My past week was largely one of anticipation.

Yesterday, I picked up the Charles W Haertel estate’s postal history collection. I will be preparing it for sale on eBay over the coming weeks.

Included in the collection are presidential free franks, many other better free franks, significant stampless era material, ships boats steamers, domestic rates, Civil War patriotics, Confederate covers, postal currency, Well over 100 very attractive fancy cancels on cover, a section of Wisconsin dpo’s, and more. Highlights so far are a Free Franked cover signed by John Quincy Adams as a Senator. A $1 Guam overprint tied on cover (Guam #12). And an 1860 Lincoln the Railsplitter Campaign cover.

There is a lot of better material in this consignment, and I expect to be putting about 5-600 lots up over the coming few months. I will have these scheduled by next week’s newsletter.

I will be blogging about these on a regular basis. I also intend to set up a separate email alert for the various auctions when they get set up. Be watching for details.

I will build some Squidoo lens on each major category to preview at least some of the better items. While I welcome inquiries, my intention is to sell all the items on eBay.

I will run these as ten day auctions starting on Thursday Nights, perhaps twice a month, perhaps more frequently. Many items will start out at $24.99 many will go for $100’s. I expect to see a few $1000+ items as well.

You will want to be paying attention if you are into 19th century and earlier postal history.


---------
Last Saturday, I went ice fishing with my new son in law from Turkey and 10 year old grandson at my brother’s ice house on Lake Minnewaska in west central Minnesota.

There for the second weekend in a row, I took the honors for the first fish, the most fish, and the largest fish! Unfortunately, it was also the only fish. I guess I’m bad luck for my fishing mates.

Despite the lack of fishing success, everyone had a great time. We started out on the open ice, drilling holes with a power auger through about 2 feet of ice. There we stood in the roughly 14 degree weather with a slight breeze.

We used both wax worms and tiny crappie minnows, starting at just above the bottom and working our way up. If the fish are there and in a feeding mood, one or the other should eventually work, and in one instance it did and I pulled out an okay sunny but that would be the last of the fish for the day.

Standing on the ice, we could see a line of fish houses stretching at least half a mile consisting of 100’s of little portable ice shanties. They curved in an arc to follow the underwater contour.

Most appeared empty, but cars were alongside many, a couple kids here or there to be seen, and some comings and goings as well a couple nice fish being caught within eye or earshot up and down the line.

Part of our expedition was the moving of my brother’s ice fish house from its previously unsuccessful location to the greener pasture. The process took about an hour and a half, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy standing on the ice, jigging away ever watchful for the illusive crappie bite.

Thus Serder was able to experience the contrasting forms of ice fishing, the stalwart stand on the ice approach and then the cushy roast and toast of the indoor fisherman. I think he enjoyed both, and I am sure his mother in Ankara is already wondering about her son’s sanity as the pictures have long been emailed.

Standing out in the fresh air makes one hungry, so we grilled up some brats and wieners in a baby weber. Add some cookies beer and other gedunk and we were happy campers. Not quite a shore lunch of tasty walleye or crappie but delicious nonetheless.

As we packed up for home, I again marveled at the clear cold night sky, so much darker away from the city and so much more full of stars and wonder.

I only wish we had caught more fish.

Maybe next weekend. etn

Panama Canal First Days
10 day eBay auction
ends Jan 20, 2008

How many of these do you have in your collection?

• 856-1t Panama Canal Crosby Cachet
• 856-3 Panama Canal 3c Grimsland
• 856-5 Panama Canal 3c Clifford/lose
• 856-7 Panama Canal 3c Holland Cachet
• 856-10 Panama Canal 3c Cachet Craft
• 856-16a Panama Canal Fidelity Cachet
• 856 -17 Panama Canal Hux Cut Cachet
• 856-19a Panama Canal 3c House of Farnam
• 856 -21 Panama Canal Linprint
• 856 -22a Panama Canal Ioor
  
• 856-23b Panama Canal Ioor
• 856-25 Panama Canal Coulthard
• 856 -29a Panama Canal Torkel Gundel
• 856-29b Panama Canal Torkel Gundel
  
• 856-30 listed unnamed Panama Canal Cachet
• 856-31 Panama Canal CS Anderson
• 856-? Panama Canal Not in Mellone possible Dietz

Click Here prior to January 20, 2008
To Bid on any or all.
Ask for a 20% discount and
free shipping if you buy 5 or more.

