Availability of Korean Stamps for Collectors

(Originally from KP double number November 2012 / February 2013, Vol. 54 Nr. 4 / Vol. 55 Nr. 1) I’m member #85, and I am 73 years old. I have a few questions but you might not be able to answer all of them. 

First, I wrote Howard Maxcy, our VP, but the letter came back with a yellow sticker on it saying they can’t deliver it. I sent that sticker to our President but never got an answer, maybe because I forgot to enclose an SASE. So then I wrote John Talmage and enclosed an SASE. He said he has not heard from Howard in over a year. Now is he alive or dead? I used to deal a lot with him. In fact, the one cover that spells SCOUT SCAUT (See Figures 13 and 14) was purchased from him a year ago. It was shown in an issue of Korean Philately years ago. Seems like all the dealers I used to deal with are dead now. I know Maxcy sold his business and went into the grocery business, that is the last I heard.

My next thing is, Are there any Korean history buffs who can help me? I have probably over 100 postcards between the 30’s and 40’s that have Japanese stamps with Korean postmarks. All the years I belonged, I can’t remember reading about that time. I got the covers from a Korean who found them in a basement. I traded magazine subscriptions for them, and he even marked them. I also have a lot of covers of that era but no way to read the postmarks. Note they are both North and South Korea. Rogers claims that there are a lot of them, and they are worth about $2.50 each, but I have never seen one. (See Figures 15-18.)

Korea is getting harder to collect. I signed up with a new issue dealer in Indianapolis 2 years ago and have yet to get my first stamp. I talked to a person years ago who had an account with the PO and was told they send what they want, not every issue. I wrote to a dealer who sells foreign Christmas Seals. After a while, he sent me a letter saying that they won’t send him any.

The only dealer I can get my Korean from is Bombay in Florida, and I still don’t know if he gets all of them. Every so often, the mixture dealer in Florida used to get current used South Korean. I have not seen them in a few years. Any help on that one? Japan issues a bushel of stamps, and you can get all of the used that you want, but not from S. Korea.

[Ed. Try Swan Philatelic Imports, Inc., P. O. Box 1430 Lee’s Summit, MO 64063-7430. They offer used mixtures from both South and North Korea, though the North Koreans are clippings from FDCs found in Europe.]

Love the articles on forgeries. That is what we need. When you go to a stamp show, you know what to look for, like the KORFA error and a few others like them.

Leo Walasinski
Toledo, Ohio