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POSTAGE STAMPS
OF GREAT VALUE
Ramance in the Little Bits of
Printed Paper - The Rarest
Stamp.
From the Strand Magazine.
Not a little of the fascination which
the study anrd collecting of poatage
stamps holds for enthusiasts lies in the
fact that the story of their origin and
subsequent history is in many cases of
an exceedingly romantic character.

The single known copy of the rarest
stamp in the world, valued at [l]2,000-
the one-cent British Guiana issued in
1856 - was discovered by a young collector
in the colony among some old family
papers stored away in an attic.
Knowing nothing of its scarcity, and not
being favorably impressed by its appearance,
he sold it to another collector for a
trifiling sum, the purchaser being also
ignorant of his great bargain. Ultimately
it found its way to Europe and now
reposes in the collection of M. Philippe
de la Renotiere of Paris, who purchased
it many years ago.

The value of [l]1,4500 is placed upon the
famous "Post Office Mauritius" stamp,
which was crudely engraved on a small
copper plate by a local watchmaker of
Port Louis, and issued September 21,
1847. A total of only 500 copies of each
of these stamps were tediously printed
off one at a time from the plate, and the
majority of these were used on invitations
to a ball sent out by Lady Gomm,
wife of the governor of the colony.

It is not until nearly twenty years
after their issue that the first two copies
of these rarities were brought to light by
a young stamp collector of Bordeaux.
The most perfect used copy of the 2 pence
post office Mauritius was sold by auction
in 1904 for no less a sum than [l]1,4500.
and is now included in King George's
collection.

To the story of the watchmaker who
designed this stamp may be added that of
the baker's boy who engraved a stamp of
the Republic of Corrientes, now forming
part of the Argentine federation. In 1855
it was decided by the authorities to issue
stamps, but they could find no engraver
to cut the die or prepare the plates. While
one of the officals was discussing the
situation with the head of the state printing
office on his veranda one morning a
baker's boy arrived with the daily supply
of bread, and overhearing the conversation,
volunteered to undertake to South
America he had been apprenticed to an
engraver in Italy. Ultimately the boy was
given the work to do, and he turned out
a stamp which, although crude, served for
all postage stamps issued in Corrientes
from 1855 to 1880.

Probably few people are aware of the
fact, by the way, that his majesty (then
Prince of Wales) was responsible for the
design of the 1903 postage stamps of
Canada, university ackowledged to be
the most artistic stamps of the late king's coronation
the postmaster general of Canada,
then on a visit to England, took the opportunity
of consulting his royal highness
on the subject of the proposed new
issue of postage stamps for the Dominion.
The prince at once took the keenest
interest in the work, designed the stamp
in conjunction with a member of the
Royal Philatellic Society, and superintended
the preparation of the "master
die" in this country. The Edwardian
stamps of Canada can therefore lay
claim to the distinctionof being designed
by a king.

A stamp round which centers one of
the foulest political crimes of modern
history is the so-called "death-mask
stamp" of Servia, issued in 1904 to
commemorate the accession of King
Peter I. The dastardly assassination
of King Alexander and his Queen
Draga by miitary officers, June 11,
1903, wiped out the Obrenovitch dynasty
from the throne of Servia and paved
the way for the present king.

After the tragedy one of the most
famous of French stamp engravers
was commissioned to prepare a stamp
from a design by a Servian artist,
showing on a single plaque the twin
profiles of Kara Georg, the founder of
the dynasty which bears his name, and
King Peter, his descendant.

The stamps were issued at the time of
King Peter's coronation in 1905, and
hardly had they got into circulation
when it was discovered that the
"death-mask" of the late King Alexander
had been skillfully and subtly
introduced into the design, and on the
stamp being inverted could be plainly
traced in the reversed features of the
two heads.

This discovery at once caused an outery,
the stratagem being ascribed to
ex-Queen Nathalie, mother of the murdered
Kings, and her supporters, but all
connivance in the plot was indignantly
repudiated by the engraver, and the
mystery of this extrordinary happening
has never been satisfactorily
cleared up.