Panama Canal First Day Covers

856-25 Panama Canal 3c Coulthard

Merchantilism a 5-7 minute Toastmaster Speech

Tomorrow, I will be giving a 5-7 minute speech at my Toastmasters meeting. I am a strong proponent of Toastmasters and would be happy to discuss why with anyone interested.

I am not an economic historian. The information in the speech if from research I've done recently on the internet. I am trying to be concise. I'd welcome any thoughtful comments.

Merchantilism

The term Merchantilism is like Capitalism and Socialism except that it didn’t have a single “Father” or document out of which it emerged. It refers to the economic policies and practices of the dominant European powers in the period before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of Capitalism.

It’s important to understand, as this history is prologue to the economic debates of this day, particularly as we head into a contested presidential election.

While some believe Capitalism is written into our Constitution and Declaration of Independence, it wasn’t. In fact, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published in England in 1776, the same year as the Declaration of independence. And while both represented death knells for Merchantilism, it took many decades for Capitalism to take hold in society in general and in turn its excesses to cause the rise of Socialism.

In the next few minutes I will share two of the key aspects of Merchantilism, their ramifications and some remaining vestiges in today’s economic world.

An underlying aspect of Merchantilism was the rise of bullion, specifically, the role of bullion coins, silver and gold. In general, the goal of the state became one of acquiring and hoarding gold and silver. This was in turn used to field permanent armies and navies to protect the merchant interests of a nation.

The need to protect merchant interests from piracy and competition created a self renewing bond between the Crown, the military and the merchant classes.

This process accelerated the consolidation of power, and fueled the transition from feudal states into the rise of the nation state. It also led to the European wars that so dominated that continent for the majority of the past 3-400 years. These wars in turn arguably sped the technological advancement of European states, particularly in the military arts.

When we think of Spanish galleons sailing the seas, pieces of 8, and of pirates and buccaneers sanctioned by differing nations, we are seeing just one vestige of the era.

Within the United States the persistence of this “gold lust” is seen in the fact that it was only in 1972 under President Nixon that the US finally moved off the gold standard. And Fort Knox still sits as an icon to the day when gold reserves were the sole measure of a nation’s wealth.

A second key aspect of Merchantilism was that trade was considered a win-lose proposition, with the winner of the gold - the winner. This led to trade policies which placed high tariffs on imported goods, and low tariffs on imported raw materials. Export was the key and retaining technological advantages was critical. Thus England and other countries forbade not only the transfer of technological know-how, but also prohibited the emigration of skilled people.

It wasn’t until 1793, that Samuel Slater opened America’s first Cotton Mill in Pawtucket, RI using memorized plans and starting the industrial revolution in the US.

The goal of producing wealth from the colonies prevented colonials from trading with other nations even when in the colonial interest, in deference to the Sovereign’s needs to hold that market captive to its merchant interests.

Colonies were considered marketplaces for goods from the home country and hegemony was enforced. Britain for example was successful in prohibiting any ships not of English origin to transport goods around England or her colonies that were not flying the Union Jack, with the exception of direct imports from the source country. That meant a Dutch ship could not transport French goods to an English port, but a French ship could as long as it didn’t also carry goods from Holland or elsewhere.

The Declaration of Independence in part, denounced the crown for “cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.”

Today in the United States we have a similar law known as the Jones Act which only permits US ships the right to haul materials from one US port to another.

The central need to raise wealth for the crown also led to the taxation that so infuriated the American Colonies, leading up to the Boston Tea Party. Rather than allow direct import of tea, the colonies were obliged to buy tea only after it went through the offices of the Crown Company and additional taxes applied.

One of the breakthrough theses of Adams Smith’s Wealth of Nations was that Trade rather than being a one way street, was actually beneficial for both sides. A fact that is still being debated today in our Free Trade - Fair Trade debates.

Alexander Hamilton is today on the $100 bill because he bought into Adam Smith’s ideas and envisioned a trade economy that bolstered both despite the objections of Thomas Jefferson who favored restrictive trade practices designed to protect the growth of the American agricultural economy.

