Even Hit Men Love Collecting the Classics

I've been reading reviews of Hit and Run, the latest novel by Lawrence Block in his Keller series. The main protagonist is a paid assassin who happens to be a stamp collector. Although I'm not into mysteries, our local public library had a copy which I had to, um, checkout. While I knew Keller was a stamp collector, I just assumed that hit man types would be into something like the Brazilian Bullseyes or maybe guns on stamps topicals. It is with some chagrin that I must report that Keller collects the world, 1840-1940 (plus the British empire through 1952--i.e., the range covered by the Scott Classics catalog). Do I need to worry that collectors of the first 100 years of philately may have latent homicidal tendencies? Fortunately, we are told that he owns ten albums and and it would taken millions of dollars to fill them, so that eliminates Keller as a "Blue" International collector. That's a relief. Now if you are a "Brown" International or Specialty Album collector...

While on the topic of books, I'm halfway through Helen Morgan's most entertaining Blue Mauritius and am looking forward to the US release of The Error World: An Affair with Stamps by Simon Garfield. At some point, I also need to read Nicholas Courtney’s The Queen’s Stamps — The Authorized History of the Royal Philatelic Collection.

Dr. Meng's Stamp Collection and the Scott Catalogs

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Dr. Hsien-ming Meng stamp collection is being auctioned by H R Harmer as part of its Sale 194: Collections of the World (October 10-11, 2008). What caught my attention was that Dr. Meng's collection formed the nucleus of the image-scanning project for the Scott Catalogs that began in 2001 and with the help of many other collectors is now 99% complete. Dr. Meng (I don't know if he is still alive) is a worldwide collector who, according to a letter to Scott, has accumulated a collection of more than 250,000 different in more than 400 albums." Dr. Meng says that "With most countries I am nearly complete in issues to about 1985. A few favored countries such as China, Hong Kong, Macao and some European countries are complete to date..."

Rather than printed albums, Dr. Meng preferred Hagner or Hagner-style black-backed stock sheets kept in Lighthouse albums. The albums were housed in a specially built stamp den with overflow into another room. According to an article by James E. Kloetzel in the Scott Stamp Monthly (January/February 2004, p. 8), "Dr. Meng's wife has put her foot down and has prohibited further expansion."

Here is a sample listing of one of the more comprehensive albums:

"MAGNIFICENT SAUDI ARABIA COLLECTION, 1916-85, MINT Here is a rare opportunity to obtain a truly educational experience as built by an advance collector, as MOST sets are here, lightly hinged, starting w/ #L115 of the first 19 sets are complete, then, there's L108-15 cplt, L116-17, L119-22, L125-29, L133-41 cplt, L142-59 cplt, L160-84 cplt NEJD Adm. #1-2, 22-29 cplt. Amongst others are #35-45, #48-54, #59-74, #92-115 (3 cplt sets), #159-284; 23 cplt sets, all commemoratives are here including the Faisal S/S #674, on through 1985 (#960). First, second , third and fourth airmail sets cplt, many of C33 // C77, B-O-B #LJ1-12, #LJ26-34 cplt, #LJ37, then #LJ40-55 cplt, #J1-3, #J7-23 cplt, Officials cplt through #O28, Postal Taxes cplt (#RA2 used). Amazing and satisfying! Fine-VF. From the "Meng" collection. Est. $5000-6000."

Some of what I assume to be the best parts of the collection, such as China and Hong Kong, don't appear to be part of this auction. Nor did I spot a "Blue" International Volume 1 although he did have a set of Minkus Supreme Globals with stamps from 1855-1970.

UPDATE 3/7/2011: Dr. Meng died 11 February 2011. There was a nice article about his contributions to the Scott catalog in the 21 March 2011 Linn's.

