Stamps Turn the Lights On!

By Jackie Draffan.

Astamp has usually served its purpose when it reaches you. It might be worthless, but if you have enough of them it might be possible to sell them by the Kilo! Of course this is one time when “the older the better” may even be true.

Stamps collected from all round the Diocese for the Anglican Board of Mission are sold through the Philatelic Society in Sydney at their twice yearly auctions. Many families donate old stamp albums and these are eagerly sought at auction by treasure hunters hoping for a rare find. Grandma’s old album may help to fuel the generator powering the lights in a College or hospital somewhere in the Pacific.

Ted Luff is a keen-eyed stamp lover living in Port Macquarie after a demanding career managing sheep stations in Victoria. In between visits back to Victoria to help on the farm, Ted devotes a lot of his time to sorting the stamps and albums donated to ABM. Armed with a magnifying glass and volumes of the Gibbons Stamp Catalogue from the Municipal Library Ted hunts through old albums and piles of loose stamps searching for treasure. Occasionally a special item catches his eye and is neatly packaged separately or with similar items for auction.

Several years ago ABM received a remarkable gift from Dorothy Britten a long time member of the Anglican Church at Kempsey. Dorothy donated many thousands of stamps contained in her Stock Books, to be sold to raise funds for the Anglican Board of Mission.

If you would like to find a new home for some unwanted stamp albums or loose stamps, Janice Peate (0435 513123) at Ballina, or Jackie Draffan (6582 5040) at Port Macquarie, would love to hear from you.