OK Here's another story, from a local fellow dealer's experience.
He was soaking some GB stamps off paper, saw a war era stamp on what looked to be very old paper, and it was pretty thick.
Soaked it and discovered that the sender had recycled an envelope from the 1840s and lo and behold there was a penny black under the more modern stamp which was in aok condition!!
He told me that story a few times, probably before my stamping days are done I'll be doing the same (if I'm not already!!!)
Ron: On Sept 21 I added another paragraph that said I liked your story from that date. It got lost some how but in any case perhaps you could give us another philatelic story. Yes, go ahead and promote your store and yourself. I will also go ahead and keep filling these pages if no one else wishes to entertain us with their stories.
Ron Carmichael: Another great story from you but now you have reminded me of something along the same line. Years ago when rents were cheaper in downtown Toronto I had a street level store on Victoria St. near the King Edward Hotel where the Beatles stayed as well as many other celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Radar from Mash once dropped in and offered me some Canadian Air Mail first flight covers. Many offers of stamps and covers, etc. would come in on any given day. One purchase involved some early stampless covers and early stamps. Not sure when I had a chance to take a look at the covers but when I did I also unfolded them for a closer look. One from early 1852 had gone thru the mail twice and on the other side of the stampless cover was a three pence Beaver with sheet margin. I carefully soaked the stamp off the sheet of paper. After all I still had a full stampless cover and the stamp and that side of the paper made for an interesting story. At that time the well known auctioneer Jim Sissons operated out of the King Edward Hotel and would often drop in to my store. I showed him the stamp I had found and by this time realized it was a Canada Scott #1 on laid paper. Sissons said it was one of the finest examples he had seen of this stamp. At that point I thought I should put it back on the cover on the side I had discovered it on. Unfortunately I put it on with some UHU glue. When I sold it to a leading collector he submitted it to V.G. Greene Foundation for expertising and they gave it a bad certificate due to the UHU glue. I had sold it cheaply for under $1,000. and though I knew it was genuine I gave my customer his money back. Jim Sissons was deceased by this time but fate put me in touch with Chuck Firby of Michigan. He is a Canada Pence expert and was an auctioneer in the US at that time. We both had noticed that the rings cancel on the stamp that tied it to the cover actually left an impression on the cover as well. Apparently the date on the cover also confirmed that it had to be a #1. In any case he sold it for me in one of his auctions and as I recall it brought about $2500. I bought many gems over that counter at that store and many of them give me pleasant memories to this day. Thanks for bringing this memory back Ron. By the way a mint Canada #3 the 12 Pence was sold in Ottawa, Canada this week for $285,000. plus 15% commission.
A couple years ago, I was sending a box of stuff overseas to a guy in Britain (a Xerox box of stuff).
I covered it with the $9 Montreal Canadiens souvenir sheet. After I peeled the backing off one and stuck it on the box, I saw that the laser cut veered off and made the corner imperf. Blasted thing as already stuck on the box so I just left it figuring the guy in England became a lucky guy.
After he got the box, he told me he didn't have use for so many of them and wanted to know if I would give him credit for them if he sent them back. I said AOK.
Very, very, much to my surprise the misperf was in there too!
So it got unnoticed 2 times!
I got $50 for it as a used copy so all worked out ok in the end!
Ron: Very fair of you all around. In this business it pays to keep on your toes. Collectors and dealers may have a great bonus just sitting there and waiting to be found. That is what makes this hobby so interesting. Thanks for the great story.
Because I'm one of those sellers who puts at least some nice recent postage on parcels, usually at least a souvenir sheet, I get lots of pads of 50 souvenir sheets from the PO. The very first thing I do is hold them up to the light to make sure there's no imperfs.... unfortunately for those SS one couldn't do that and I missed it actually a 2nd time I guess when I originally got them....
