When you first start collecting stamps, there are certain ones that strike you as being more ‘valuable’ than others. For me, it was the Australian Commonwealth Coat of Arms series of 1948-1956, which were all high values, ranging from 5/- up to £2. As a kid I happily acquired the 5/- and when I finally acquired a 10/- I was ecstatic and could only dream about one day owning the £1 and £2 values.
Today, a used set of these can be found on eBay for not much more than the price of a couple of pints, and a mint set for not a great deal more.
As a kid, I was just happy to own such a high-value stamp, but as my collecting developed I grew to understand why certain high values seemed easier to acquire than others – usage. Some of the high values saw more use than others so today, the Australian 5/- is catalogued at just 20p for a used copy as it was ubiquitous on outgoing overseas mail.
Similarly, when collecting Barbados Stamps the one value that struck me as having an unusually low price in the catalogue was the 2/6 value from the 1939-47 Badge series. Given that above it, there was only one higher value, the 5/-, it seemed strange to me that it was catalogued similarly to the Australian 5/-.
Part of the reason for this, it turns out, is, you’ve guessed it – usage again. For a short period the 2/6 stamp was commonplace on outgoing mail from the island and as such, turns up as a used stamp in quantity in any dealer’s stock book. During the period 1939-47, whilst surface rates remained unchanged, airmail rates changed on six different occasions. As most airmail went either to the USA or parts of the commonwealth, these rates were the ones that attracted a lot of use. With rates to the UK starting at over 3 shillings, covers like these became commonplace
What is harder is finding the 2/6 stamp used on cover paying a solo rate, in other words, a single stamp on its own paying the correct rate to deliver the letter. Covers like this one in my collection are clearly philatelic and the clue to this particular one is shown on the back flap
Notwithstanding whether the rate was correct or not, and in the case of many high values in many countries, they’re not, without dealers using these to create philatelic souvenirs for customers then there would be no covers today, so I’m delighted they did.
So, if you find a high-value stamp used on cover, leave it exactly where it is. Future collectors and postal historians will thank you for your foresight.