The efforts of some stamps dealers to set up a stamp & coin row on W39th Street has come to a hitch; a pack of bike messengers come up that street, which is closed to traffic, and refuse to dismount as is the law when such streets are closed.
This pack belongs to a company called Homer Logistics, aka Homer Courier Services, which is an upstart company run by someone from California named Adam Price. He, along with his cohort Dinis Passarinho, have on their hands a gang of rude and violent brats, some of whom curse and beat up their elders.
Thus, dealing stamps and coins or anything at all at the Hells Kitchen Market has become very difficult. In a recent facebook video, one can see a Homer employee who, after refusing to dismount his bike and threatening dealers who asked him to do so, came back and assaulted both a customer and a dealer. Dealers are losing money when they set up these days and most, being middle-aged to elderly, some in wheelchairs, are at a loss to deal with this.
Unless you believe the Homer spin; there are two sides to every story, and despite the fact that Homer activities are well witnessed and on video, Passarinho likes to tell people that his messengers are being pushed off bikes and spat at. Not that he can produce any record of this, or any independent witness or video; and of course it is already an admission of guilt by the bratpackers if they were on their bikes to be pushed off.
More like Passarino and Adam Price concocted this story when the assaulted parties presented a request for reasonable settlement - not one dime did they want to reimburse anyone - and Adam Price whines that Homer is a small company; Passarinho, on the other hand, corrects people when they tell him he hires dozens of riders. Hundreds, he is quick to say. Small company?
So the months of advertising and time spent on W39th Street to establish a tradition rivaling the Paris Outdoor Stamp Market may come to an end at the violent hands of Homer bike messengers. At least no one is dead; other bikers in this city are wont to knock down pedestrians and leave them stone cold. Jason Marshall, for instance, who to this day runs red lights in Manhattan. Foot loose and fancy free he goes, along so many of the Homer bratpack.
This is of concern for a future event, the Jacob Javits Center Stamps Show 2016, where it is expected that 350,000-400,000 visitors will attend - and many of them have already booked hotels that put them near W39th Street. Will they even be able to take this route with the 'messengers of death' at Homer beating up their elders? Or will we have more of their shenanigans to contend with?
This story will be followed closely on the satirical site www.markofthemask.blogspot.com where weapons of irony are used to impart some sense Adam Price et al. at the Homer HQ.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
ASDA fall stamp show New York, October 23-25
New York is experiencing a nostalgic moment this year with the Javits show just around the corner. We are all reminded of the roaring trade on Nassau Street and the Bowery, and that New York was the original home to this show that comes around only once a decade. It debuted in New York in 1936, returned in 1956, and hits the Big Apple for a third time 28 May - 4 June 2016, when it will be the biggest stamp show in the world, with 350,000 - 400,000 visitors expected to flock to 11th Avenue to the big glass house near the Hudson River, aka the Jacob Javits Center.
Not willing to wait several months for the big bang, most collectors are finding other shows, and also regular dealers, such as Cafe Koshka (Cat Cafe in Russian, how this relates to stamps I am at a loss to tell but maybe there are feline philatelists?) - which sets up on weekends, weather permitting, oustide both at the Chelsea Market on 25th St. between B'way & 6th, and also, with more extensive stock, at Hells Kitchen Market, 39th St. between 9th & 10th. Koshka stocks worldwide: Commonwealth, French Colonies, EU, China, Asia, Latin America, and of course the good ol' USA. Stamps, covers, some supplies, at rock bottom prices, sometimes selling to dealers. It came along less than two years ago, just about the time the garage indoor weekend market closed and Terry, the dealer from Pennsylvania, had enough of NY and parking tickets. The force behind it all is a long time philatelist who started his collecting right here in NY in the '60s, and is a member of a number of clubs, including the International Stamp Club, the Collectors Club and the China Stamp Society. There is an email so one can send in want lists etc. - nycphilatelic@gmail.com so this is more than just a fair weather weekend dealer.
