Download this report as an MP3 sound file.

Changing Times

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

[music :04 and under]

2013 may go down in stamp collecting history as the year U-S stamp policies changed.

The new Harry Potter stamps are just the latest incident. They feature the living actors
in the British films, and for no other reason than that the Postal Service believes these
stamps make money.

But we’ve also learned that a panel which for more than 50 years has helped choose stamp
subjects, is largely being ignored. Most of its members aren’t stamp collectors... so
it’s not just the hobbyists who are upset.

If there were any doubt about the direction of U-S stamps, Postmaster General Patrick
Donahoe, who says he’s a stamp collector, told the Washington Post that his agency,
quote, “needs to change its focus toward stamps that are more commercial.”

But it’s not just what’s ON the stamps. Most of today’s collectors started by keeping
the stamps that were on the mail that came into the house. These days, little mail comes
into the house, and what there is usually doesn’t have stamps on it.

Is the change in focus good or bad? I’m not sure. I just know that...

[music up, establish, under]

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

----------------------------------------------------------
Go to Previous Report
Go to Next Report 

Go to Report Index