I always tell customers, if there is something you’re interested in and you don’t see it in my list, let me know and maybe I can help you. I get occasional requests for things like precancels, revenue stamps, and so forth.

Some time ago, a collector called to ask if I had a $40,000 stamp in stock. I don’t have anything of that caliber in my pricelist. And I sure wouldn’t have something like that lying around in some unsorted material!

This collector went on to tell me about how he owned mint, full sheets of the Graf Zeppelins (Scott #C13-15). And other prized items in his collection. Nice stuff, but it’s out of my league.

He proceeded to tell me how he has a well known stamp dealer on speed dial on his phone. If you saw the name, you would instantly recognize the dealer. They are a major advertiser and they sell very expensive and rare stamps. I guess I was supposed to be impressed that he had the personal phone number of some big name stamp dealer on his phone.

This collector kept me on the phone for almost an hour. Luckily, I have a headset, so I could do other tasks while he droned on about all these rare philatelic gems that he owned or hoped to own. That’s great if you have that kind of money to spend on stamps. I don’t. Honestly, I’ll be happy when I own a used set of Graf Zeppelins of my own someday. Even if I had the money, I don’t have a burning desire to buy full mint sheets of them. I can think of a lot of other stamps that I would like to own with that same $100,000.

When the call ended, I wasn’t sure if he called me to inquire about the $40,000 stamp he was seeking or if he called me to boast about the size and value of his collection.