We stamp collectors are fortunate that we are alive today. Why?

Scientists estimate that the universe is about 13 billion years old. Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Our sun is slightly older than the Earth and scientists think it will shine brightly about another 5 billion years until it begins to die.

Take a piece of string that is, say, a foot long and pretend that is the timeline of the universe. Postage stamps have been around for almost 175 years. It’s my opinion that at some point in time, postage stamps will no longer be needed to pay postage. Whether that is 50 years from now, 500 years from now, or whenever – I think that point in time will come someday.

On that foot long piece of string, we are but a tiny speck in overall time. Suppose stamps are around for a total of 500 years before becoming obsolete. Five hundred years out of 13+ billion years is miniscule.

Had we been born a few hundred years earlier or a few hundred years later, we would have missed the pleasures of this wonderful hobby of philately. But here we are today: buying, selling, and having fun collecting stamps. And I truly hope you are having fun with stamp collecting. Fun is what philately is all about. A few hundred years one way or another and we would have missed this opportunity. Think about it.