Mystic Stamp Company
Encyclopedia
The Mystic Stamp Company, based in Camden
, New York
, since 1923, is a mail-order postage stamp dealer
, one of the largest in operation and notable for both its promotion of stamp collecting
as a hobby and for its acquisition of the Z Grill
, the rarest United States
stamp. The company deals primarily in US stamps and supplies, with some supplies of stamps and supplies made by foreign postal authorities and the United Nations Postal Administration
.
Like most stamp dealer
s, sales of stamps and postal products are made through printed catalogs as well as an online catalog that have the details of all the current stamps on offer.
At the Siegel auction of the Robert Zoellner
collection in 1998, Mystic president Donald Sundman acquired the Z Grill
for $935,000, the highest price ever paid for a single US stamp. Subsequently Mystic featured it in company advertising and listing it for sale in the catalogs.
In late October 2005 Sundman traded the Z Grill for the unique Inverted Jenny
plate block
, worth slightly over $3 million, from U.S. financier Bill Gross, thus giving Gross the only complete collection of 19th century US stamps.
Camden (town), New York
Camden is a town in Oneida County, New York, USA. The population was 5,028 at the 2000 census.The town of Camden contains a village also called Camden. The town is in the northwest part of Oneida County and is northwest of the City of Rome.- History :...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, since 1923, is a mail-order postage stamp dealer
Stamp dealer
A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in postage stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or official stamps for use on court documents.-Stamps on Approval Basis:...
, one of the largest in operation and notable for both its promotion of stamp collecting
Stamp collecting
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...
as a hobby and for its acquisition of the Z Grill
Z Grill
The Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, or simply "Z-Grill", is a 1-cent postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in February 1868 depicting Benjamin Franklin. While stamps of this design were the common 1-cent stamps of the 1860s, the Z-Grill is distinguished by having the so-called "Z"...
, the rarest United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stamp. The company deals primarily in US stamps and supplies, with some supplies of stamps and supplies made by foreign postal authorities and the United Nations Postal Administration
United Nations Postal Administration
The United Nations Postal Administration is the postal agency of the United Nations. It issues postage stamps and postal stationery, denominated in United States dollars for the United Nations offices in New York, in Swiss francs for the offices in Geneva and in euros for the offices in Vienna...
.
Like most stamp dealer
Stamp dealer
A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in postage stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or official stamps for use on court documents.-Stamps on Approval Basis:...
s, sales of stamps and postal products are made through printed catalogs as well as an online catalog that have the details of all the current stamps on offer.
Robert Zoellner
Robert Zoellner is a stamp collector who achieved fame as the second person ever to have formed a complete collection of United States postage stamps, after Benjamin K. Miller who assembled a complete collection pre-1925. As of November 2005, one other person, William H...
collection in 1998, Mystic president Donald Sundman acquired the Z Grill
Z Grill
The Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, or simply "Z-Grill", is a 1-cent postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in February 1868 depicting Benjamin Franklin. While stamps of this design were the common 1-cent stamps of the 1860s, the Z-Grill is distinguished by having the so-called "Z"...
for $935,000, the highest price ever paid for a single US stamp. Subsequently Mystic featured it in company advertising and listing it for sale in the catalogs.
In late October 2005 Sundman traded the Z Grill for the unique Inverted Jenny
Inverted Jenny
The Inverted Jenny is a United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918 in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design was accidentally printed upside-down; it is probably the most famous error in American philately...
plate block
Plate block
A plate block is a block of stamps from the edge of the sheet which shows the plate or cylinder from which the stamps were printed.-Background:The numbering of printing plates has long been a part of quality control in the printing process...
, worth slightly over $3 million, from U.S. financier Bill Gross, thus giving Gross the only complete collection of 19th century US stamps.