Okay folks, not sure if this is the right subforum or not, as the topic of encased postage stamps seem to me to be a mixed hybrid between numismatics, notaphily, and philately, given that they were used for emergency money. Do we have any collectors of encased stamps in the forum?
I sort of collect them, I had a couple but sold them with the intention of buying a better one. I haven't found my better one yet though....
I have been looking for nice ones for years, never found a decent piece. And I try to avoid big auctions.
There was an encased postage stamp on this episode of Pawn Stars (Season 2 Episode 32) Segment starts around the 4 minute mark.
The Achilles Heel for many encased stamps is the mica window. [A thin layer of mica was used to protect the stamp from wear but still allow it to be seen.] Sometimes it's missing, but mostly the problem is that the mica layers start to separate leaving what looks like bubbles in the window.
I find them interesting and I would like to have a representative specimen but there is no way I could afford to collect them.
