AESTHETIC PHILATELY

Philately, or more simply, the postage stamp, is coming up in the world--for it has been recognized by the United States Government as an art of international importance. Mr. Glover, the Third Assistant Postmaster General, is even now en route to England with an official exhibit of the various issues which this country has printed. He will enter this display, arranged in the form of a gigantic shield, in the International Stamp Exhibition at the Royal Horticultural Hall, London; and it is expected that the American shield will surpass the exhibit of any other nation in beauty and value. President Harding himself has described it as "an exhibit worthy of so great a country".

Friends of philately hail this event as a landmark in the history of the postage stamp. But in reality it is only a single step in a steadily ascending series. For the importance and artistic value of the postage stamp has long been recognized by governments as well as by amateur collectors.

Aside from its practical uses, it has furnished much extra revenue, for collectors often buy a new issue of-stamps as they come off the plates, and thus present the Government with so much gift-money. And when "errors" occur such as an inverted head, or an omitted numeral, enthusiasts are willing to spend a fortune to obtain the curiosity. Such a stamp, with the picture of an aeroplane upside down in a 24 cent frame, has been valued at 1000 dollars per copy.

Until lately the United States has had the advantage of other countries, for it has had an excuse to print a new issue whenever a new president is elected, or an old one has died, or whenever some centenary has been celebrated, whereas kingdoms or empires can only issue new stamps when the ruling monarch dies. But now the custom is becoming prevalent of using landscape designs, and Europe is on a par with America. If the present exhibit is successful, a new international rivalry may be created. But the stamp shield is likely to produce still wider effects. Certain artistic collectors already use postage stamps for wall paper: and the chance for the working out of large fancy designs seems unlimited. Stamp collectors even copy the example of a German couple, who used currency to make suits of clothes save that the perforations between the stamps might prove inconvenient.