A fascinating year for auctions
It appears that 2014 will go down in the records as a year of auctions. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Editorial
World’s most costly stamp tells a tale
I think that’s what makes the one-cent magenta so special is the story. Found by a young collector, seized by the French government for war reparations, and most recently owned by a convicted murderer, the stamp comes with a great story. Continue reading →
Expertising a needed and growing service
The expertising service is on the front line of the war against those people who alter stamps, often seeking windfall profits as a result of some of this tampering. I’m not talking about someone who soaks a stamp to clean off grime, or even may use an eraser to eliminate a tiny pencil mark. There... Continue reading →
Collecting world still leaves room for mystery
We sometimes imply that there is a sort of natural evolution; that the collector starts out just accumulating, then eventually develops a plan, and finally becomes serious. At that point they start thinking about publishing and exhibiting. I don’t think that is always the case. I know some very experienced collectors who sort of do... Continue reading →
Cool new Canadian stamps tough to track down
Yet I remember very clearly a set of British stamps issued in 1966 to mark the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. Granted those stamps, based on the famous Bayeux Tapestries, with scenes of arms, armour, and combat, had a lot more appeal for a young boy, but I think... Continue reading →
More of the same… or is it?
Frankly, I wondered if we would see similar changes in the regular stamp lineup. The truth is, stamp programs have some flexibility, but the 2013 issues were well on the road to being settled months ago. What I do see are a couple of interesting issues such as motorcycles and ghost stories, which seem a... Continue reading →
CFL still biggest game in some towns
Weather permitting, we played football in backyards, inventing ways to play two-on-one, or even two-on-three, running the length of the yard for a down, then turning around and running the other way for a touchdown. For me, life was simple and Russ Jackson was the king. Then, over the years, something happened. When I moved... Continue reading →
Universal health care a newer, but defining Canadian detail
That short history lesson reminds us that something we have come to take for granted really is quite a recent innovation. So it is nice to see a stamp that reminds us that this part of our identity is so very new; much newer than Confederation. I often joke that Canadians often define themselves in... Continue reading →
Canada’s role in Korean War often forgotten
The truth is that many Canadians forget that this nation committed an entire infantry brigade with supporting troops to that war. That is a significantly larger commitment than at any time in Afghanistan, and remains, in fact our largest commitment of military personnel since the Second World War. The irony comes from the fact that... Continue reading →
Irv knows the stamps of tomorrow are invested in young artists of today
Irv Osterer is to be commended for challenging high school students to design stamps and related products. While it is debatable how many, if any, of his young charges will actually turn into commercial stamp artists or collectors, he nonetheless is reaching out to a group of young people. As a parent, I know that... Continue reading →