Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Charles Berg, 74, philatelist and owner of Stamp King (7139 W. Higgins, 773-775-2100).
“I was sitting here one afternoon, and a couple comes in with a cover [a used envelope bearing canceled postage], and they want to know if it has any value. It’s a large-size cover, with a 10- and a 12-cent stamp from the 1870s. It also has a black-and-red stamp depicting Lincoln, a 90-cent stamp from 1869. I happened to know that that stamp [is priced at] over $2,000 for a used copy. What is that worth on cover? I turned to the catalog. It’s not listed.
