Society Receives Stamp Collection

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer-

!photo=N0421012.JPG

Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union

Among the oldest stamps in the Jack Clark collection are those issued depicting former presidents. Above are: (L to R) a 1-cent Harding, 3-cent Washington and a 4-cent Taft.

SYRACUSE - Although his grandmother wasn't a "pushy-type," she roped Jack Clark in as neatly as an experienced sailor tying up to the dock.

Beginning with a mild mention, a few little rectangles of printed paper and donations from her own collection, the woman sparked the boy's interest in stamp collecting, history and genealogy, which has lasted a lifetime.

On Thursday Clark, a medical doctor, gave his vast collection of U.S. postage stamps to the Kosciusko County Historical Society. The oldest stamps were issued between 1930 and 1932, showing former U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding on a 1-cent stamp, George Washington on a 3-cent stamp and William Howard Taft on a 4-cent stamp.

The most recent is a sheet of 15 different 32-cent stamps depicting the highlights of the second decade of the 20th century.

A 45-cent Daniel Webster stamp is the most valuable, listed at $95.

"I hope the collection inspires others to study history and especially to become stamp collectors," said Clark, a long-time member of the Historical Society.

Consisting of 3,600 items, the catalogued collection has been divided into three parts.

First is three books of 1,431 chronologically arranged individual stamps.

Many of these have been used and others are in mint condition.

The first of these books has short items giving details about the subjects of the stamps.

The second set of the collection consists of 623 first-day covers - stamps, pre-stamped envelopes, embossed envelopes and post cards canceled on the first day the postal item was issued in the town or towns in which they were first issued.

Presented in eight parts, the large majority of these items are also cacheted or contain additional printed material about the postal item issued.

The last part of the collection is a 33-book collection of 1,525 Mint Postal items, beginning with the 1984 Commemorative Mint set and ending with the 1997 set. These are stamps, pre-stamped envelopes, embossed envelopes and post cards that have not been canceled.

These items are mounted in special publications with the sets tucked into a clear envelope at the back of the book.

Considerable detail is given on the subjects of the stamps.

There are often only one or two stamps per page in these books which are published and sold by the United States Post Office Department.

A three-part catalogue of the postal items is also part of the collection, one for each of the three main parts.

This includes the identification of the section and book, identification of the specific postal items along with its Scott Catalog Number and the value of the individual postal item.

For the semi-retired Clark, the collection has been the study of a lifetime.

Historical society members now have cataloguing of their own to do, and according to museum director Jeannie Jones, plans are under way for an appropriate display case for the collection. [[In-content Ad]]

!photo=N0421012.JPG

Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union

Among the oldest stamps in the Jack Clark collection are those issued depicting former presidents. Above are: (L to R) a 1-cent Harding, 3-cent Washington and a 4-cent Taft.

SYRACUSE - Although his grandmother wasn't a "pushy-type," she roped Jack Clark in as neatly as an experienced sailor tying up to the dock.

Beginning with a mild mention, a few little rectangles of printed paper and donations from her own collection, the woman sparked the boy's interest in stamp collecting, history and genealogy, which has lasted a lifetime.

On Thursday Clark, a medical doctor, gave his vast collection of U.S. postage stamps to the Kosciusko County Historical Society. The oldest stamps were issued between 1930 and 1932, showing former U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding on a 1-cent stamp, George Washington on a 3-cent stamp and William Howard Taft on a 4-cent stamp.

The most recent is a sheet of 15 different 32-cent stamps depicting the highlights of the second decade of the 20th century.

A 45-cent Daniel Webster stamp is the most valuable, listed at $95.

"I hope the collection inspires others to study history and especially to become stamp collectors," said Clark, a long-time member of the Historical Society.

Consisting of 3,600 items, the catalogued collection has been divided into three parts.

First is three books of 1,431 chronologically arranged individual stamps.

Many of these have been used and others are in mint condition.

The first of these books has short items giving details about the subjects of the stamps.

The second set of the collection consists of 623 first-day covers - stamps, pre-stamped envelopes, embossed envelopes and post cards canceled on the first day the postal item was issued in the town or towns in which they were first issued.

Presented in eight parts, the large majority of these items are also cacheted or contain additional printed material about the postal item issued.

The last part of the collection is a 33-book collection of 1,525 Mint Postal items, beginning with the 1984 Commemorative Mint set and ending with the 1997 set. These are stamps, pre-stamped envelopes, embossed envelopes and post cards that have not been canceled.

These items are mounted in special publications with the sets tucked into a clear envelope at the back of the book.

Considerable detail is given on the subjects of the stamps.

There are often only one or two stamps per page in these books which are published and sold by the United States Post Office Department.

A three-part catalogue of the postal items is also part of the collection, one for each of the three main parts.

This includes the identification of the section and book, identification of the specific postal items along with its Scott Catalog Number and the value of the individual postal item.

For the semi-retired Clark, the collection has been the study of a lifetime.

Historical society members now have cataloguing of their own to do, and according to museum director Jeannie Jones, plans are under way for an appropriate display case for the collection. [[In-content Ad]]

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