A COMPLETE Scott International Volume 1 Offered at Auction

HR Harmer is offering a completed Scott International Volume 1 as Lot 2507 of its Sale 194: Collections of the World (October 10-11, 2008). Here is the description from Harmer's online catalog:

"ASTOUNDING CLASSIC WORLDWIDE REPRESENTATIVE COLLECTION A wondrous assemblage of tens of thousands of different mint OG, used, and unused stamps to 1940, each identified by Scott, carefully mounted, and filling every space on both sides of every single page in 4 pristine Scott International albums, with a loose, thin, plastic interleaf protecting the stamps on each page; although very costly stamps may be absent, each album contains many issues with $50-$100+ Scott values, incl. mint Austria B81-6, China 78, 276-9, Greece C5-7, Iceland 213-15, Mongolia 62-74; used Austria 1, Canada 4, 14, 17, 27, 28, 46, 47, Cape of Good Hope 13, Ceylon 1, China 80, Denmark 3, Great Britain 1, 96, 126, Hong Kong 24, Italy 22, 72, Japan 229, Korea 6-9, Netherlands 18, Newfoundland C8, Philippines 213-19, Russia 551-4, 559-68, C53-7, Switzerland 38, United States 1 (red grid cancel), 2 (faint pen cancel), 69, 71, 72 SE, 76, 78, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 240, 242, 291, 294-9, C1-6, C18, Q1-12, and so much more; occasional fault amongst the earliest issues, average through VF centering throughout, generally clean with plenty of fresh mint stamps; a lot of love and decades of time went into assembling this collection, a rare and enviable achievement, the likes of which may not be offered again for many years; Viewing is certain to impress and inspire covetous bidding ![v] Est. $15000-20000"

I'm assuming that the phrase "although very costly stamps may be absent" does not mean that there are empty spaces but rather that the Blue Internationals don't provide spaces for the most expensive stamps.

I'll report back on what the Lot brings.

Also in this auction is the 1500+ volume Meng stamp collection which was used for many of the color images in the Scott catalogs.

eBay Notes

I suspect most of us monitor eBay, but I thought I would highlight a couple of recent listings. Just posted is

"SCOTT INTERNATL CLASSIC ALBUM COLLECTION 30,000+ STAMPS
3 HUGE VOLUMES OF 1840-1940- INVERTS, ERRORS, HUGH CV $"

with a $7500 minimum bid (Item number: 290258788288; expires 9/13/08). This is the most complete Scott International Volume I Collection I've seen on eBay in the year or so I've been monitoring the collections section seriously. If you are curious to see what an 85% complete International Volume I looks like, it's well worth the time to scroll through the photos. It will be interesting to see if it sells. (UPDATE 9/15/08: The collection didn't sell and has been relisted at $6995. The seller is also soliciting best offers. UPDATE 10/26/2008: I finally remembered to check back on the status. The seller accepted a best offer of $4750.)

Recently, a "Scott International Collection 1840-1940 3 Volumes" (Item number: 260269681312) sold for $1,264.00. The seller didn't do an item count but from the photos I would imagine that the collection could have numbered 20K, athough there did appear to be many extra pages that were added for varieties.

There have also been several Supreme Globals with complete sets of pages on eBay recently--these don't appear that often. An unused set through 1966 sold for $296 (Item number: 200248280784) at the end of August. My memory is that the last time the Master Global base volume was in print from Amos Advantage that it retailed for three hundred and some odd dollars.

Early Scott Internationals Back in Print

Thanks to WGRADY for alerting us to the following.

An Amos Advantage advertisement in the August 25, 2008 Linn's shows a number of long out-of-print Scott International "Blue" Albums as once again available. These are Volume 1 (1840-1940) in 4 parts, Volume 2 (1940-1949) in 2 parts, Volume 3 (1949-1955) in 2 parts, and volume 12 (1976-1977). Availability comes at a price, though: the reprinted parts retail for $150 each; $120 for Amos Advantage members. I don't know how quickly they ship. The Amos Advantage website shows all of these parts as "temporarily out of stock" but to contact customer service to order. An Amos Advantage rep indicated in an email that they are able to "special order" these volumes. So, for the time being, it is once again possible to purchase International pages from 1840-2006.

ADDENDUM (9/11/08):

I decided to go ahead and "special order" the first of the four parts. Rather than the four weeks Customer Service initially estimated, it only took a little over one week for 1A1 to arrive.

I asked Amos Advantage Customer Service whether the reprinted Scott Internationals were using "print on demand?" The reply was that "we are using the same type of print technology that we have in the past for all our supplements-basically nothing different. We send the files to a printer to print the supplement/orders that are needed." For more detail on offset versus digital printing of these reprints, see the thread in the Virtual Stamp Club.

