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Show Lawyer Sells $250,000 Stamp Collection MILWAUKEE. Benjamin K. Miller, a retired lawyer, has sold his collection of stamps to the New York public library. libra-ry. Already the most nearly perfect and complete collection of United states stumps in existence, the value Is placed at $2o0.0on. Mr. Miller has devoted much of his life to gathering stamps produced by the government' nt Washington. The collection consists of forty-seven volumes, vol-umes, 14 by 17 Inches, each containing fifty pages. The actual cost of the stamps to Mr. Miller was $140,000, but the appreciation of the rare specimens speci-mens has added another $25,000 to the value, and experts estimate the other $8,1,000 represents Mr. Miller's time and energy In developing the collection. col-lection. It Is now In a burglar and fireproof vault and will not be brought out until cases of similar safety can be built to protect the collection while on display. One of the most expensive stamps In the collection Is what philatelists call a "blcolored Invert" 30-cenf used stamp of 18(59, for which Mr. Miller paid $1,7."0. An unused specimen of this stump Is listed In stamp catalogs si S 1.000. but It Is known that a much larger sum would be required to get one of these specimens. Shortly after the close of the Civil War stamp collecting began In n mild sort of a way, and since then It not only has developed Into a hobby, but Into u vast business. In New York alone there Is said to be more than 2.000 dealers and more than 200 experts. ex-perts. It has developed Into a business for the stump dealer nnd a game for the collector. After disposing of his collection to the library, Mr. Miller said he had specialized In United States stamps because It offered an Interesting study. "There are Innumerable stamps to be collected," he said, "anil there are numerous stamps of the United States aside from the postage variety. The revenue department's stamps alone constitute a broad field. "The first stamps used by the United States government, In 1847, were a five and ten-cent Issue, which were made under contract by bank note companies. Until 1S04 all thf United Stntes stamps were made under un-der contract by private corporations. Then the government took over the task snd the Post Office department produced Its own atampa. |