While one can certainly not do full justice to Merchantilism in a 5-7 minute speech. I hope that I have accomplished two things. First, to inoculate you from any arguments that Americanism = Capitalism based on a spurious belief that American was established as a capitalistic country. And second, to demonstrate that even today, we harbor policies within our country that have antecedents to colonial and pre colonial times that are not inherently capitalistic.

To understand the economic issues of today, it helps to have a perspective on the economic polices of the past, and the why and wherefores. I hope you found the information interesting.

etn

Robin Hunt Squidoo Lens

I took a variety of photos on my New Years day Robin hunt. If you are interested you can get an idea of what my winter walks look like on a Squidoo lens I put together. Its located at: http://www.squidoo.com/1stRobin

Spring Has Sprung!

I saw my first two robins of the year as I hiked along the the Mississippi River gorge between Minneapolis and Fort Snelling, today Jan 1, 2008.

It must be Spring, despite the 0 degree weather.

This walk has become an annual ritual with me. The robins seen however are not returning from the South, but rather wintering over birds. They are easiest to find when its the coldest, as they tend to be near sheltered areas by open running water.

Today's sighting were by a place my family calls the Bridge of Fallen timbers. I am tempted to put together a Squidoo Lens to show some of the photos I took during this walk. The robin doesn't show as it was up in a tree when I go the camera out and I do not have a telephoto lens.

I also saw a mourning dove in the same location. Not sure I've seen one of them over winter before.

