rudeness, far more interesting than the finished product supplied by
firms at home, for the local effort truly represented the country of
its issue in the art of stamp production. The amusingly crude attempts
which the engravers of Victoria have made from time to time, during
the last fifty years, to give us a passable portrait of Her late
Majesty Queen Victoria, have no equal for variety. The stamps of the
first South African Republic, made in Germany, are very appropriate in
their roughness of design and execution. For oddity of appearance the
palm must be awarded to those of Asiatic origin, such, for instance,
as the stamps of Afghanistan, of Kashmir, and most of the local
productions of the Native States of India, marking as they do their
own independent attempts to work up to European methods of
intercommunication.

[Illustration:]

[Illustration:]

VIII.

Great Rarities.

Of the many stamps that are set apart, for one cause or another, from
the ordinary run, as having a history of their own, those that by the
common consent of collector and dealer are ranked as great rarities
are the most fruitful source of astonishment to the non-collector.
They are the gems of the most costly collections, the possession of
the few, and the envy of the multitude. In a round dozen that will
fetch over L100 apiece there are not more than one or two that can lay
any claim to be considered works of art; indeed, they are mostly
distinguished by their surpassing ugliness. Nevertheless, they are the
gems that give tone and rank to the finest collections. Some of them
are even priceless.

To the average man it is astonishing that anyone in his senses can be
so foolish as to give L1,000 for an ugly little picture that has
merely done duty as a postage stamp. He contends there can be no
intrinsic value in such scraps of paper, and that settles the matter,
in his opinion. But is it not so with precious stones and pearls? They
are of value merely because they are the fashion. There is no
intrinsic value in them. If they were not fashionable they would be
of little or no value. Long-standing fashion, and fashion alone, has
given them their value. So it is with stamps; fashion has given them
their value, and every decade of continued popularity adds to that
value as it has added to the value of precious stones and pearls.
There is no sign that precious stones are likely to become worthless
by the withdrawal of popular favour.