My Great Uncle Walter, who passed away in 1958, had been an avid stamp collector for many years. Because of his health problems, he had disposed of much of his stamp collection during the last year of his life. Thus, it was a big surprise to me when my Great Aunt Esther informed me that my uncle had stored a number of his less valuable holdings in the attic and that they were still there. Aunt Esther then asked if I would like to go through what was left and pick out some items for my collection.

Not knowing what to expect, I followed my aunt up to the attic. The stamps were located in a small semi-finished room with an overhead light and a single window. What greeted me was the largest single accumulation of stamps that I had ever seen. There were boxes of stamps in glassine envelopes. Many large boxes containing postal history and first day covers were piled upon the floor. Stacks of files containing mint sheets, plate blocks, and souvenir sheets were everywhere. There were also stock books of mint stamps, boxes of neatly trimmed pieces of envelopes containing many thousands of used stamps, and old albums still packed with pre-1940 stamps. It was almost as if I had my own personal stamp store to pick and choose from at my own convenience. Pictured below are a few of the stamps that were in Aunt Esther's attic.

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