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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations 
December 15-16, 2001:


Anthrax Yields New Collectibles.


The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.
 
Some of the mail delayed because of the anthrax scare is 
arriving finally, wrapped in plastic bags, although without 
any notes about the problem. In the past, mail damaged by 
fires or crashes HAS come with such notes or rubber-stamp 
markings...but even without them, mail in those bags is
something to collect.


Shipments of stamps to collectors from the Postal Service 
facility in Kansas City where anthrax spores were discovered 
are arriving with cards that reassure customers that the 
white powder that may be enclosed is corn starch, used to 
keep the stamps dry. Those cards, too, are collectibles.


Some of the mail being irradiated has caught fire. Others 
pieces, including collectors' special envelopes, have arrived 
discolored, perhaps from ALMOST catching fire. 


You'd think collectors might be annoyed at the damage, but 
instead, the comments I'm seeing so far are "Wow! I may have 
something special." Time will tell whether these become 
collectibles or garbage.


And that's stamp collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News.

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