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Storm Damage

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

I got a call from an insurance company the other day. Would I go evaluate a stamp
collection in my specialty for a damage claim. I took a look at the map; the location was
one of those hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

I know the owner — the insurance company says that’s fine — and so I know something about
his collection already... and I dread what I’m going to find. Some of his material is one
of a kind, or close to it. Not only has he suffered a loss, so has stamp collecting.

After Hurricane Katrina, I heard of a collector finding the stamps from his collection
floating in his basement. Water and stamps don’t mix. A principal from a major stamp
auction house was killed in the Pan Am Flight 1-0-3 bombing years ago; was he bringing back
rare stamps from Europe?

Every time there’s a major disaster, besides the awful human toll, part of me wonders what
rare stamps and collectibles have been destroyed.

Of course, the destruction of collectibles by natural and manmade disasters is part of
what makes rarities rare.

It’s still sad to lose them.

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

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