In Stamp-Collecting Month, Consider Pastime

Edition of Friday, Sept. 26

To the Editor:

A single stamp, the British Guiana one-cent magenta, sold in June 2014 at Sotheby’s for a record-setting $9.48 million. By weight, a mere .04 grams, it is considered the most valuable item in the world. The stamp was issued in 1856 in British Guiana (now Guyana), and is the only copy known to exist.

Interestingly, it was found in 1873 by a Scottish schoolboy who sold it for … six shillings. It is helpful to know what you own. With that in mind, the Leatherstocking Stamp Club will be hosting the program entitled “What Do You Have?” at its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Tillapaugh Home, 28 Pioneer St., Cooperstown. Guests are invited to this meeting, at which members will share their philatelic expertise and have available catalogs and resources to assist in identifying and answering your questions.

If you have inherited some stamps or albums, and are not quite sure what you have, or perhaps you collected stamps years ago and are interested in reconnecting with the hobby, this meeting is your opportunity.

October is Stamp Collecting Month and the Leatherstocking Stamp Club which was founded in 1934, with the express purpose of promoting a baseball stamp for the baseball centennial celebration held in 1939, is actively promoting involvement in the hobby.

To celebrate stamp collecting, The Leatherstocking Stamp Club and The Tri-County Stamp Club, based in Sidney, are working together to host a Stamp and Postcard Show/Sale from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Holiday Inn, Route 23, in Oneonta. The show is free and will have nearly 30 tables of postage stamp and paper ephemera material available for sale.

Ellen Tillapaugh-Kuch