I hope you are having a warm New Years Day. etn

Happy New Year! I hope you have had a chance to reflect on the plusses and minuses of the past year, and have set for yourself a clear plan for the coming year. For me that means making a variety of changes. One of which will be less popular as I explain below, I am raising my shipping and handling charges. Another change is my continuing move into the internet marketing arena. This will take time away from the cover business, but will hopefully help me work down down my accumulated debt. It seems I’ve more inventory than dollars these days, but the gas company won’t take first day covers for the heating bill. This past few months, I’ve had some success with my various adwords campaigns during the Christmas buying season. I don’t expect to do as well in the off Christmas season, but I hope to build up to the Christmas levels over the coming months, and set myself up for a very busy Christmas this coming year. My repeated new year’s resolution revolves around my ever so large middle which I need to shrink. Again, I have had some recent success, but that was largely negated by the holidays. So I am going to try, try again. Initially I am going to do the same diet that brought me some recent success. This involves eating frozen entrees, 3-6 times a day. It’s a bit pricey, but allows me to eat often, which I’ve come to understand is a good thing. Even though I may eat up to six of them, most have low calorie counts. More importantly, they usually contain a meat portion and vegetables with relatively few high glycemic starches. One to two weeks of that will enable me to drop 10 pounds or more based on past experience. But I will get bored. My next step will be to either repeat after a period of time or explore a new diet I’ve been hearing about that takes a radically different approach to eating. I’ve liked what I have read about it, and my wife (who has bought and read every diet book ever written) tells me it is getting a lot of positive press. It’s called calorie shifting. I haven’t bought the eBook yet, but I intend to. If any of you have had any experience with it, I’d welcome your comments. I have other plans as well, including a planned trip to Turkey this summer to visit the new in laws. Can’t afford it at the moment, but will do my best to sell a ton of covers between now and then. Your help, as always, is appreciated. Among my goals from the past year was to get all my covers up and listed on eBay. I didn’t get that one done. I still have several thousands covers in boxes that have not made it online. While many are cheapies, there are still many better covers, primarily space and flight oriented that need to get processed. You can expect to see most of them in the coming three months. My plans for New Year’s day include a board game day with family and a hike along the river in my annual Robin hunt. I like to be the first to see signs of Spring and the robin certainly has that cachet. Even though I know I am hunting for wintering over robins, it’s fun to claim the bragging rights. I’ve been successful almost every New Years day for over a decade now. I’m confident I will be successful again this year. I hope the coming year will be one of your most successful years as well. Best wishes, etn Recent and Future eBay Listings: You can find all my current eBay auctions and my eBay Store items in my store by searching the following link. ETN Covers eBay Store I also have a significant collection of ship covers at … www.shipcovers.com Colorado I continue my States Series with a look at Colorado Covers today. Two are New Years related. These and several other Colorado Covers are now on eBay. 1711 Colorado Centennial Issue First day cover Medallion cachet. http://images.marketworks.com/hi/33/33063/fdc5065.jpg USS Colorado BB45 Ship Cover New Years Day 1/1/1934. http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/33/33063/ship1186.jpg USS Colorado ACR 7 (1901-1916) Picture postcard http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/33/33063/ship6941.jpg UX27 Loveland Colorado Last day 1cent rate 12/31/51 1001 -15 Colorado WM Grandy Cachet etn Map Cachets Over the years I have encountered a number of first day covers made out of old maps. I once had a clipping attributing these to a particular person, but the idea once out has been copied by others. The process is simple enough. Find an old map which shows a location appropriate to the stamp in question, cut it to shape, and create an envelope out of the map, and get it first day stamped. At one time I had almost 70 of these. Now I’m down to less than a dozen and a half examples. Those I have are now listed. Map Cachets Below is an example. Makes for a colorful first day cover. 1274 International Telecommunications Union on a Map cachet Cargo Ships Cargo Ships come in a wide variety of designations. I tend to lump them all together. Though somewhat less “sexy” than Battleships, destroyers etc, the cargo ships were the true lifeline for the fleet and its mission. After all, its not just the Army that travels on its stomach. I am featuring Cargo ships this week in my ebay store and at auction. USS Mount Hood AE-29 with a Mermaid Ship Cachet Mar 22, 1996 Advice Every year I'm starting to ask myself why I see friends who'll waste away and die Each new season I'll try to live it with flair Not tied to a TV and a stuffed easy chair Never letting my mind and body feel old Challenging myself facing Winter's cold Spring renews, in it's lakes and streams Calendars turn, I'll be living my dreams -Robert A. Swart Court Jester You can't take it with you Trying to disprove the saying "You can't take it with you," a stingy old lawyer, diagnosed with a terminal illness, finally figured out how to take at least some of his fortune with him when he died. He instructed his wife to go to the bank and withdraw enough money to fill two pillowcases. He then told her to take the bags of money to the attic and leave them directly above his bed. When he passed away, he planned to reach out and grab the bags on his way to heaven. Several weeks after the funeral, his wife, up in the attic cleaning, came upon the two forgotten pillow cases stuffed with cash. "Oh, that old fool!" she exclaimed. "I knew I should have put the money in the basement." The Cowboy and the Preacher One Sunday, a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach. The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd feed him." So the minister began his sermon. One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he had liked the sermon. The cowboy answered slowly, "Well, I'm not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn't feed him all the hay." Shopping Frenzy I was browsing in a souvenir shop when the man next to me struck up a conversation. Just as he was telling me that his wife was getting carried away with her shopping, a brief power shortage caused the lights to flicker overhead. 'That,' he sighed, 'must be her checking out now.' To Subscribe to my Steps newsletter send a blank email to stepsnewsletter@aweber.com You will get a request to confirm. Once you confirm you will be on the list for all future newsletters. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Shipping Price Increase

I have decided to increase my shipping and handling charges on all future eBay lots. For years I have been charging $1.50 for the first item and 25 cents for each additional. While this covers postage costs, it doesn't come anywhere near the time cost of handling.

I will now charge $2 for the first items and 35 cents for each additional lots sold to US Addresses. The rate to Canada will be $2.25 for the first items and 35 cents for each additional. To the rest of the world, I will charge $2.50 for the first item and 35 cents for each additional.

Last month and for January, 2008, I am running a special offer, where I will pay the shipping and handling charge for any order of three or more lots.

My goal is encourage more multiple unit purchases. More purchases theoretically means more of a profit margin per mailing.

As I have reported previously, I figure I have 15 minutes handling time invested into each lot on average. That said the new rates mean I am giving myself a raise from $6 and hour to $8 an hour for my time, less actual mailing costs.

I currently offer thousands of items with minimum bids below $10. The economics just don't work unless I can get a greater percentage of people to buy multiple lots.

It may seem like nothing, but the time it takes to print out an order, pick it from inventory, stuff the envelope, address it, stamp it, file feedback, record the transaction, and mail it add up quickly.

When people ask for special services, like insurance or registered mail, I only charge what the post office charges, and nothing for the time it takes me to stand in line at the post office.

I understand that this is not a popular move from my customers point of view, but it's something I need to do. I hope you understand. etn