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66 Stamp Insider
The Last Words
Heather Sweeting, Associate Editor
14329 Victory St., Sterling NY 13156-3172
e-mail hsweeting@nystampclubs.org
Does Your Collection Need A ‘Noah’s Ark’?
It has been an extremely unusual summer in upstate New York. Twice during July we had
two days in which it rained four to five inches in a single day. The grand total was more
than 11 inches. Several communities experienced flash flooding, clogged storm drains,
sink holes in roads. An aqueduct on the Erie Canal threatened to crack and flood an entire
town. Thankfully, I live on top of a hill and have excellent drains in the cellar. I don’t believe
the people on the bottom of the hill, or those living near the lake were as lucky.
Sadly, in the first of these rain events a portion of a bridge washed away and two trucks
fell into the water below and were dragged a great distance. Both drivers were killed, one
of whom was a USPS employee. Several weeks after this accident the USPS disclosed that
thousands of pieces of mail destined for the New England area were destroyed after they
were found to be full of toxins created by mold and water submersion.
Are you prepared for a unexpected water disaster? Is your collection insured against
moisture, excessive humidity, a leaky roof , or a flash flood? Do you have a separate rider
on your insurance policy for these? Thinking back, I should have thrown a bag of stamps
on the basement floor to soak when it was flooded.
Since Hurricane Katrina, many insurance companies have amended their policies.
When I recently checked a policy for a relative, I noticed that it did not cover damage from
mildew created by water damage from rain, flood, or a leak. It didn’t even provide coverage
for a broken plumbing fixture, such as a washing machine hose or hot water heater. In
essence, I guess acts of wind and fire are covered, but nothing related to water.
If a tree fell on your roof and caused a big hole in your ceiling and it rained would you
be covered? If you had a fire and the fire company tried to put out the fire with water and
caused damage to the drywall or other objects in your house, would that be covered?
Take some time to protect and preserve your collection. This can be done in several
ways, not just through insurance. Many people rent a safe deposit box to store their valuables.
I wonder how those stood up to the test in New Orleans; were they watertight?
Be sure to make scans, photographs, or videos of the most important pieces in your
collection. Make several copies and keep them in various places. This could be helpful
not only to preserve history, but to have a visual record of your collection in case of theft,
fire, etc. Many specialist collections are broken up in estate sales, and years of work in
assembling them are lost forever when the items dissipate throughout the country. Once
a collection is digitized it makes it really easy to write articles, (hint, hint) or create computer
presentations, or even put items on eBay if you have duplicates. So, please, soak your
stamps yourself. Don’t let Mother Nature do it for you!