This month an ASDA show is coming up also, it can be hard to find at the Hilton which puts it sometimes on the 2nd, sometimes on the 3rd floor at the back, and concierges are not always aware of its existence so patrons can get turned away or fail to find it. So if you go be persistent and head for the elevator at the back (near side entrance on 54th Street). Below are details:
ASDA New York Fall Postage Stamp Show 2015
October 23-25, 2015
The Hilton
1335 Avenue of the Americas6th Avenue and West 53rd Street
New York NYHotel Reservations: ASDA Block Rate $325 plus tax
Show HoursFriday 10am - 6pm, Saturday10am - 6pm
Sunday 10-4
Not willing to wait several months for the big bang, most collectors are finding other shows, and also regular dealers, such as Cafe Koshka (Cat Cafe in Russian, how this relates to stamps I am at a loss to tell but maybe there are feline philatelists?) - which sets up on weekends, weather permitting, oustide both at the Chelsea Market on 25th St. between B'way & 6th, and also, with more extensive stock, at Hells Kitchen Market, 39th St. between 9th & 10th. Koshka stocks worldwide: Commonwealth, French Colonies, EU, China, Asia, Latin America, and of course the good ol' USA. Stamps, covers, some supplies, at rock bottom prices, sometimes selling to dealers. It came along less than two years ago, just about the time the garage indoor weekend market closed and Terry, the dealer from Pennsylvania, had enough of NY and parking tickets. The force behind it all is a long time philatelist who started his collecting right here in NY in the '60s, and is a member of a number of clubs, including the International Stamp Club, the Collectors Club and the China Stamp Society. There is an email so one can send in want lists etc. - nycphilatelic@gmail.com so this is more than just a fair weather weekend dealer.
This month an ASDA show is coming up also, it can be hard to find at the Hilton which puts it sometimes on the 2nd, sometimes on the 3rd floor at the back, and concierges are not always aware of its existence so patrons can get turned away or fail to find it. So if you go be persistent and head for the elevator at the back (near side entrance on 54th Street). Below are details:
ASDA New York Fall Postage Stamp Show 2015
October 23-25, 2015
The Hilton
1335 Avenue of the Americas6th Avenue and West 53rd Street
New York NYHotel Reservations: ASDA Block Rate $325 plus tax
Show HoursFriday 10am - 6pm, Saturday10am - 6pm
Sunday 10-4
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Paypal FRAUD for Chinese stamps
Since Paypal continues to be non-functional in their resolving of disputes. I was on again today and the system would not process the dispute, I kept clicking the first of two buttons for this, and it stayed grey and did not accept the dot in the circle as it was supposed to, then I sent another letter to these thieves to tell them that selling bogus stamps is actually a CRIME. The dishonest dealer by the eway is angellalilu so do not waste your time buying his fakes.
Below is the letter for stamp collectors to read and think about before doing business with Paypal and eBay which had an incestuous and possibly illegal relationship against the interests of the American people and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act:
Your site does NOT allow me to proceed with this - I am blocked when I tick the circle for disputing merchandise, you are legally responsible for this STUPID FAKE FRAUD AND ALL THE OTHERS FROM THIS DEALER.
THIS is NOT the FIRST time I have tried to contact your bogus site which does NOT allow customers to proceed with their complaints.
You ARE LEGALLY REPONSIBLE when you take $ and we get counterfeit material. I am near the 180 day deadline for this and that is due to the fact that I have been blocked MANY times by your site which will NOT process my dispute.
ALL the items I got along with 141596975514 are FRAUDS and there is copious record of this as a former eBay fraud prevention team member, James Maxwell, now president of the China Stamp Society, wrote about these in the China Stamp Society Newsletter.
HOW DAMN STUPID AND DISHONEST CAN YOUR COMPANY BE?
I Will not only continue to post on a blog - www.nyphilatelic.blogspot.com - but will take you to court as an accessory to fraud and write to my bank to drop you as a client.
Respond and take care of this, be real men not fools and thieves.
Below is the letter for stamp collectors to read and think about before doing business with Paypal and eBay which had an incestuous and possibly illegal relationship against the interests of the American people and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act:
Your site does NOT allow me to proceed with this - I am blocked when I tick the circle for disputing merchandise, you are legally responsible for this STUPID FAKE FRAUD AND ALL THE OTHERS FROM THIS DEALER.
