How many stamp collectors are there in Taiwan? There are great differences in the estimates of stamp dealers, with guesses going from 600,000 to 1,000,000. According to conservative estimates of the Directorate-General of Posts (DGP), there are about 360,000 long-term subscribers, plus those who buy on contingency, for about 500,000 more or less.

If we leave out the new "stamp accumulators" who constitute about half, what's the interest in stamp collecting? Why does the pleasure never seem to end?

People say that there are three great functions of stamp collecting--tranquility, knowledge and storing value. Besides the intrinsic beauty of stamps, studying the historical background and the reasons why they were issued, and anticipation of future increases in value, all bring enjoyment to the stamp collector.

Tsung Hsiao-an, head of the Yangming Transport Stamp Club, has only been a collector for two years, but he has already invested nearly NT$1 million in buying stamps and gathering stamp information. The investment of time is even more startling: Tsung says that he spends about two hours per day organizing stamps, reading stamp information, and studying postal history.

An addictive hobby: A Mr.Hsu, an elderly man who has been collecting stamps for 60 years since starting in the third grade, talks about his addictive hobby: "When I was small my family was afraid I would 'lose myself in petty pursuits,' saying that I only thought about stamp collecting and not studying. My mother even burned my stamps twice, and I gave up many times, but then I would send a letter and see that the stamp was really beautiful, and start secretly collecting all over again."

Wang Tun-jen, president of the Philately Association of the R.O.C., points out that stamp collecting requires three things: time, money and interest, and none can be dispensed with. The most important is interest, because if you have interest then you won't mind spending the time and money.

Wang Tun-jen takes himself as an example. In order to specially collect foreign stamps, he studied foreign languages, immersed himself in foreign geography, and even made a gaggle of pen pals for the stamps. These were all "added bonuses" besides the stamps themselves.

A Mr.Yuan "uses stamps to buy stamps," taking many of the redundant sets he bought in the past and selling them for cash, then using the cash to buy new stamps. He takes the Spring Festival on the River stamp as an example: Twenty years ago a ten-set full sheet cost NT$28O, but today you can sell it for more than NT$10,000, and use this to buy new stamps. Thus "you get an egg from the chicken, and then a chicken from the egg," so that you can naturally collect a whole world of stamps.

Tsung Hsiao-an says that although he never had the idea to sell off his stamps before, "once in a while I'll take a look at the posted prices to satisfy my sense of vanity," he laughs. Obviously the increasing value is one source of enjoyment for him in collecting.

The pursuit of perfection: Most people start collecting from recent stamps, gradually find they are not fully satisfied, and move toward middle-aged stamps and classic stamps. "The pursuit of a complete collection" is a common psychology and objective among those in the field.

Recent stamps can be purchased from the post office, and the cost is not great. But for middle-aged stamps (ones the post office discontinues after six months or a year), classical stamps which are widely recognized to be of great value, or foreign stamps, one must purchase them from dealers, or join stamp buying cooperatives to bid on them, so naturally the cost is much higher.

Chang Min-sheng, a doctor and 30-year collector, is possibly the person with the most complete set of Chinese stamps today. He has collected a set of every stamp issued since the Ching dynasty began issuing them right up to the present (not including stamps from Communist China), and has won silver and gold medals at international exhibitions in London, New Zealand and Japan.

Opening up the history of Chineses tamps: Going back to the root, the issuing of stamps by China came 38 years later than the country which founded the postage stamp, England. In 1840, Britain issued the world's first postage stamp, a side view of Queen Victoria. Because the face value is one pence, and it is printed in black, it is called the "penny black" stamp.

In the fourth year of the Kuang Hsu imperial reign in the Ching dynasty (1878), China had its first postage stamp. This set used the image of a dragon, and is commonly called the "customs dragon stamp."

The earliest stamp from Taiwan was issued by Liu Ming-chuan in the 14th year of the Kuang Hsu reign (1888). At that time Taiwan's postal service still used the "pony express" method of relay stations. The stamp was a mark made with a carved wooden chop by the post office. Wang Tun-jen points out that although you can still see these early style stamps on the market, most of them were fakes made later on, and truly old ones are very rare.

Things are valuable in proportion to their scarcity. The rarest and most valuable Chinese stamp is not the earliest "customs dragon stamp," but the stamp which carries the nicknames "king of Chinese stamps" and "the world's one and only"--the "red stamp marked one yuan."

King of Chinese stamps: Its preciousness is connected with its unusual background. "The red stamp in temporary service as a postage stamp" was issued in the 22nd year of the Kuang Hsu reign (1896). At that time the currency system was being reformed, and the silver liang eliminated and replaced by the silver yuan. New stamps could not be printed in time, so to meet the exigency, the red tax stamps which were in customs warehouses were issued as postage stamps. According to Wang Shu-peng, former director of the DGP, the "red stamp postage stamps" had a face value of one hundredth of a yuan, two-hundredths, and fourthundredths, and then one yuan and five yuan. The three lower-valued stamps were suitable for then current mailing costs. But the one yuan and the five yuan were of unprecedented high values, and were in preparation for initiating package delivery and remittance services.

Of these, only about 50 of the "temporary use one yuan" stamps were issued because of flaws in the printing. There are only 20 or so left to be seen anywhere in the world. Because of their paucity and the special circumstances, the value is naturally great. Huang Ming-cheng, general manager of the Yenping Stamp Shop, says that the current market price of a "red stamp marked one yuan" is between NT$6-8 million. depending on the "state of preservation."

The "state of preservation" sounds quite highbrowed, but the difference between a good and a bad stamp just depends on how well it has been kept. Stamp trader Wang Chung-jih points out that stamps are only considered in excellent quality if they have not yellowed, not mildewed, not faded, not been soiled, have no rip marks, and have preserved the stickum on the back and the tooth-edged border in their totality. You can only get a good price if the state of preservation is excellent.

Definitely worth the investment: Besides deeply researching postal history and the stories behind stamps, philatelists also emphasize "specialties." Old-timer stamp collectors are like senior reporters--they have a special area in which they are especially interested, and they get deeply into it and collect everything they can. Some people follow popular customs, some collect series of antiquities, some take flowers as their theme, and some love insects and animals.

Wang Tun-jen's interest is unusual--he loves bicycles. He stashes away examples of any stamp that has a bicycle on it. From his earliest--a 1900 Boy Scout stamp with a bicycle on it-- to the present, he has collected several hundred sets of bicycle stamps from countries all over the world.

Everyone's inclination is different. However, because old paintings and objects of arts are relatively beautiful, with high artistic content, they are always popular and are the stamps with the most collectors.

Although few collectors have it in their heads to get rich from stamps, one often hears the idea of leaving them to the next generation to increase in value. After all, stamps are marketable securities. But, even more, the enjoyment and satisfaction collectors get from them are already quite enough to get their "stamp of approval."

[Picture Caption]

Most children had the experience of cutting the stamps off letters, steaming them off and putting them in the window to dry. This implanted the names of country after country in the child's imagination. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Even stamp collecting has "specialization." This philatelist collects stamps with images of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. (photo courtesy of Hsieh Tsu-chin)

Even stamp collecting has "specialization." This philatelist collects stamps with images of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. （photo courtesy of Hsieh Tsu-chin）