, the Penny Black came out in Great Britain in May 1840. Officially released on May 6 in London, it did not reach the outlying areas early on, but at least one town, Bath, began postmarking the stamp as early as May 1. Treasury officials held a competition for the design of the first stamp but rejected all the entries. Instead, they used an image of Queen Victoria that appeared on a previously issued medallion. The reigning monarch still appears somewhere on the design of every British stamp.
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The British government printed almost 69 million Penny Blacks, so many still exist, particularly because Hill also introduced envelopes during that period; individuals who saved letters also saved the envelopes and thus the stamps. Today, the Penny Black ranges in value from $20 to $3,000 or more. The stamp remained in circulation only a little more than a year, and here is why: The Treasury used red ink to cancel the black stamp, but the ink was hard to see and easy to remove for reuse. In 1941, authorities issued the Penny Red and switched to black ink.
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From one stamp, the Penny Black, came a revolutionary system of delivering mail that went on to alter commerce and the world. The mass communication it spawned also brought people closer together.
 
Please see this stamp below.

Please give picture of stamps plenty of time to download

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Scott #2 - 1847
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I now have the above US Scott #2 - 1847 - 10 Cent stamp to  complete the first and only two stamps ever issued in in the US in 1847, the other being the 5 Cent shown above, - our first 2 postage stamps. The 10 cent above has a very slight hinge mark; so slight
you can hardly see it without a powerful magnifying glass.

The next series of stamps; the 1 - 3 - 5 - 10 & 12 cent stamps were issued in 1851 to 56, and were also Imperforate as were the 1847
stamps.

The 1857 - 61 stamps were the first Perforated stamps, they were,
the 1 - 3 - 5 - 10 - 12 - 24 - 30 - & 90 cent stamps.

Many or all of which I have in mint condition.


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I wrote this article in response to an Email sent to me saying "Stamp collecting is dying out".
 
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STAMPS: ONE OF MY GREATEST SIDELINES {AVOCATIONS}, SWEET AS HONEY.
 
It would be a shame if this hobby should ever die out ... It is a generator a germ of great pleasure and geographic & historical information, not to mention the great beauty & artwork found even on stamps worth only a penny. It took much skill & science to put these together; and I am sent to 7th Heaven just looking at them, there is no amount of money that could ever  pay for this, it is great therapy; a beautiful pastime to help keep you sane, a great diversion that occupies one's time & thoughts from the difficult side of life, as long as one does not get to possessed or obsessed by it. Keep it moral; keep it ethical and fair, help keep the integrity {be scrupulous} to  keep this great hobby alive to be a source of great joy & peace - and; by the way, a source of unity & friendship from fellow hobbyist from around the world, a great hobby for children of all ages {it also helps 2 keep U Young}, I have been collecting stamps since early grade school, and I am still Fascinated & Charmed by it ...
 
P.S.: And it 'Still helps 2 keep me out of harms way giving me an outlet where I can spend my free time productively.
 
John ,
Cleveland/Euclid Ohio USA
 
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A blonde goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"
The clerk says, "What denomination?"
The blonde says, "God help us, Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptists."
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Candle light once determined the postage rate for a letter.
 In 1693, to figure out how much money was needed for the postage rate, the envelope was held up to candle light. If the candle light was seen through the envelope, then the postage rate was less than if the light could not be seen.
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Q. As of 1840, did stamps always have adhesive on the back of them?
A. When stamps were first printed, they were sewn or pinned to an envelope if there was no paste available. Adhesive stamps didn't start in the United States, but in Great Britain.

$2.3 Million Dollar Stamp
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The $2.3 Million Stamp
by John Apfelbaum
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A lifelong philatelist, John Apfelbaum utilizes his knowledge about the world’s most valuable stamps. In 1971, John Apfelbaum joined the family business as President and Chief Executive Officer of Earl P L Apfelbaum, Inc. He continues to lead the world-renowned stamp collecting firm today.
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Some stamp collectors undertake the hobby as a way to pass the time. Others seek to obtain the rarest stamps. None is considered more rare than the Treskilling Yellow. The stamp dates back to 1855 when Sweden printed its first postage stamps, which cost between 3 and 24 skillings banco. However, a mishap occurred during printing when the 3-skilling banco, normally a bluish green, was mistaken for the 8-skilling, a yellowish orange. A small set of yellowish-orange three-skilling bancos was printed, gradually becoming collectors’ items as the years progressed.
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Just how collectible? It was worth approximately $2.3 million, the rumored price that a collector paid for one of the Treskilling Yellow stamps at a secret auction in spring 2010. According to reports, the buyers interacted with the auction via phone somewhere in Geneva. Reports also indicate that the auction occurred quickly, with the buyers aware of just how much the stamp would cost them.
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Over the years, a diverse array of individuals claimed ownership of the stamp. The first reported owner, a young Swedish boy, found the stamp in 1885 in a pile of letters written by his grandparents. The previous owner purportedly had to sell the stamp for financial collateral.

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Dated Photo
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Collinwood Was My High School

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4 Your Visit ... John

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