I started collecting in 1977 at the age of 12. Who did I deal with many years ago?

My best friend, Eric, lived across the street from me in Somerset, PA where I grew up. His dad collected stamps and had a fabulous stamp collection. I still remember drooling over the mint set of Zeppelins (C13-15) that he purchased. Eric’s dad bought from Stanley Gibbons in New York, NY. He gave me a copy of their pricelist and I started ordering from them.

I later switched to a small dealer, Samuel L. Stone, from Boston, MA. He went by “S. L. Stone”. I ordered from him for many years. He passed away some time ago. While I was his customer, he started using an MPP cancel on his mail and MPPs are my favorite area of philately. I still collect MPPs and I have a few covers from Mr. Stone. They bring back many fond memories.

Like many collectors, I took a break from stamps when I was in college. I got active in stamps again around 1999 and found the Minnesota Stamp Company. I was a customer of theirs for several years. When I became a dealer myself in 2004, I stopped buying from them, of course! That company is still in business today, under new ownership.

Throughout the years, I attended many stamp shows as a collector and I bought from various dealers. I met several fine dealers that way.

Those are the dealers I did business with as a collector. I hope you enjoy working with me as much as I enjoyed working with them.