THIS is NOT the FIRST time I have tried to contact your bogus site which does NOT allow customers to proceed with their complaints.
You ARE LEGALLY REPONSIBLE when you take $ and we get counterfeit material. I am near the 180 day deadline for this and that is due to the fact that I have been blocked MANY times by your site which will NOT process my dispute.
ALL the items I got along with 141596975514 are FRAUDS and there is copious record of this as a former eBay fraud prevention team member, James Maxwell, now president of the China Stamp Society, wrote about these in the China Stamp Society Newsletter.
HOW DAMN STUPID AND DISHONEST CAN YOUR COMPANY BE?
I Will not only continue to post on a blog - www.nyphilatelic.blogspot.com - but will take you to court as an accessory to fraud and write to my bank to drop you as a client.
Respond and take care of this, be real men not fools and thieves.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
eBay fraud stamps/Chinese 'errors' and others are fakes
After having a very good fraud prevention programme on eBay, things have gone very wrong to the point where I will email members to tell them that they have misidentified a stamp, they will thank me, then continue to list blatant lies. It is vile and disgusting. I keep a record of it so that I can warn people on this site and possibly compile a criminal complaints against the dealers and their facilitator, eBay.
Buying stamps without seeing them is a recipe for disaster. Best to buy from a dealer whom you can track down, and after physically examining them.
For the record, among many other stamps I have had to return on eBay (including one coming up where a dealer asserted it was 'signed' and scarse [sic] - it was NOT signed as genuine as he insinuated but stamped 'stempelfalschung' - counterfeit cancel in English) - I am listing a bunch of Chinese pseudo fakes that have taken me months of trying to get a real answer from Paypal about; I cut and pasted my most recent complaint for the record, and will be on this site naming and shaming idiots from NY to Shanghai who are ripping people off. One can see I am not mincing my words and the threat of criminal prosecution is serious, involving federal laws as they are using the USPO to perpetrate these frauds/crossing state lines.
Part of the reason I do this is that many people who do not like to be less than polite just allow Paypal and eBay to do what they want, and they can get ripped off. There is recourse; both firms can be taken to both civil and criminal courts and will if I do not get reimbursed for these stupid 'error' stamps - they are chemically treated - not real errors - and are evidence of criminal activity. See below for my response I emailed today to the automaton at Paypal:
This and the other items:Item# 141598975514 $12.60 USD 1 $12.60 USD
#20 Error China Stamps
Item# 141598981235 $17.50 USD 1 $17.50 USD
#26 Error China Stamps
Item# 141598986594 $66.05 USD 1 $66.05 USD
#18 Error China Stamps
Item# 131451145401 $16.70 USD 1 $16.70 USD
#23 Error China Stamps
Item# 131451148679
are FRAUDS according to the written testimony of no less an authority than former eBay fraud prevention member H. James Maxwell; he is president of the China Stamps Society and knows what he is talking about. eBay and Paypal are selling me FRAUDS this can be a crime and I want MY MONEY BACK ASAP. I have tried to contact before but this is complicated and user unfriendly.
Take these stupid frauds off of eBay or face criminal prosecution.
Ken 100% rated buyer and member China Stamp Society, Collectors Club (NYC) etc.
Buying stamps without seeing them is a recipe for disaster. Best to buy from a dealer whom you can track down, and after physically examining them.
For the record, among many other stamps I have had to return on eBay (including one coming up where a dealer asserted it was 'signed' and scarse [sic] - it was NOT signed as genuine as he insinuated but stamped 'stempelfalschung' - counterfeit cancel in English) - I am listing a bunch of Chinese pseudo fakes that have taken me months of trying to get a real answer from Paypal about; I cut and pasted my most recent complaint for the record, and will be on this site naming and shaming idiots from NY to Shanghai who are ripping people off. One can see I am not mincing my words and the threat of criminal prosecution is serious, involving federal laws as they are using the USPO to perpetrate these frauds/crossing state lines.
