and some bad news

Yes, from the same auction... someone started collecting in the 70s. Before they got smart in the 80s (buying sheets of unused stamps), they collected used stamps....and glued them into a notebook.

Probably nothing valuable so no great loss, but still disappointing. later, if I have time, I will see which ones - if any - can be soaked off, but I am not expecting great results.

More good news

The good news continues. From the same auction listed above -- piles and piles of used US postage stamps. Nothing valuable whatsoever - but all good for trading with people outside the US.

The downside, however, is that they are all still attached to corners of envelopes. That means hours and hours of soaking, peeling, drying, and flattening.

Anyway, the collection is growing...

Good news....

Yes, good news indeed.

At my suggestion, my father has been watching for used postage stamps at local auctions, where he often looks for antiques.

Usually, if stamps are advertised at an auction, the collectors come and the prices go high.

But once in a while, you get lucky. The stamps are not advertised, and no one is interested in them.

He paid a single dollar (maybe 80 Japanese yen at current exchange rates) for a box full of old stamps, including many sheets. Someone had collected used stamps for years and then began buying new sheets at the post office. But they didn't take good care of them, and some of the sheets are stuck together. However, many are in great shape. Hundreds of dollars of unused stamps at face value, probably a little higher in actual value.

I have never actively searched for valuable stamps, and have only sought used / cancelled stamps so far. But I welcome these additions, sheets and sheets of stamps, the stuff "real" collectors go after (though probably quite common, not so valuable).

I won't be expecting any more such lucky finds in the future, but I will be keeping my eyes open at auctions in the future.

long lost stamp album

It is FINALLY time for a vacation in the US! This one is long overdue. And it is already over halfway finished.

One high point was finding my long-lost stamp album from about 30 years ago, when I first started collecting used postage stamps. It is now hopelessly out-of-date, but it has great sentimental value to me, taking me back to long afternoons in my grandmother's basement with stamps spread out everywhere.

On our last trip to the US, two years ago, I had just gotten interested in stamps again. I dug out that old album, buried in a closet, and reveled in the hundreds of pages. But my memory was blurred - a friend of someone in the family might have wanted to start collecting stamps, and I might have said they could have my old album....

So for the past year, I have been waiting and hoping.

And yes, I found it again, buried under the mountains of books I have stored in the basement. I won't be bringing it back to Japan, but now I know where it is for certain and that it will be waiting for me.

Actually, there were many more stamp-related surprises this visit....stay tuned for upcoming posts.

日本語 hints:
* out-of-date = too old, unfashionable, 時代遅れ
* sentimental value = 感情価値
* dug out = 掘り出した
* revel in = ....を大いに楽しむ／喜ぶ

Stamps from Work

As a young boy, I collected stamps in Omaha, Nebraska. One of my parents' co-workers at Mutual of Omaha received many letters from overseas and was kind enough to save all of them for me. I had no idea what a great resource she was at the time.

I have no such easy source of large numbers of stamps from other countries just now, so I take what I can get. i was quite happy to receive two new ones for my collection from a co-worker last week. Both are probably common in their countries of origin (UK, Japan), but both were new stamps for me and are much appreciated.

These days, I suppose all overseas correspondence at Mutual of Omaha is conducted via email. I suppose that is good for paper reduction and the environment and all, but I think the concurrent loss of stamps is a tough blow to collectors.

日本語 hints

Mutual of Omaha - A large insurance company (保険会社) based in, well, Omaha Nebraska

a shell in the hand

Just doing some catching up...

Two days of TOEIC in Yokohama (just done). Three days of an email course in Yotsuya last week, and two days of a meetings course in Chiba. And so on, moving back in time. No time for stamps these days.

But tonight I have a slight breather and can make a small offering - a shell in my daughter's hand, actually from about a year ago.
日本語 hints

a breather = a small rest, or a break in the busy schedule. 一息つく？？

More to come...

trading postage stamps

No big happenings in my stamp world lately, just moving forward slowly.

I continue to slowly expand the scope of the collection. I am not ready to focus on a single topic or country yet.

Many people have already told me it is time (it is past time!) to narrow my focus, but for now I just want to gather stamps and trade stamps.

Any readers interested in trading, please leave a comment with your email ( I will not publish your email address on the blog, of course).