In 1978 the US issued a stamp sheet that was initially available only at Capex in Toronto. I took orders from some US dealers who wanted the stamp but could get to Capex. Towards the end of the 1st day of the show the line at the US Post Office booth had dwindled so I thought it would be a good time to buy the US sheets and get the orders ready to mail so I handed the cash needed to #2 daughter and asked her to get the sheets we needed. She was 11 at the time and knew enough about stamps to have previously made a $980 sale at a different show but this time she got very nervous about the amount of money I gave her - somewhere in the 4 figure range. She wouldn't go until we got someone to escort her to the US Post Office booth.
Today I would probably have some government type telling me that I could not use Child Labour.
This thread is looking for story tellers to tell us about their stories and adventures and misadventures in the hobby of philately. One of my customers made his living from story telling and was an adult when I met him. As far as I know he had never taken a great interest in stamp collecting as a child but after talking to me he loved the interesting stories I told him. He liked to use interesting stamps on his mail and I think this was the reason he contacted me in the first place. Every so often he would buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of Canadian mint stamps for use on his mail. We became friends and next thing he was buying Postal History items with plans to use them in his stories and over the years I do recall him using stamps in his radio stories and while on tour. The friend I am taking about was one of North Americas greatest story tellers Stuart McLean who had a radio show on CBC for about 24 years and also went on tour in the USA and in Canada. He died on February 15, 2017 and he will be missed but a new four disc album went on sale on October 6/17 and I think its his 12th book comes out on the 31st. His estate has turned over what they could find of his collection to me to auction for them. However, some of the big items, I know of, have not shown up at this date. I think he might have been doing a story on them and they might have been misfiled in a folder. A large part of his archives have been donated to a University and who knows the items may turn up there. Stuart McLean died of Melanoma at the age of 68 and I am deeply sad to report that my son died of this same cancer (turned into a brain tumour) this month on the 5th. I am sure the Melanoma Foundation is working hard to find a cure but if any of us can help them it may help those close to us.
My son William was 41 when he passed.He loved life to the fullest but in January of 2016 he took a turn for the worst and I guess we knew the end was coming. At about that time a poem came into my head and I can only quote from memory as I don't recall where I first heard it. It goes - "O'h days of youthful gladness - when I a happy fool - thought failure sickness sadness the exception - not the rule". Probably written over 100 years ago (I am not sure when) but to me it seems to make as much sense today as it would have then. Thanks for your kind thoughts. His sister. my wife and I have many great memories of his life and we will commemorate his memory with his friends and our friends over the next year and beyond.
Buyer contacts me from the USA. Stamps have not arrived, this was before the days tracking was so important so it went untracked.
More than enough time had passed so I refunded him.
A couple weeks later he contacted me, the box had been found, he went to BBQ something and lo and behold the postman put the box of stamps in the BBQ so it wasn't sitting out.
It was only the next time he went to BBQ something that he found it! Clearly he didn't BBQ often enough!
One of North Americas oldest continuous stamp clubs the Toronto Stamp Collectors Club celebrated their 125th anniversary in the offices of the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation. I was a past president of this club for a number of years and was asked to attend (Evening of Oct. 10/17) to participate in a memorable evening of nostalgia. Two articles in the most recent issue of the Phila-Journal and a fine 4-page cover story featured in the current issue of the Canadian Philatelist set the stage for our party. There was a bit of wine, lots of soft drinks and some great snacks for all. There was a draw for door prizes and I won the Junk Box. I can always use a junk box and one collectors junk is another mans treasures. The VGG Reference Librarian Ms. Kathy Hartley presented with full display, her award winning postal history presentation of "A Wander through the Philatelic Heart of (a Not so long ago) Toronto". She concentrated on the area around Victoria St. and Adelaide St. E. in downtown Toronto where I had a street level story at that time when rents were much cheaper. Members were allowed to ad their memories as she continued her great talk. All in all a wonderful evening of philatelic fellowship. TSCC Secretary Michael Graf insisted on giving me a ride home after that wonderful evening.
