Sat Feb 11 2012
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Frankfort Face: Breck Pegram
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One of the signs of being a true stamp collector is owning a set of Graf Zepplin stamps, said Breck Pegram, president of the Kentucky Stamp Club.
The stamps were issued to promote lighter-than-air methods of transportation and were printed in 1930. However, the stamps were expensive at the time and were unpopular because the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, Breck said.
There were three different versions " one printed with green ink for 65 cents, a second in brown ink for $1.30 and a blue version for $2.60. Breck has all three and said there are only about 10,000 to 20,000 left because the government destroyed many unused sheets.
"As the years have gone on, they have become quite a collector's item," Breck said. "I enjoy showing them."
Breck, 69, of Frankfort, said he enjoys learning about the history behind each stamp. He currently has about 10,000, and his collection is worth about $5,000.
His spare bedroom has shelves lined with albums and appraisal books with several sheets of stamps framed and mounted on the walls.
Breck is an accountant and is also interested in locomotives - he collects toy trains and photographs historic steam engines. He has two daughters, one son, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild and has passed on his hobby to one daughter-in-law and one grandchild who have about 2,000 stamps.
Breck began collecting when he was 11 and lost interest when he was a teenager but picked up the hobby again in his 50s. He said he wanted a hobby, and stamp collecting doesn't have to be expensive.
"You can collect stamps really on a shoestring budget or you can spend as much as you want to," he said.
Breck said he tends to buy a used stamp worth $50 to fill out a page in his album instead of buying a mint example for $5,000. Once he finds a stamp he likes or needs, he mounts it in his collection album using a special paper hinge with adhesive.
One of the most famous stamps is the "inverted Jennie" - a stamp produced in 1918 with an image of a Curtiss biplane upside down. Only about 100 stamps were printed with the error and single examples have sold at auction for up to $825,000.
Collectors know where 99 of the stamps are, but rumors say the last copy is held in a safe deposit box in Louisville, Breck said. However, neither the bank nor the estate's attorney will discuss the matter.
"That might take all the fun out of it," he said.
Stamp collectors like to swap stories, share information, trade stamps and buy supplies at trade shows, Breck said. There's one in Lexington at the Thoroughbred Center on March 28 and 29.
Collectors are always willing to help newcomers who are interested in the hobby, Breck said. Dealers will gave albums and stamps to anyone who's interested in learning about the hobby, he said.
"We spend a lot of time answering questions," he said. "They will do anything they can to help."
There has been a significant decline in the number of stamp dealers in Kentucky in the last several decades, Breck said. There used to be several dealers in Lexington, Louisville and even one in Frankfort. Now, there's only one store left in Louisville.
There are about 20 members in the Kentucky Stamp Club, based in Frankfort, and many of the members are at least 70 years old. The club meets at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at Memorial Baptist Church.
However, there's one family from Lawrenceburg that attends meetings, and Breck said the young sisters enjoy collecting and mounting stamps.
"They do an interesting job of arranging them," he said. "The are learning a lot about stamps."
However, interest in stamp collecting among younger generations has experienced a slight rebound. There are more and more youngsters at stamp shows, but they don't all become passionate collectors, Breck said.
"It's much too educational and informative for children to have a whole heck of a lot of interest," he said. "We are competing with video games and Game Boys."
The youngsters from Lawrenceburg collect "pretty" stamps - other collectors base their interests on topical themes, such as aircraft, sports, automobiles or butterflies. Breck is interested in stamps from the British colonies, in particular the island of Barbados.
He said one of his ancestors was exiled to the island from Scotland. Breck is also interested in stamps from the Civil War Confederacy because another relative helped design a stamp for North Carolina.
"If I had one, it would be worth $5,000 to $8,000," he said. "It's a very interesting stamp."
However, stamps like that make collectors targets for thieves, Breck said. Just five years ago several juveniles broke into the home of a Frankfort stamp collector and stole a "pristine" collection worth thousands of dollars.
But, before the stamps could be recovered, the thieves dumped the albums in the Kentucky River. Stamp clubs also used to print membership directories to help collectors trade and sell stamps but stopped after thieves began using them to target collections, Breck said.
"That's just one of the things we live with," he said.
"Frankfort Faces" is a series that highlights people from within the Frankfort and Franklin County community. Each feature follows one of the city's most unique personalities and includes a story, photos and video, which can be found by clicking the TV icon attached to the story online at state-journal.com.
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