A well-known collection, full of rare stamps of the value of from £5
to £50, has been largely formed by the fortunate possessor out of
stamps for which he paid 2s. per dozen just a little over twenty years
ago.

A leading collector once conceived the idea of scouring the
little-visited country towns of Spain for rare old Spanish stamps, and
a most successful hunt he made of it. He secured most valuable and
unsuspected hauls of unused and used blocks and pairs of rare
Portuguese; but before returning home he decided to treat himself to a
trip to Morocco, and during that ill-fated extension of his tour he
lost nearly the whole of his patient garnerings of rare Spanish
stamps, for during an inland trip some very unphilatelic Bedouins
swooped down on his escort in the desert and carried off the whole of
his baggage. He, being some distance ahead of his escort, escaped, and
brought home only a few samples of the grand things he had found and
lost.

In all forms of collecting the hunt for bargains adds zest to the
game, and probably more so in stamps than in any other hobby, not even
excepting old china; and, as in other lines of collecting, the bargain
hunter must be equipped with the expert knowledge of the specialist if
he would sweep into his net at bargain prices the unsuspected gems to
be found now and again in the philatelic mart. Many a keen stamp
collector turns his years of wide experience to good account as a
bargain hunter, and at least one innocent amateur is credited with
netting a revenue which would make many a flourishing merchant green
with envy.