Ah- the good old Days. Stay in the King Eddy, where Sissons had his office then wander up Victoria Street and see John Talman, George Wegg and Jim Hennok. Not that far from Arcade if one wanted high prices stamps and from Maresch. I have probably forgotten a few dealers in the area. it was also an era when Toronto had several good stamp shows at the Sheraton near City Hall. It made it easy to fill wantlists with so many dealers in such a small area. I could get a room at the King Eddy for a huge $14/night. It resembled a broom closet but all I needed was a bed so that was fine.
I recall as a young tyke going over to Sam Collins's house after riding bikes to get a rice crispy snack or some freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies if we were lucky. Often we would see his grandfather, a tartan blanket on his lap, hunched over fully engaged in his stamps. We had little interest in such things or the patience to find out why he spent so much time playing with pieces of coloured paper. One day we saw him holding up a triangular-shaped stamp to the light and our curiosity got the better of us. Soon we were shown page after page of these fascinating Cape of Hopes, as we were told they were called.The slight variations had little impact, but the subsequent stories of the ones on envelops with dates and destinations caused us to wonder about the who and what and why of the correspondences. It was only much later in life did I begin to comprehend some of the sophistication and subsequent value of his collection. Soon after we moved andI lost track of Sam. And much like a fisherman losing a big fish before getting at least a glimpse of it, I feel unsettled in not knowing of whatever became of his gramps collection.
Dennis and Ron: You don't hear the term "Young Tyke" often enough these days. Two great memories - hope we get a lot more. Dennis my rent was exceptionally cheap as well as your rent on the hotel room. I remember you well from those days you shrewd bargainer with an eye for a bargain. There were always bargains in that area in those days on the "Nassau" street of Toronto. Those were the days my friend - but I don't think they have ended.
The collector had a plan! He would sell his US stamp collection , deposit the money in his and his wife's joint bank account and then commit suicide. He had outlined his plan in a suicide note he had left at home which was about 30 miles outside of Toronto. His plan started going off track when his wife arrived home early that day and found the note. She knew who he dealt with for stamps so she contacted all of us. When she contacted me I was told to stall the man and have one of the staff call the [police so they could come and pick him up and get him the care he needed. Sure enough, Al showed up with his large US collection. My staff was given the signal to call police and I proceeded to stall Al while I examined the collection. Thru it all Al appeared normal and except for the call I wouldn't have known that he needed help. We chatted about stamps and other things as I continued to look. A police officer showed up and Al (with a bewildered look on his face) left with the officer and with his collection. Hi wife told the story to our local stamp magazines and was very thankful to those dealers who had run into him that day. I understand he did get the help he needed and I was glad to be a part of it. Just another day in a busy stamp store,
I am an independent philatelic estate liquidation consultant, mainly to those who have inherited collections. I always tell my clients that a stamp collection is an expression of its assembler's personality and values, and sometimes the collection includes non-philatelic interests (along with the occasional set of old dentures, pair of undershorts, stash of cash). This reality was exemplified memorably for me several years ago when an heir called me to come over and evaluate his deceased father's stamp collection. His father kept his stamp albums inside four cabinets that he installed in the kitchen because of its abundant natural light. While the son and I were removing the albums from the cabinets, we discovered 14 large, three-ring binders hidden behind them. The son looked puzzled. "Probably your father's stock of duplicates", I said. Then we read the labels on each binder. "Man with Man", "Man with Woman", "Woman with Woman", "Boy with Man". Boy with Boy"; "Girl with Woman", Man and Woman with Horse", "Golden Showers", and so on. We had stumbled upon the fellow's home-made collection of pornography. The son was speechless, mortified, embarrassed, for up to that moment, he had no idea of his father's salacious interests. With all the self-restraint I could muster to refrain from laughing and thus maintain the composure of a true professional, I said, "Well...let's set these aside for now and move on to the stamp collection". That collection , housed in 42 Scott International and Specialty albums, spanned the world and was replete with many good singles (e.g. mint US #1 with PF cert.; used GB 1929 Postal Union Congress issue), and sets (e.g. used sets of China Large Dragons, Canada Jubilee set), and strong sections of China, Korea, Japan, and Thailand (his father had majored in Asian Studies in college). I brokered the collection to auction houses in the US and Hong Kong. I bought the porn collection and suggested to the son that he donate the money to Shriners Hospitals for Children, since his father was a Mason and admired the hospitals' works, or take himself and his family out for a nice memorial feast.
