Stamp dealing consumes a considerable amount of my time. However, I still collect stamps when time permits. I have a US collection, a collection of France, precancels, Mailer’s Precancel Postmarks, precancelled postal cards and a few other smaller collections.

I also have an “Odds and Ends” collection. It is a three-inch binder with homemade album pages. Many of the pages are just white paper with a thin black border. There are other kinds of pages in this album too.

The average dealer would look at this collection and think, “What a bunch of assorted junk.”

The monetary value of this collection is almost zero. The sentimental value of this collection is enormous. There are primarily two types of things in this collection.

First is material that is of interest to me, but it does not fit in any other collection. For example, I have a complete collection of the popular Wilkinsburg Stamp Club satirical souvenir sheets. These souvenir sheets mock each years US stamp issues. They are very popular in the philatelic community. They do not fit into other collections I have.

The second types of items are things that come from philatelic friends. For example, a customer of mine recently sent to me a souvenir card depicting the British Guiana 1¢ Magenta that he obtained from Irwin Weinberg who once owned that stamp. I kept the card and his letter. I have many of these little mementos to remember various people whom I have come in contact with over the years. This part of the collection has enormous sentimental value to me. Many of those philatelic friends are enjoying the stamp club in Heaven. They left a little piece of themselves with me. Reviewing this material brings back many fond memories.

You cannot put a price on some material.