Part of the reason I do this is that many people who do not like to be less than polite just allow Paypal and eBay to do what they want, and they can get ripped off. There is recourse; both firms can be taken to both civil and criminal courts and will if I do not get reimbursed for these stupid 'error' stamps - they are chemically treated - not real errors - and are evidence of criminal activity. See below for my response I emailed today to the automaton at Paypal:
This and the other items:Item# 141598975514 $12.60 USD 1 $12.60 USD
#20 Error China Stamps
Item# 141598981235 $17.50 USD 1 $17.50 USD
#26 Error China Stamps
Item# 141598986594 $66.05 USD 1 $66.05 USD
#18 Error China Stamps
Item# 131451145401 $16.70 USD 1 $16.70 USD
#23 Error China Stamps
Item# 131451148679
are FRAUDS according to the written testimony of no less an authority than former eBay fraud prevention member H. James Maxwell; he is president of the China Stamps Society and knows what he is talking about. eBay and Paypal are selling me FRAUDS this can be a crime and I want MY MONEY BACK ASAP. I have tried to contact before but this is complicated and user unfriendly.
Take these stupid frauds off of eBay or face criminal prosecution.
Ken 100% rated buyer and member China Stamp Society, Collectors Club (NYC) etc.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Next meeting of ISC for 29 August 2015
NEXT MEETING OF
INTERNATIONAL STAMP CLUB
IN MANHATTAN
Have you seen this new Canadian $5 stamp. Made of cloth material. I picked one up at the Grand Falls New Brunswick, post office, this summer. We will have an auction so bring those choice items for us all to bid on.Greetings to all and I hope all are enjoying the warm and sunny weather.The next Stamp Club Meeting will be Saturday, August 29th, 2015 9:00 AM -1PM Midtown Plaza Community Room H 320 E 25th St Ground Floor, as always.Bring your, stamps, covers, to sell/ trade and of course your good cheer. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE LAST SATURDAY IN AUGUST! Due to the Labor Day weekend. The meeting has been changed to August 29th. Please call your fellow members who do not get email and let them know of this change.I will Be there and have lots of new material in the club boxes to go through.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me
212 7240929.
See you on August 29th.
Cheers
Dan Rieber
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
June meeting of International Stamp Club in NYC
Next meeting of the International Stamp Club, NYC, is this coming Saturday - here is the info from the president:
Greetings to all and I hope all are enjoying the warm and sunny weather.
The next Stamp Club Meeting will be Saturday, June 6, 2015 9:00 AM -1PM Midtown Plaza Community Room H 320 E 25th St Ground Floor, as always.
Bring your, stamps, covers, to sell/ trade and of course your good cheer. If anyone has a presentation on a stamp related subject that they would like to present, please let me know so we can plan to incorporate it into a future meeting. Please call your fellow members, who do not have email, to remind them.
Once again, I will have more items from the Marty Whitman collection for sale and auction. There will be a dedicated club sale box with these items in it for the for as long as they last. All proceeds go to support and sustain the club.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Chinese Stamps Exhibit at Collectors Club
Just dropped in to the Collectors Club on East 35th in NYC to see the Chinese Stamps Exhibition, which was a collaboration between many persons and entities, including the China Stamps Society.
Starting with the square frame CASH and whole sheets of the 1/3/5 CANDARINS, it went on through other dragon stamps to the 1897 Red Revenue surcharges (created when the stamps ordered from a printer in Japan did not arrive in time) and up to rather recent First Day covers.
This will run until Saturday, and coincides with the NOJEX show in New Jersey.
