Collecting the Seebecks in a "Civilized" Stamp Collecting World

One can only wonder what it would have been like to be a collector at the turn of the century. (Not our recent turn.) Sixty years had passed since the release of the Penny Black and an abundance of material was available. But much of the material, even in 1900, was of questionable origin and scoffed at.

These were the days of the "Seebecks." Nicholas Seebeck, head of the Hamilton Banknote Company, approached a number of Central and South American governments with the offer to print their postage stamps at no charge in exchange for an assurance that new stamps would be produced each year and that he would have the use of the plates after a set was taken off the market.

Seebeck produced four sets of Ecuador stamps, five for Honduras and ten for Salvador. Shortly after the legitimate stamps were taken off the market the plates were cleaned and reprints sold to wholesalers at a fraction of their face value. When all of this came to light the reaction was emphatic. The January 25th, 1900 issue of "Stamps" reports on a Seebeck discussion which took place at a New York gathering of collectors.

"Mr. Crawford Capen and Mr. Andreini led a debate on the question ‘Shall we collect Seebecks?' Mr. Capen who supported the affirmative made a point of the argument that the postal issues of nearly every country might be subjected to well deserved ridicule, until the element of speculation had left them when they became more legitimate and collectable. Mr. Andreini then rose to eloquent denunciation of Seebecks and all their kin in terms as emphatic and convincing a polite vocabulary would allow, and expressed a conviction that they were best ignored, when in an unused state. He was able to speak of Seebeck's business with familiarity from personal acquaintances with the late engraver. We are sorry to have to add that our informant omits to say what votes were recorded for and against the question, or even to tell us whether the affirmation or negative prevailed."

By the nineteen forties the original printings of issues Seebeck put into mass production were sought by collectors and stamp dealers. The main difference between the issues is the paper. Seebeck paper tends to be thicker. Shades and in some cases actual colors differ as well. And more than a hundred years after the fact, the Seebeck reprints, from the vantage point of the Scott Catalog editors, are virtually worthless.

The stamp collecting debates that unfolded at dawn of the 20th century meander along today. And today, as then, many of us ignore the unpleasantries and take pleasure in collecting the interesting stamps which provide us with seemingly limitless relaxation.