Dale Williams Stamp Store

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2006

The future of stamp collecting

The Northwest Explorer of Tucson, Arizona, featured stamp dealer Dale Williams (shown at left), owner of American Stamp and Coin Company and several other collectors, in an article about the future of stamp collecting.

He's quoted as "begrudgingly" admitting that the Internet might indeed be the future of stamp collecting.

"Why pay for all this overhead" he asked, referring to his store's utility and rental expenses, "when you can sit at home in your bathrobe - or naked - and sell from your computer?"

Williams doesn't want to close shop and work just on the Internet. People enjoy coming into the store, he said, and they trust him as a dealer.

"This store is a kind of a dinosaur."
I first went to Dale's stamp store in 1996. I had him make an offer on my national album. He didn't want it. He said he could only give me the face value of the stamps. I didn't have any really old stamps. I'm glad I didn't sell them.

Later I got a new national album and I bought the supplements that brought me up to date. Next I purchased an Israel Tab album and I kept up with the supplements. I bought a brass magnifying glass. I bought a Swiss army knife just like the one Dale used to separate stamps. I will always remember the small solar calculator he used to add up the purchases.

Some time later I got into finical trouble. I wasn't making a lot of money and I had run up my dept. My take home pay was reduced for a few years due to higher health care costs. On top of that I had identity theft five times. I had to go to court to get that resolved. And I had to pay the lawyer costs. I wasn't able to buy stamps for about seven years.

About three years ago, Monica and I started going to the store and making purchases. We bought first day covers. We got caught up on all the missing National supplements. We bought a UN album and stamps. We bought a German album and stamps. Once I heard that the store was being sold and Dale was retiring, I purchased a British album. I bought dust covers for all my albums and I was able to get a lot of British and German stamps at a discount. Many times driving down Oracle to go with Monica to the University of Arizona I would point out, there os the stamp store. Now the store is closed. A chapter of my life is finished. That stamp store meant a lot to me.

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Monday, October 27, 2014