European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 20, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes saturday jul y 2q by g a ? Corner editor s note collectors Corner was awarded a Silver medal diploma at the Praga 68 International philatelic exhibition which ended july 6 in Prague Czechoslovakia. This is the highest award Given in the newspaper column class and is based primarily upon the Merit and originality of Content the other entry submitted by the author Stem Page the monthly publication of the philatelic association of government employees also took a Silver award by c. J. Peterson the two latest . Is sues Are Worth special comment. Normally i stay away from value judgment where stamp design is concerned. The Register an vote single a Gold Eagle against a Black background and the 10 Stamps in the historic flags set Are so strik ing that an exception must be made. These Stamps Are Nowon Stock at Apo windows and j strongly urge that you obtain some. This in t made As an invest ment tip. American Stamps Are issued in such quantities that investing in modern mint is sues is pure foolishness. In Stead the two issues Are recommended for your postal needs. If you have to mail a letter it costs no More to Usea 6-cent commemorative than to use a 6-cent regular. Here a Chance to add Beauty educational value and patriotic Pride to your letters at no extra Cost. This column Seldom carries stamp  in the first place anyone Wise enough to predict sure philatelic win ners is better off doing it no writing about it and remember if the investment does t net at least 5 per cent per year then your Money better off in a Bank if you re eligible to make soldiers de posits your stamp buy will really have to materialize tomake it worthwhile. Stamp collecting should be done for Hobby first and profit second. There is some general advice which can be Given that will Point the Way to Good buys an help keep the High priced junk out of your collection. No on should decree what a collector May or May not collect an that s not the intent of this advice. The following Point Deal strictly with economic  is a particularly Good time to Purchase earlier issues. Many dealers Are look ing Forward to vacations or have just returned and Are interested in turning their Stock somewhat More quickly. In late August and Early septem Ber the new stamp Cata logs appear and dealers Price swill be raised accordingly. Jan uary is also a Good buying sea son. Spending is never very Active just after Christmas an discounts Aren t uncommon. There s also less Competition at auctions for the same Rea  s much More Competition for the classics and the solid values. This tends to guarantee there will always Bea buyer should you wish to Dis pose of them later. This is no necessarily True with last year s  wary of Gimmicky issues such As three dimensional Stamps Odd shapes Gold foil issues and Long sets with perforate and Imperforate Stamps with the inevitable miniature sheets or souvenir sheets. Also watch out for modern issues from exotic countries which Are being offered with rarer errors and varieties Steven rarer prices. In Many cases the printing firm has been careful to produce a few Hundred sheets of these errors which go directly from the printers to the dealer. If the warning list hits a sore Point remember that we re speaking of economics. Try a Experiment look at a dealer s Stock and Jot Down the Selling Price on such things As Bhutan new issues umm Ali Wain sets hungarian Imper forages and lengthy topical set from some of the More extravagant latin american an african countries. Go Back in one year and ask the Sam dealer what his buying Price is for the same Stamps. Best advice of All is to Finda Good stamp dealer and there Are plenty of them. Don just buy ask him for his advice. It s his business to know whether the Market is up or Down for any particular  s in business to make a profit but he d much rather make a moderate profit on a regular basis from a satisfied customer than a High profit based on poor advice which will cause him to lose his clients. Deap i be been staring at this piece of paper for 15 minutes not knowing How to put my problem into words. Well Here goes have you Ever heard of count ing the silverware when the company leaves i never thought i d have to do it but i was wrong. Several months ago we had dinner at the Home of friends. I noticed mrs. A had at Leas five different patterns of Ster Ling Silver service for two Inone pattern three in another pattern and so on. She had service for four in the same pattern i have. This woman is in our Bridge club and she has been Here several times for lunch As Wellas for dinner parties. Recently i was preparing for a buffets upper for 12 when i discovered i was Short 3 Teaspoons 2 Din Ner Forks 2 salad Forks a sugar Shell and a cake server. Have you any suggestions Asto How i can hang on to the Silver i have left Don t Tell Menot to invite her anymore. She is a close Friend and her Hus band and my husband Are Busi Ness associates. Tarnished relation ship dear tarnished the next time you Are in the woman s Home make a Point of the fac that some of her Silver is like yours. Ask her too Why she does t Settle on one pattern in Stead of trying so Many. Do i privately and be sure to convey the message that you Are interested in her answers not just making Small talk. She Olget the message. I had to write and comment on your advice to countdown Mother the woman who wee pals if it ism t my swinging soul brother Oliver How you doing baby ? hello dear Sweet Oliver How blood brother it s amazing How fast news of a raise in you allowance gets around confessed she hated her Daugh treated her shabbily Ter of foist the Day the child was several women at our car club discussed that letter and most of them said they could understand How a Mother in her right mind could despise heroin child. I remained silent Al though i was Well qualified to speak since i was such a Mother myself. One Day i slapped my child so hard she fell off the chair. She had asked for a second helping of mashed potatoes and would t eat it. Her Noser be Gan to bleed and i could t Stop it. I called the doctor. When he came i was petrified because the child had lost so Juch blood. He get Bellfl 5T