Where to get vintage stamps
Walking through the door of Stampede City Stamps is like traveling through a worm hole. First impressions included; wondering if the shop was even open, to thinking I’d need about a year to explore this place.
When I first discovered this hidden gem there was a huge old, lumbering-about, black dog that actually greeted me before any human did. Made me think of the wand store in the Harry Potter series.
Chronicles of history on a 1×1 in square
I visit Dwayne, the owner of this magical stamp store, every few months when I need to stalk up on stamps for my letter writing socials. He is a walking encyclopedia of all things philately.
On my last visit I stumbled upon this booklet “Moving The Mail” from 1990 when a Canadian stamp was 0.39 cents. It chronicles how Canada Post moved the mail from early days up until 1990. So much history, if we delve deep, is in a stamp.
Sources for vintage stamps
For those of you not based in Calgary you can check out Send More Mail for vintage Canadian and American stamps. There are several purveyors of unused vintage stamps on Etsy as well. I have never used Stamp Planatation but the reviews are stellar. You can also find global issued stamps on ebay.
Out of circulation stamps can always be used
How it works at Stampede City Stamps is that if you buy in larger quantities of $50 or more you are charged face value. If you only want a few stamps you will be charged 2x the face value.
These are not collectible stamps or worth anything beyond their face value. These stamps have never been used before and can still be used regardless of how long ago they were issued.