A list of exhibitions/exhibitors is as follows:
The 1897 Red Revenue Surcharges of China/Ding Jinsong
Customs Large Dragon Stamps, Customs Small Dragon Stamps and Postage Stamps of Chinese People's Revolutionary War Period/Sun Jiangtao
Look at China Through Stamps/ACPF
Regular Stamps of P.R. China/Yu Liugen
Liuhe Pagoda - Featured Preprinted Revenue Stamps Vouchers/Deng Junhui
Introduce the Yangtze River With My Personal Emotion/Xu Xiaohong
Postmark of Double Character/Guo Xiaojin
Commemorative Postage Envelopes and Postage Cards of P.R. China/Luo Jinbo
On China Post/Chen Lixin
Mountain Tale/Sun Fan
The Blue and White Porcelains/Dai Suzhen
Below is the invitations letter from the President of the Collectors Club:
Starting with the square frame CASH and whole sheets of the 1/3/5 CANDARINS, it went on through other dragon stamps to the 1897 Red Revenue surcharges (created when the stamps ordered from a printer in Japan did not arrive in time) and up to rather recent First Day covers.
This will run until Saturday, and coincides with the NOJEX show in New Jersey.
A list of exhibitions/exhibitors is as follows:
The 1897 Red Revenue Surcharges of China/Ding Jinsong
Customs Large Dragon Stamps, Customs Small Dragon Stamps and Postage Stamps of Chinese People's Revolutionary War Period/Sun Jiangtao
Look at China Through Stamps/ACPF
Regular Stamps of P.R. China/Yu Liugen
Liuhe Pagoda - Featured Preprinted Revenue Stamps Vouchers/Deng Junhui
Introduce the Yangtze River With My Personal Emotion/Xu Xiaohong
Postmark of Double Character/Guo Xiaojin
Commemorative Postage Envelopes and Postage Cards of P.R. China/Luo Jinbo
On China Post/Chen Lixin
Mountain Tale/Sun Fan
The Blue and White Porcelains/Dai Suzhen
Below is the invitations letter from the President of the Collectors Club:
Dear Collectors Club Members,
I am pleased to invite you to attend a special Chinese Stamp Exhibition presented by the All China Philatelic Federation at the Clubhouse next week. The exhibition is being held in conjunction with China’s participation as the Guest of Honor at BookExpo America, an annual publishing trade show at the Javits Center.
The exhibition will feature 40 frames of Chinese stamps and postal history presented by four internationally recognized Chinese collectors including Club member Mr. David Lu, Mr. Sun Jiangto, Mr. Ding Jinsong, and Mr. Zhao Yue.
The public opening hours of the exhibition will be:
Wednesday May 27 12:00 noon – 4:30 PM
Thursday May 28 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Friday May 29 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Saturday May 30 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM
I am particularly pleased that this exhibition represents a collaborative and cooperative effort with the American Philatelic Society who are providing the additional frames and the All China Philatelic Federation with whom we look forward to meeting to discuss issues of joint interest. Special thanks to Steven Reinhard, President of the APS, for helping to coordinate the APS support for the event; to Vice President Mark Banchik for arranging publicity for the exhibition; and to Executive Secretary Irene Bromberg who has undertaken extraordinary administrative support to the exhibition on short notice.
I hope that you will have an opportunity to visit the Chinese Stamp Exhibition on your way to or from NOJEX, our local World Series of Philately stamp show, which will be held on May 29-31 at the Clarion Hotel Empire Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, New Jersey. More NOJEX details are available at www.nojex.org.
All the best,
Bruce Marsden
President
Friday, March 27, 2015
eBay fraud
In the March 2015 issue of the China Clipper H. James Maxwell talks about the stupid fraud going on with eBay; he lists eBay sellers anssss2020, 416zr53, 8hk8075, cover--king, jk201112, hhonlone, pmworld777, John Hill and subjecttt as perpetrators of sick fraud - and how eBay is nice to them and allows them to keep their stars.
eBay is not so nice to cash paying customers. For instance, one aspect of this fraud is that when someone in the US wants to send this junk back, they face high prices of tracking #s from the USPS, from $23-$45 and this puts many people off. They know that dealing with a lying dog who fakes stamps means that if they send it back and the dealer claims he did not get it, then how do they get the $ back? And with 45 days to make the claim, eBay might not honour their obligations when the fraud is finally discovered.
