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Health & Fitness

Found: A Fortune in Stamps?

Who says stamp collecting is a hobby you can't lick?

Every time I go on a “dig” and I am lucky enough to find an attic or basement door to the past, my hope is to discover something rare and valuable. The truth is - it’s rare that I find something valuable. Fortunately, more often than not, I find something with an intrinsic value.

A month ago I was returning with my wife and daughter from the Friends of the Newtown Library Book Sale. Interested in keeping my stress level low, I decided to skip the highway and drive the longer “back” way home. It was about 4pm, and as we rounded a hill I turned my head to the right and suddenly everything went into slow motion. There was an estate sale closing down that I must have missed from my usual scan of the local listings.

This is where the sound effects technician would cue the vocal effect to make my “NO!” into a deep and elongated, “Noooooooooooooo!” As the closing garage door and accompanying dumpster disappeared from site I felt dread and disappointment settle in the pit of my stomach.

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I continued to curse internally and question how I could have missed this one sale just a town away from home. As we pulled to a stop at the next intersection I noticed a car parked to the side and a lone figure coaxing the estate sale sign from the ground.

I moved past the stop sign and lowered the window yelling across my wife in the passenger seat, “Is the sale on tomorrow!?” My wife gave a half sigh and tensed as I was now on the main road exposing us to cars actually going somewhere. “It’s on from 10-4 tomorrow!” I heard the reply as the grassy curb finally let go of the sign. I accelerated away with a renewed sense of purpose and a plan for the next day. 

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To make a long story short, I returned the next day, and among the many things I found was an old stamp collection. It’s hard to shake the allure of stamps. Even when they just sit there doing nothing they look valuable. Maybe it’s because they resemble currency (and are a form of it), and maybe because their detail gives them a distinct look of rare miniature masterpieces. Read the rest of the story and see some unique stamps by clicking here.
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