Arthur: Sounds like the collector had a wide range of interests in all of his collecting. One wealthy stamp dealer I know made millions out of producing such side items you spoke of but he is still alive and might not want the story widely known. Past Presidents have had him at their inauguration ceremonies! An honest and interesting story that shows what one might run into in this fascinating business.
Back in 1970 my stamp business was part time and I worked in the head office of a large mining company called Falconbridge Nickel Mines at that time. The Canadian Centennial issue had made me many of thousands in sales of all the varieties and it paid one to keep your eyes open for something new of which there never seemed to be any shortage. Printed on the gum, hibrites and other papers, etc., etc. kept popping up. The King Edward Hotel was next to my office and around Oct. 26 of 1970 I noticed a stamp dispenser for the Opal Manufacturing Co. Limited . The machine sold 20c worth of Centennials in a pane of 8 stamps - four 2c and four 3c for a premium of 5c over face. Very unusual and I quickly learned that this item was only sold thru the Opal Co. and not thru Canada Post. I bought some but I knew this was an item that could be sold in the thousands and so I eventually went to the Opal Co, to buy thousands from them. Prior to going there I had already sent a sample to some large new issue dealers and secured orders for them at a premium over what I had to pay. Some of my large orders went to the UK but because of their postal strike around that time I had a chance to carefully look at them because I could not ship due to the strike. This was when I was the first to discover some with the cross perfs. (USC #BK63b Cat. $300.00 each today). I had no idea how scarce they were so probably sold the ones I found for under $10. each at that time. When the Opal Company sold out the so called Opal booklets I supplied them with some discount postage and they sold them in little covers thru the same machines. Animal stamps and Prime Ministers were among those I supplied them to the surprise of any collector who made a purchase from the machine. A couple of years later I decided to go full time into the stamp market which was really starting to take off and the rest is history.
John another fascinating story, thanks for sharing. You would be happy to know that it was a Canadian stamp which I was given that peaked my interest in the hobby even though I was surrounded by stamps most of my life. My father an avid collector brought me along to show when I was seven and a friendly old dealer gave me my first stamp. My eyes lit up as it was a mint Canada 34, a beautiful small Queen Victoria stamp. My collection has grown leaps and bounds since that day.
One of my entries on this thread has been moved. At this point I am not arguing against this. It may be a good idea in the long run. However, I see other threads that really belong in this thread but are not added to it but are given a new thread. One of them I must say I was glad it was left out but wonder if it should have even been given a thread and left there. Try to remain impartial John! Tough for Mark to run a Forum and I must say it has its many very good points and I have learned a lot from it. Not sure why only a limited number of members participate.
During my years of selling stamps one of the stamps I have sold since day one has been the Great Britain #1 the Penny Black. At least a couple will be sold in my next public auction. Years ago The Excelsior Company had an offer selling the penny black and asked me to help them gather the quantity they needed for that offer. Quality was not the criteria but they did want decent looking stamps. As I recall they would pay me about $65. Canadian per stamp and I think I managed to come up with 100's of them at that time. The stamp has always fascinated me and I enjoy plating them when I find the time. At one point probably 20 years ago Urch Harris in England must have come into a mother lode of them. They had so many that they were able to ship me an above average consignment for auction of these including pairs, etc. They did very well. A first day cover formerly in the Maurice Burrus collection was sold in London in July/17. Probably a little more than 70 FDC's are known and the Scott Classic lists it at $165,000. in a recent issue. There are only two known penny black covers from China and one was offered in the same sale. Written on board HMS Rattlesnake on the Canton River. I didn't hear the prices realized but this cover was estimated at about $60,000. Some collectors only collect this one stamps when they start specializing and one can understand why. How long will a wealthy collector have to wait before the next penny black cover from China turns up? John Talman
I love these tales of stamp collecting. when I was 10 or 11 I would ride the city bus downtown by myself or with a couple of buds....yes, but it was "safe" to do so! The stamp shop was in Zibart's, a large bookstore next to the Paramount movie house where we would catch a movie. I liked Tyrone Power.
