Stamp Collecting as a Pastime

Rari

e of astonishment to the non-collector. They are the gems of the most costly collections, the possession of the few, and the envy of the multitude. In a round dozen that will fetch over ￡100 apiece there are not more than one or two t

ion, and fashion alone, has given them their value. So it is with stamps; fashion has given them their value, and every decade of continued popularity adds to that value as it has added to the value of precious stones and pearls. There is no sign that precious stones are likely to become worthless by the withdrawal of popular favour. Fashion changes from one stone to another without affecting the popularity of precious stones in general. So it is with stamps. Fashions change from one line of collecting to a

nts in the daily papers, was utilised for the central portion of the design. Of the 1 c. value only one specimen is known to-day, and that is in the collection of M. Philipp la Renotiérè (Herr von Ferrary). Doubts have been expressed as to the genuineness of the copy, but Mr. Bacon, who has had an opportunity

le to form any opinion. If a dealer had the disposal of the copy in question, he would pro

They were designed and engraved by a local watchmaker, and were printed from single dies, and issued in 1847. The tedious process of printing numbers of stamps from single dies was soon abandoned, and only 500 copies of each value were struck. Of those 1,000 stamps only twenty-two copies are known to exist

￡800 upwards for each value, but unused t

pe in a printer's office. About twelve copies are known to exist. The stamp was in use but a very short time, as

stamp is wort

ed to establish a delivery of letters twice each day through the principal streets of this city." Certain gentlemen were named as having consented to receive letters for delivery at their respective stores, and it was further announced that "each letter must bear a stamp, for which 2 c. will be charged,

tage stamp are known, and its market

velling, and not carried more than about seventy miles, 54 paras for double that distance, 81 paras for heavier letters, and 108 paras for registered letters, all wi

inted 6,000,

10,000

2,000

6,000

heets of thirty-two impressions in four rows of eight stamps

ters by way of experiment. The Providence stamp is the commonest example. One of the rarest is the 5 c. stamp, with a portrait of Washington, issued by the postmaster of Millbury, in Massachusetts, in 1847. This stamp is said to be worth about ￡300. There are others reputed to be equ

the 1d. plate. Consequently each sheet of the 1d. contained a 4d. printed in red, the colour of the 1d., instead of blue. And the sheets of the 4d., in like manner, each contained a 1d, which, when the 4d. was printed in its proper

was content with a shilling stamp as its highest value. In 1860 the Provisional Government of Tuscany issued a stamp of 3 lire, for which there seems to have been very little use. It represented

upation. It was evidently discovered before a second lot was required, as it does not recur in the next printing of 1d., red on orange

ed as great rarities in an imperforate and unused condition. The 4d., 8d., 9d., 1s., and 2s. are the rarest. The 4d., so long ago as 1894, fetched ￡130 at auction. These st