Some Sets Are Not Available Any More

Question: I recently received a 25-cent green Paul Revere stamp on a letter, but after asking at my local post office I discovered that this stamp is no longer for sale. Aren’t 25-cent stamps the current postage rate?--T.H.

Answer: Yes, but they have to be stocked by the U.S. Postal Service in order for you to buy them. A number of 25-cent stamps have been issued by the United States in past years when the first-class letter rate was much less than the present 25 cents per ounce (for the first ounce). Such is the case with the Paul Revere issue (pictured), first sold April 18, 1958, and produced in a coil (roll) format starting Feb. 25, 1965.

This stamp has been removed from all post offices and is available only from dealers or collectors. The coil version is not worth much over face value, but the pane (sheet) variety (Scott 1048) carries a small premium for singles or mint plate number blocks. (The first-class letter rate went from 22 cents to 25 cents April 3, 1988.)

Q: My 1935 Canadian stamp set (the dates are printed on the designs) has six different values, showing pictures of King George V, Queen Mary, the Duke of York, Windsor Castle, among others. What is this set worth?--T.I.

A: About $20 mint, $10 cancelled for choice copies, retail price. Issued May 4, 1935, this set commemorates the 25th anniversary of the accession to the British throne of King George V, who, by the way, was a serious stamp collector.

Q: At a yard sale last summer, I bought a 19th-Century sepia-toned formal portrait photograph of a man and a woman. On the back of this photo is an orange, uncancelled 2-cent U.S. Revenue stamp, bearing George Washington’s picture. I am curious what the stamp might be worth uncancelled and why it is on the back of the photograph at all. Did the federal government tax photographs?--W.S.

A: Yes. The Civil War was starting to prove stubborn and costly, so the U.S. Government decided to raise money by taxing common documents, including wills, telegrams, playing cards, bank checks and photographs. Because so many photographs were taken during the Civil War years and shortly after, such revenue-stamped photos are not rare; they are worth about $1 or $2 each on the average, retail price.

Your photograph is more important than the stamp, and if you can find an old photo of a famous person or of soldiers with weapons or Indian scouts in uniform, then you may have a prime premium item. Your stamp is probably the U.S. Internal Revenue 2-cent orange of 1864, listed in the Scott catalogue at 5 cents and having no special premium if uncancelled. It is unlikely that you have a scarce printing variety of this stamp, such as a “double transfer” worth $20 to $30.

Q: My 10-cent brown Daniel Webster stamp has a black overprint “GUAM” across its face. It is mint and undamaged. Can you evaluate?--L.B.

A: If genuine (a few counterfeits exist), you probably own a copy of the 1899 10-cent brown Type I Guam overprint possession issue, currently worth about $50 mint, a little more for a legitimate cancel, for nice well-centered stamps (retail price). Captured during the Spanish-American War during the summer of 1898, Guam was ceded to the United States by treaty at war’s end. Regular U.S. stamps were overprinted “GUAM” and were used on the island from July, 1899 through March, 1901, after which regular unoverprinted U.S. stamps were sold and used there. The 1899-1901 overprint series was used for several years, however, until postal supplies were exhausted.

It is possible, but unlikely, that you have the rare Type II of this stamp, currently selling for several thousand dollars per copy. Take it to a stamp dealer for an informal appraisal.

Q: What do you recommend for a present to a potential stamp collector? A boy and girl, both age 7, have birthdays coming up, and I want to get them interested in stamps.--R.J.

A: I started collecting stamps at 7 also, when an uncle gave me my first stamp album and my father showed me how to hinge stamps into it. Seven is a great age to start one of the greatest hobbies in the world. I recommend an inexpensive stamp album, a package of U.S. or foreign stamps, some hinges and a birthday card. Any stamp dealer can supply the stamp materials in a price range to suit any budget.

Krause, a free-lance writer and a member of several national stamp-collecting organizations, cannot answer mail personally but will respond to philatelic questions of general interest in this column.