Not so long ago I got into hot water on a blog when I asked why is collecting such a Jewish thing. Most dealers and famous collectors are Jewish, at least that's what I believe. Anyway I was called an anti-semite for even posting this. Here in Nashville I know not one stamp collector and we do have a very small Jewish community. Metro Nashville population is 1.7 million so one wonders where stamp collectors have gone. I suspect Heaven might be the answer. I still am curious about the Jewish love of stamps. Any comments here?
We used to meet at Bob Grannis Photography on Saturday mornings and trade stamps.That was in the 80's when some thought stamps would be a great investment. Well, that did not happen.
The stamps that got me as a 11 year old were those big Honduras stamps with the American and Honduras crossed flags. I still have those in my album of remembered stamps. Yep, I have a album with those old stamps I craved to own 75 years ago. Malaysian Tigers, Sudan Camel Mail; got them all. Most, maybe better said.
The young son of a long time Jewish collector friend of mine has just tweeted me and the world with his success at recently selling on EB a cover he described as USA to Switzerland "MICH 1960 Airmail Registered cover with single usage $5. Liberty." The young entrepreneur calculates he paid about 9c for the cover (Probably left in a larger lot.) and it sold at auction for US$5550. A few years ago when I had a store and I think he was still a teenager, he would drop in and spend an hour or two looking thru the stock of covers and cards and spending a fair amount each time. His father was probably a teenager when he used to come in to my various stores and I am pleased to see the son following in his footsteps.
John, it's nice to hear you are still enjoying your childhood stamps. Stamps are a hobby mostly for enjoyment when you cross over to the investment arena you are only talking about rare items thousands of dollars and up. Many of which have done amazingly well in terms of return on capital. As for the popularity remark you can apply that to basically anything of value in any field. It is also possible to find a treasure once in awhile.
Comments
Ted (who has no stamp stories to share, because he's an asocial recluse [which is probably a redundancy]).
He was soaking some GB stamps off paper, saw a war era stamp on what looked to be very old paper, and it was pretty thick.
Soaked it and discovered that the sender had recycled an envelope from the 1840s and lo and behold there was a penny black under the more modern stamp which was in aok condition!!
He told me that story a few times, probably before my stamping days are done I'll be doing the same (if I'm not already!!!)
Ted for Head of ARSE!!
When I sold it to a leading collector he submitted it to V.G. Greene Foundation for expertising and they gave it a bad certificate due to the UHU glue. I had sold it cheaply for under $1,000. and though I knew it was genuine I gave my customer his money back. Jim Sissons was deceased by this time but fate put me in touch with Chuck Firby of Michigan.
He is a Canada Pence expert and was an auctioneer in the US at that time. We both had noticed that the rings cancel on the stamp that tied it to the cover actually left an impression on the cover as well. Apparently the date on the cover also confirmed that it had to be a #1. In any case he sold it for me in one of his auctions and as I recall it brought about $2500.
I bought many gems over that counter at that store and many of them give me pleasant memories to this day. Thanks for bringing this memory back Ron. By the way a mint Canada #3 the 12 Pence was sold in Ottawa, Canada this week for $285,000. plus 15% commission.
A couple years ago, I was sending a box of stuff overseas to a guy in Britain (a Xerox box of stuff).
