Learn more about stamps, collecting

Connie Cousins

A short time ago, I didn't know about the American Philatelic Center — its purpose, or where it was located. I recall seeing it listed as an entry under "Centre County attractions."

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The rare Jenny Invert stamp, which features an upside down biplane, was included in a recent exhibit at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte.

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Discovering it was in the geographic area covered by this column — at 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, I wanted to know more. A stamp show, U.S. Classics 2009, was being held last weekend and I was able to browse the displays, the vendor tables, the West Virginia post office and general store on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, the rare stamps and the many collections of 19th century U.S. stamps that were part of the show.

Founded in 1886, the American Philatelic Society is a nonprofit association for stamp collectors. Its services include the American Philatelist magazine; an extensive Web site www.stamps.org); an expertizing service, APEX, which offers opinions on the genuineness of philatelic material; an online marketplace www.stampstore.org.); sales circuits; educational programs including the Summer Seminar on Philately; the American Philatelic Research Library; a translation service, two major stamp shows yearly; and much more.

The society is for the enjoyment and education of stamp collectors from beginners to those who have been buying, selling, trading and enjoying their stamps since childhood. Members have access to the library housing myriad books on stamps from around the world.

The society building also houses a Crimescope CS-16, much like ones the FBI uses to help spot fraud and illegal use of stamps and to validate a rare find.

Along with the U.S. Classics 2009 Show, the American Philatelic Center hosted the fourth annual Postal History Symposium. The symposium brought together historians, collectors, researchers and others to discuss and present research that tied together philately and the mail as it relates to history and society.

Until 1840, there were no prepaid mailings. The recipient of your letter paid when it arrived. Gradually fees and stamps were instituted until, by 1855, according to Ken Martin, executive director of the society, you had to pay for the service.

The collections for the show had many unstamped and stamped letters from the 1840s.

There were two very rare stamps on exhibit. The 1- cent Z-Grill is the most valuable U.S. stamp — made extraordinary by the grill, a security measure applied to U.S. stamps to prevent reuse. A metal ruler was cut out to form a waffle-like grid, applied to the stamp, which broke the paper fibers, caused the ink to sink more deeply into the stamp and made it more difficult to remove the cancel or the stamp.

The stamp is one of only two in existence, and in 2005, Donald Sundman, president of the Mystic Stamp Co., traded the Z-Grill for a block of air-mail error stamps worth almost $3 million. The stamp’s current owner, Bill Gross, is a private collector and has a complete collection of 19th century U.S. stamps.

The other rare stamp was the Jenny Invert, perhaps the most famous U.S. stamp. William T. Robey went to a post office in Washington, D.C., to buy a pane of the first U.S. air-mail stamps, but the panes seemed off center and he decided to come back the next day for the proper ones.

Much to his dismay, the entire 100 stamps he purchased showed the Curtiss Jenny biplane upside down. The whereabouts of most of the 100 have been traced. The stamp on display is owned by the American Philatelic Research Library.

Connie Cousins writes the weekly On Centre column on Bellefonte. She can be reached at connie.cousins@yahoo.com.