Stamp Sale

To laymen the world's best-known stamp collectors are George V of Britain and Franklin D. Roosevelt of the U. S. Philatelists know that the world's greatest stamp collectors were Count Philippe la Renotiere von Ferrari of Austria and Arthur Hind of Utica, N. Y. who bought the cream of the Ferrari collection on the Count's death and who died last March at the age of 77 (TIME, March 13). Last week the most important philatelic event since the Ferrari sale of 1922 occurred in Manhattan when the first part of the great Hind collection was auctioned.

Arthur Hind emigrated to the U. S. 43 years ago, established a plush mill in Utica which greatly prospered. Personal profits went into stamps. His first big purchase was a lot of 12,000 for which he paid $3,000. After weeding out forgeries, worthless stamps, repaired and damaged stamps, 500 were left. The faster plush rolled out of his mills the faster stamps snowed into his albums. Lord Duveen managed to sell him his own stamp collection for $170,000. In 1922 Arthur Hind made world headlines by paying the highest price ever for a postage stamp-- $32,500 for the only 1856 1-c- British Guiana stamp in existence.

Because there is little esthetic appeal in a postage stamp, prices are what make philatelic news. Last week's records: a 10-c- Baltimore postmaster stamp for $10,500 ($500 over its previous high); a 3-c- green on blue envelope of 1874 for $510; a 15-c- brown & blue 1869 with inverted center for $7,000 (1917 high: $4,100).

One of the most interesting lots was a block of four 24-c- red & blue 1918 air mail stamps on which the airplane was printed upside down. The sheet of 100 was bought at the Washington postoffice at the issue price of $24, taken to New York, then to Philadelphia where Eugene Klein picked it up for $15,000. He in turn sold it to the late Hetty Green's son for $20,000; Col. Green kept 20 and returned the rest back to Klein who peddled them to other collectors. Last week Collector Hind's block of four fetched $12,100.

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