Recently a NY member of the China Stamp Society bought a bisect for $135, found it was fake, and tried to return it. The dealer in Switzerland who spoke good English at first, tried to act as if he did not understand English; then he seemed to have a problem with French and German. Then he claimed Paypal did not allow him to return the funds. Only after an email threatening legal action against eBay and Paypal did the person get his money back; and he spent time and $14 on a tracking #. eBay did not refund him the money for the tracking # but morally ought to - especially as eBay "chose to disband all of its fraud prevention programs" - quote from the article aforementioned.
eBay collects 9% or so from dealers, and a major criminal outfit that can sell thousands of nasty fakes on eBay makes them rich. And making it hard for customers to complain works to their advantage. One eBay buyer with 100% ratings and 450+ buys tells me his first purchase never came, but he spent hours on the phone with eBay which did not have compatibility with safari to allow a claim to proceed. eBay could not work with Apple products? How lame. Another time the same person was told to phone the number on the screen - and no number was shown. When he did call, he got the run around and once told he had no claim when eBay got a date wrong. Maybe they are not compatible with the present calendar. Who knows. I think they need a criminal investigation and urge people to also complain to the Chinese Consulate as the Chinese government takes pride in its products and stamps and does not want some outfit run by arrogant slackers to facilitate criminals in China.
However, not all these fraudsters sell out of China - some are based in NYC, making them liable to US laws, including federal if they are using the US Post Office to send their mail.
eBay is not so nice to cash paying customers. For instance, one aspect of this fraud is that when someone in the US wants to send this junk back, they face high prices of tracking #s from the USPS, from $23-$45 and this puts many people off. They know that dealing with a lying dog who fakes stamps means that if they send it back and the dealer claims he did not get it, then how do they get the $ back? And with 45 days to make the claim, eBay might not honour their obligations when the fraud is finally discovered.
Recently a NY member of the China Stamp Society bought a bisect for $135, found it was fake, and tried to return it. The dealer in Switzerland who spoke good English at first, tried to act as if he did not understand English; then he seemed to have a problem with French and German. Then he claimed Paypal did not allow him to return the funds. Only after an email threatening legal action against eBay and Paypal did the person get his money back; and he spent time and $14 on a tracking #. eBay did not refund him the money for the tracking # but morally ought to - especially as eBay "chose to disband all of its fraud prevention programs" - quote from the article aforementioned.
eBay collects 9% or so from dealers, and a major criminal outfit that can sell thousands of nasty fakes on eBay makes them rich. And making it hard for customers to complain works to their advantage. One eBay buyer with 100% ratings and 450+ buys tells me his first purchase never came, but he spent hours on the phone with eBay which did not have compatibility with safari to allow a claim to proceed. eBay could not work with Apple products? How lame. Another time the same person was told to phone the number on the screen - and no number was shown. When he did call, he got the run around and once told he had no claim when eBay got a date wrong. Maybe they are not compatible with the present calendar. Who knows. I think they need a criminal investigation and urge people to also complain to the Chinese Consulate as the Chinese government takes pride in its products and stamps and does not want some outfit run by arrogant slackers to facilitate criminals in China.
However, not all these fraudsters sell out of China - some are based in NYC, making them liable to US laws, including federal if they are using the US Post Office to send their mail.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
A Night at the Collectors Club
This week I dropped in at the Collectors Club (22 East 35th Street, Manhattan) where they were having a members' fav stamps display along with the Annual Business Meeting.
Lots of covers were displayed, including a set of US military covers from WWII (juxtaposed with post-war Chinese stamps, some bearing the image of Mao) that I liked a lot. Member George Slessinger put that one up, and other entries included post war German covers; I saw for the first time the Saxon imperfs used on a letter. These were only around for a short time along with the AM stamps that are also scarce on covers. An a very interesting display by the president of the club was from his mail fraud collection, focusing on a quack medical device. And of course there was at least one with a display of artistic stamps, which will be a later post by me.
Keith Harmer was in attendance, and with him a copy of a letter from 1795 that intimated that a British ship would arrive in the area now known as Guyana, then known as Demarara, and which, perhaps due to the presence of this ship, became British Guiana. We had been discussing the sale of stamps from this country as after the one penny magenta sold for a record $9.8 million at Sotheys last year, the rest of the collection of John E. du Pont was disposed of by an auction house in Europe which sold it to the Sheikh of Qatar, who passed away having only paid a fraction of the bid. Who owns the stamps now is a legal question to be decided on three continents. And of course it adds to the mystique.
