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In North Korea, hatred is as close as an envelope
By Kristine Kotta, Kristine Kotta
Published September 27, 2017
(Associated Press)
Now North Korea has yet another new way to send a belligerent message: it has produced two anti-American stamps to observe the 85th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army.
Scott English, executive director of the American Philatelic Society, told Fox News the imagery on the stamps is quite provocative.
“In addition to the stamp of Nixon being stabbed with a pen, North Korea’s image of a missile being aimed at the U.S. takes the cake,” he said. “It shows their willingness to escalate the tensions between them and the United States.”
English, who worked on Capitol Hill throughout the 90s with a brief stint in 2015 working for Republican South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford, believes the stamps are a hard-hitting way for the North Koreans to get people talking and “rattle the swords.”
“It’s a good way to rally support by having their people buy the stamps to show their loyalty, and good propaganda for internal politics,” English added.
Aside from the ‘rah-rah’ effect, do these stamps add up to a hill of beans?
“No. Not among U.S. stamp collectors because they are so hard to get,” English said.
As Martin Frankevicz, New Issues Editor for Scott Postage catalogue explained, “Stamps from North Korea are not easily accessible because they are embargoed, much like Cuba and Iran. And quite frankly, these are not particularly different than the other anti-American ones they issue.”
But isn’t scarcity a good thing when it comes to value?
Frankevicz says smaller quantities don’t have much market value. What matter more is what is on the stamp. “One of the scarcest stamps in the U.S. is the Inverted Jenny stamp," he said. "Only 100 were printed and one stamp sold for $450,000. In 1918, it had a 24 cent face value.” This printing error by the post office is one of history’s most famous and expensive mistakes.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/in-north-korea-hatred-is-as-close-as-an-envelope