So there I was at home doing some paperwork on Friday, and the phone rings. It's Denny "Finder of the Unfindable" Peoples. He says "So are you coming to the show? People are asking about you." The show he was referring to was the St. Louis Stamp Expo this past weekend. I had to remind him that I hadn't been to that show in almost 15 years. "Well, I brought your stuff and a piece you're really going to want."
So he describes the piece and mentions the price. I ask him to send me a picture so I can get full context. "A what?" he says. I keep forgetting that this is Denny "Technology Peaked with the Invention of Fire" Peoples.
I tell him to use his cellphone and take a picture, then send it to me as a text message. "Oh, I can do that!"... and so he did. About a minute later I had the picture, and after about 30 seconds of scrutiny I called him and told him I'd pay his price. No objections, no dickering, just "Yes!"
Yesterday I dropped by his house and picked it up, as well as shopped through the material he had left after the show. Pretty slim pickings, to be expected right after a show of that size, but this one item was worth the drive, and I was happy he gave me first shot at the item.
So what was the item in question?
Well, as some may recall, one of my major focuses over the last 15 years has been improper/illegal uses involving revenue stamps and documents. One of the most elusive, in my opinion, is a legitimate improper use of any of the Pan American Exposition stamps (Scott #294-299). The reason they are impossibly scarce is for several reasons:
1. The vast majority of improper uses during the Spanish American War tax period (the so-called "battleship era") are from the early months of the tax (typically July-December of 1898) when stamps were still in somewhat short supply, especially in more remote areas. By 1901 when the Pan American Expo stamps were issued, supply of revenue stamps typically was not a problem.
2. More critically, there was only a 61-day window from when the Pan American Expo stamps were issued, to the final day of the check tax for an improper usage to occur.
In the 15 years I've been actively seeking improper uses, this is only the 3rd example of a Pan American Expo stamp used as a revenue that I have seen record of.
It is a 1-cent Pan American (Scott #294) used along with a 1-cent Battleship Documentary on a check from the Forest City Stone Company in Cleveland Ohio, dated June 29, 1901, the day before the final day of tax.
Posted 03/25/2026 9:01 pm
We are twins from different parents.....
One is leaving after sinking the Maine.