I covered it with the $9 Montreal Canadiens souvenir sheet. After I peeled the backing off one and stuck it on the box, I saw that the laser cut veered off and made the corner imperf. Blasted thing as already stuck on the box so I just left it figuring the guy in England became a lucky guy.
After he got the box, he told me he didn't have use for so many of them and wanted to know if I would give him credit for them if he sent them back. I said AOK.
Very, very, much to my surprise the misperf was in there too!
So it got unnoticed 2 times!
I got $50 for it as a used copy so all worked out ok in the end!
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/roncarmichaelstamps
Today I would probably have some government type telling me that I could not use Child Labour.
He liked to use interesting stamps on his mail and I think this was the reason he contacted me in the first place. Every so often he would buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of Canadian mint stamps for use on his mail. We became friends and next thing he was buying Postal History items with plans to use them in his stories and over the years I do recall him using stamps in his radio stories and while on tour. The friend I am taking about was one of North Americas greatest story tellers Stuart McLean who had a radio show on CBC for about 24 years and also went on tour in the USA and in Canada. He died on February 15, 2017 and he will be missed but a new four disc album went on sale on October 6/17 and I think its his 12th book comes out on the 31st. His estate has turned over what they could find of his collection to me to auction for them. However, some of the big items, I know of, have not shown up at this date. I think he might have been doing a story on them and they might have been misfiled in a folder. A large part of his archives have been donated to a University and who knows the items may turn up there. Stuart McLean died of Melanoma at the age of 68 and I am deeply sad to report that my son died of this same cancer (turned into a brain tumour) this month on the 5th. I am sure the Melanoma Foundation is working hard to find a cure but if any of us can help them it may help those close to us.
Ted
from "A Diary," published posthumously, in 1907.
Kindle edition available for 99c.
And no stamp from Ireland, as far as I can tell.
Buyer contacts me from the USA. Stamps have not arrived, this was before the days tracking was so important so it went untracked.
More than enough time had passed so I refunded him.
A couple weeks later he contacted me, the box had been found, he went to BBQ something and lo and behold the postman put the box of stamps in the BBQ so it wasn't sitting out.
It was only the next time he went to BBQ something that he found it! Clearly he didn't BBQ often enough!
Just another day in a busy stamp store,
Past Presidents have had him at their inauguration ceremonies! An honest and interesting story that shows what one might run into in this fascinating business.
When the Opal Company sold out the so called Opal booklets I supplied them with some discount postage and they sold
them in little covers thru the same machines. Animal stamps and Prime Ministers were among those I supplied them to the surprise of any collector who made a purchase from the machine.
A couple of years later I decided to go full time into the stamp market which was really starting to take off and the rest is history.
One of them I must say I was glad it was left out but wonder if it should have even been given a thread and left there. Try to remain impartial John! Tough for Mark to run a Forum and I must say it has its many very good points and I have learned a lot from it. Not sure why only a limited number of members participate.
Not so long ago I got into hot water on a blog when I asked why is collecting such a Jewish thing. Most dealers and famous collectors are Jewish, at least that's what I believe. Anyway I was called an anti-semite for even posting this. Here in Nashville I know not one stamp collector and we do have a very small Jewish community. Metro Nashville population is
1.7 million so one wonders where stamp collectors have gone. I suspect Heaven might be the answer. I still am curious about the Jewish love of stamps. Any comments here?
We used to meet at Bob Grannis Photography on Saturday mornings and trade stamps.That was in the 80's when some thought stamps would be a great investment. Well, that did not happen.
The stamps that got me as a 11 year old were those big Honduras stamps with the American and Honduras crossed flags. I still have those in my album of remembered stamps. Yep, I have a album with those old stamps I craved to own
75 years ago. Malaysian Tigers, Sudan Camel Mail; got them all. Most, maybe better said.
and up. Many of which
have done amazingly well
in terms of return on
capital. As for the popularity remark you can apply that to basically anything of value in any field. It is also possible to find a treasure once in awhile.