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For today’s conclusion to the series about Morton Dean Joyce, I have chosen to highlight two short-lived series of fish and game stamps that were issued by West Virginia in 1960 and 1961. I wanted to pick stamps that most collectors were already familiar with and perhaps own. West Virginia has a diverse licensing history, a sampling of which I thought would make for a compelling introduction.…

In part four of our series on Morton Dean Joyce and his involvement with the hobby of fish and game stamps, I would like to begin focussing on some of his mainstream multiples. Specifically, state fish and game stamps that were printed and issued in booklet pane format. As we saw in part one, Mort…

As we have seen in parts one and two, Morton Dean Joyce was extraordinarily diligent and, therefore, often learned of new of stamps being offered or sold prior to other collectors. In addition, his clear advantages in business acumen and wealth often made it possible for him to acquire not just rare and unusual stamps, but multiples of these stamps…

In todays post, I will focus on highlights from the state fish and game portions of the Morton Dean Joyce revenue stamp collection. It is fair to say that Mort never met a revenue stamp he did not like. He not only collected all revenue stamps but collateral material as well and he amassed copious documentation that was…

Morton Dean Joyce is known for being the greatest revenue stamp collector of all time. When one thinks of Joyce they usually think of his wonderful general U.S. governmental revenue collection and especially his private die match and medicine stamps – truly collections for the ages. Not so well known is that Morton, or Mort as he…

I am back from my annual Halloween hiatus and eager to get back to work. Before I introduce Gallery Eight I would like to take some time to explain a recent major upgrade to the website. One of the comments that we have repeatedly encountered is that while everyone enjoys the high resolution scans, they are sometimes slow…

As it is October, I thought I would share a scary story or, at least a story that was kind of scary for me. I have been told this is one of my better anecdotes, so hopefully it will start to put you in the mood for Halloween – my favorite holiday! It also shows the lengths some collectors…

Today I will talk about King Buck, arguably one the most famous sporting dogs that ever lived and certainly the most important dog in the fish and game hobby. Then, in the culmination of our story, we will see how the iconic 1959-60 federal waterfowl stamp came into being. In a surprising narrative – and perhaps for the first time – Maynard Reece…

In todays post, I will talk about the legendary wildlife artist Maynard Reece. Still strong and sharp at 96 years of age, Maynard consented to a series of interviews this past week and through these, I gained some insights for our story. As with Ding Darling, there have been numerous accounts written about Maynard’s life and, once again,…

In todays post, I will talk about Ding Darling and reveal his role in our story. Much has been written about Darling and I will attempt to summarize the literature and hopefully add a few insights not readily found elsewhere. When discussing Darling’s early years, many writers point to a series of events that are…