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Postal Proliferation

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

The number of stamps countries issue each year is soaring. Once, the countries that
issued too many stamps were banana republics and so-called sand dune kingdoms of the
Middle East, but now—

“A lot of the major industrialized countries are issuing stamps like  there is no
tomorrow.”
RUNS :06

Marty Frankevicz is the New Issues editor of the Scott stamp catalogues, THE reference
for collectors in the U-S. He says postal agencies worldwide are watching the bottom
line.

“They are told to at least break even, if not make a profit, and the only way they seem
to see as a way of doing that is to issue more and more stamps.”
RUNS :10

To get an idea of the increasing speed with which countries are issuing stamps, take
the latest catalogue number, and divide by two. Where’s that mid-point for the U-S?

“That’s sometime in the mid 1980s, and we started in 1847. (laughs)”
RUNS :05

So 140 years for the first half, 25 for the second. The U-S isn’t the worst, says
Frankevicz Take Australia, for example.

“They’ve been issuing stamps like there is no tomorrow. That half-point year is actually
in 2000.”
RUNS:06

France and Britain are pretty bad, too, but the absolute worst in postal proliferation
is—

“Japan, we figure, issues basically one stamp per day — one different design per day.”
RUNS :06

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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