British Guiana items are hot now, and getting back to that letter, it seems like an espionage item as the recipient, Hugh Calmont, was being advised to get all the cotton he could on board when the ship arrived; the writer, Mr Higgins, seemed privy to some inside information on this and knew of the alliance between France and the Dutch. Hearing these details, a man with a silver skull ring smiled and produced a much more modern letter, with some similar details but about thorium and tantalum. Both of these are metals that are useful to energy and communication respectively. The former is still in a research stage, but could replace uranium as a more environmentally friendly resource, with much attention being paid to it by the Chinese. In America, it is politically controversial, and politicians keep their staff under non-disclosure agreements when dealing with it.
As to tantalum, it is the essential metal for cell phones and computers. It could be mined in Greenland or in the DR Congo. In Greenland the weather is a factor, and in the latter country politics. Man, being more in control of politics than the weather, decided to mine it in the African nation and now there is an upcoming election; and forces in that country that have determined they will not let the incumbent stand a third term, but seek to replace him with the governor of Katanga.
And so who knows if at some future auction a cryptic 2015 letter written in Word and printed out on a standard computer will fetch a high price. Somewhere in the stamp world there must be a collector whose niche field is espionage related covers. If so, the Collectors Club will certainly be just the spot for them. And of course, for all kinds of other collectors - this was discussed at length in the meeting and expect the club to grow in membership in the coming years with all kinds of new events including field trips from local schools.
Lots of covers were displayed, including a set of US military covers from WWII (juxtaposed with post-war Chinese stamps, some bearing the image of Mao) that I liked a lot. Member George Slessinger put that one up, and other entries included post war German covers; I saw for the first time the Saxon imperfs used on a letter. These were only around for a short time along with the AM stamps that are also scarce on covers. An a very interesting display by the president of the club was from his mail fraud collection, focusing on a quack medical device. And of course there was at least one with a display of artistic stamps, which will be a later post by me.
Keith Harmer was in attendance, and with him a copy of a letter from 1795 that intimated that a British ship would arrive in the area now known as Guyana, then known as Demarara, and which, perhaps due to the presence of this ship, became British Guiana. We had been discussing the sale of stamps from this country as after the one penny magenta sold for a record $9.8 million at Sotheys last year, the rest of the collection of John E. du Pont was disposed of by an auction house in Europe which sold it to the Sheikh of Qatar, who passed away having only paid a fraction of the bid. Who owns the stamps now is a legal question to be decided on three continents. And of course it adds to the mystique.
British Guiana items are hot now, and getting back to that letter, it seems like an espionage item as the recipient, Hugh Calmont, was being advised to get all the cotton he could on board when the ship arrived; the writer, Mr Higgins, seemed privy to some inside information on this and knew of the alliance between France and the Dutch. Hearing these details, a man with a silver skull ring smiled and produced a much more modern letter, with some similar details but about thorium and tantalum. Both of these are metals that are useful to energy and communication respectively. The former is still in a research stage, but could replace uranium as a more environmentally friendly resource, with much attention being paid to it by the Chinese. In America, it is politically controversial, and politicians keep their staff under non-disclosure agreements when dealing with it.
As to tantalum, it is the essential metal for cell phones and computers. It could be mined in Greenland or in the DR Congo. In Greenland the weather is a factor, and in the latter country politics. Man, being more in control of politics than the weather, decided to mine it in the African nation and now there is an upcoming election; and forces in that country that have determined they will not let the incumbent stand a third term, but seek to replace him with the governor of Katanga.
And so who knows if at some future auction a cryptic 2015 letter written in Word and printed out on a standard computer will fetch a high price. Somewhere in the stamp world there must be a collector whose niche field is espionage related covers. If so, the Collectors Club will certainly be just the spot for them. And of course, for all kinds of other collectors - this was discussed at length in the meeting and expect the club to grow in membership in the coming years with all kinds of new events including field trips from local schools.
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