I also asked Customer Service whether there was any intention to bring back other out-of-print Scott titles, and the answer was yes, "over time." No decision has been made about Minkus titles such as the Master or Supreme Global.

Based on quickly leafing through the reprint, it appears that in the 4 part version, the illustrations and titles have not been reset. I don't have an earlier print of 1A1 to compare with the new one, but in comparison with the 1947 and 1969 editions, the images are much more contrasty. In almost all cases, this doesn't interfere with identification, but a few cuts are muddy (e.g., the Green Bayern Scott # 92).

In the 4 part version, every country is in alphabetical order and begins on its own page. To maximize continuity with later Internationals, the "back of the book" issues are also often on their own pages. For example, regular issues and commemoratives of Australia are on three pages, followed by a blank page, a page of Australian airmails, a blank page, a page with Australian postage dues, and then a blank page. For countries where there are Offices abroad or Occupation issues, these may also be given their own pages. Many of the additional pages have only a few stamps on them and blank versos.

So, by way of comparison, my quick count of the "2008" Part 1A1 came up with 582 front and back pages whereas the equivalent coverage in the 1947 edition occupied only 340 pages front and back. If the number of pages in 1A1 is any indication, you would at the very least need two of the larger Scott International binders to hold all four parts. Add interleaving or thousands of stamps and three binders would probably be more practical.

ADDENDUM (11/09): The Internet Hobby Supply website gives number of pages as follows:
1A1: 292 double-sided pages
1A2: 269 double-sided pages
1B1: 276 double-sided pages
1B2: 368 double-sided pages
Combined set sold by the company: 1,139 double-sided pages (according to the website; however, this total doesn't match the total for the individual volumes)

International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors

One of the interesting aspects of any type of collecting is that the activity can be enjoyed as a social pursuit or by determined individualists. (For more about why collectors collect, I recommend Hunter Davies entertaining "Confessions of a Collector.") Turns out that even worldwide collectors have our own group. I've known about the ISWSC for awhile and now that I've embarked on this project, I thought I would try the organization out. The Society is an APS affiliate and its "375+ members in more than 50 countries believe that worldwide stamp collecting is the most fun and challenging area of philately today." The ISWSC has a well-edited newsletter, sales and swap circuits, trading lists, auctions, stamp ID service, and a strong commitment to encouraging youth stamp collecting. For more information and a sample copy of their newsletter, "The Circuit," visit http://www.iswsc.org/.

Their March-April 2007 Newsletter contained the roster of the organization which indicates collecting interests. Of the 375 members, most don't discriminate chronologically in their worldwide collection (but most have other more specialized collecting interests, too.) I count 92 individuals who collect worldwide between a specific set of years. While 1840-1940 appears to be most popular, the ranges vary widely. Many start with 1840 but end at a different year: 1980, 1972, 1950, 1970, 1948, to name just the first few. Several start at 1900. Others have chosen a range using criteria that isn't obvious to me (1870-1982, for instance). A few collect a single year, for example the year of their birth or stamps issued in the first year of the millenium.

Splitting/Interleaving

As much as I have enjoyed having every country housed in a single volume, this 1300 page behemoth was a little unwieldy to handle, especially when working with stamps at the inside margins. And I was increasingly running into a stamps on facing pages catching at the corners. So when Subway Stamp Shop announced a sale, I bought two 4 inch G&K International Binders ($20 each, cheaper than I've seen them on eBay), stocksheets made specifically for the Internationals, and glassine interleaving. While watching TV, I split the single volume into two binders and inserted the interleaving between each page--in addition to solving the problem of adjacent pages rubbing against each other, it actually adds a touch of class to the albums. The downside is that with interleaving, the dual volumes are still pretty heavy. But the pages do lie flatter and it is easier to work with stamps no matter where they fall on the page.

The stocksheets are an experiment. If you aren't familiar with these, the International ones are thinner and more flexible than standard stocksheets. I put a set of the 5 row ones at the back of each of the volumes. The idea is to have a place to put random stamps until I can place them where they belong. This includes stamps that on occasion have fallen out the volume proper. I'll report back when I learn if this system works.