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In part three of our inside view of the Bill Webster sale, we shall focus on the federal waterfowl stamps. This session of the auction proved to be quite an experience for all who participated; for myself it was at various times exciting, frustrating, humbling and – ultimately – encouraging and heartening. When discussing the prints session in part two of…

In this, the second of three parts providing an inside view from the Bill Webster sale, we shall focus on the federal waterfowl stamp prints. This was the most organized part of Bill’s collection and prior to the sale I had always thought that Bill and I were the only two collectors to acquire one print…

We are back from our trip and I am ready to provide you with an insider’s look at the Bill Webster Sale, held at the Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York on Friday, March March 18, 2016. First, I am happy to inform everyone that for the second consecutive year, a fish and game exhibit…

Many of you have expressed regrets that you were unable to see the exhibit consisting of portions of my collection that took place at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibit opened in the Rarities Gallery on the 4th of July in 1998. My son, Eric, was seven years old at the time and became the youngest person ever…

As we learned in Part One, the medium Edwin Kalmbach chose for his original artwork in 1941 was tempera with a black and white wash. For most collectors, the closest we can get to enjoying our favorite artists’ work is through a print copied from the original art and reproduced in an edition size that was…

In todays post, we will begin to explore artist signed stamps and prints. Once a mainstay of the market, artist signed material went a little soft during the great recession. However, if the results from Siegel’s (March 2016) Bill Webster sale are any indication – artist signed stamps and prints may be poised for a huge…

Aside from the proofs, singles, plate number blocks and sheets that we discussed in Part One, what else can be added to a specialized collection of (in this case) the 1941-42 federal waterfowl stamp (RW8)? A lot of things that can help to provide context and make the story more interesting – and some pieces that are just enjoyable…

Yes, I know, I am one of the foremost persons crusading to change the way we refer to to these stamps and make it waterfowl rather than duck stamps. Waterfowl stamps is undeniably more correct, as the stamps have portrayed – and conveyed the right to harvest – various other waterfowl species besides ducks. However, there is a reason for…

The Michigan bear stamps that were issued from 1959 through 1963 have always been popular with collectors. The stamps from this classic period are jumbo-sized pictorials and each features a large illustration of a bear or a bear being chased by hunting dogs. The stamps are similar to the wildly popular Michigan Cisco Netting stamps that…

The legislation with the most profound effect on our story in 1918-1919 was not passed in California. It was passed in Congress and is known as The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. With this legislation, the federal government accepted the responsibility for the protection of migratory waterfowl in the United States. At this time,…