Benjamin Miller Collection facts for kids
The Benjamin K. Miller Collection is a very special group of stamps and other items related to stamp collecting. It was given to the New York Public Library in 1925 by a lawyer named Benjamin Kurtz Miller. This collection is famous because it was thought to be the first complete set of U.S. stamps ever put together. People often call it the "crown jewels" of U.S. stamp collecting because it has so many rare and important stamps.
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The Rare One-Cent Z Grill Stamp
One of the most amazing and rare stamps in the collection is the One-Cent Z Grill. This stamp is incredibly rare! Only two of these stamps are known to exist in the entire world. The other one is owned by a famous collector named Bill Gross.
Who Was Benjamin K. Miller?
Benjamin Kurtz Miller was born in 1857. His father was also a lawyer in Milwaukee, and his grandfather was one of the first federal judges in Wisconsin. Benjamin joined his father's law firm in 1877. He later became a partner and then retired in 1906 to spend more time on his hobbies and interests.
How the Collection Grew
Benjamin Miller started collecting stamps seriously when he was 61 years old. This was a bit later in life for such a big hobby! He began in 1918 when he bought one of the famous Inverted Jenny stamps. After that, he became even more dedicated. He wrote articles for stamp magazines and bought stamps from as many as 30 different dealers.
By the early 1920s, Miller was working towards his big goal: collecting one example of every U.S. postage stamp listed in the Scott catalogue of his time. The Scott catalogue is like a big book that lists all the different stamps. He also collected different versions of stamps, like those with slightly different colors, unused stamps, and stamps with various postmarks (cancellations). Miller also enjoyed something called "plating stamps." This means he tried to find a copy of a stamp for each exact spot it was printed on a large sheet.
Where the Collection Was Displayed
The Benjamin K. Miller Collection was shown at the New York Public Library for over 50 years. However, it was put away and locked up after 153 of its rarest stamps were stolen in 1977. Even though 81 of the stolen stamps were found later, the library decided not to put the collection back on display. Some of the recovered stamps had even been damaged to make them harder to identify.
The collection finally returned to public view at the National Postal Museum. It was displayed in two parts: first from May 27, 2006, to October 1, 2007, and then again from November 5, 2007, to January 12, 2009.
Recognition for His Work
Benjamin Miller was recognized for his amazing stamp collecting and his knowledge. The Royal Philatelic Society, a very important group for stamp collectors, changed his status from a regular "member" to a special "fellow." This showed how much they respected his achievements in the world of stamps.
