John Walter Scott

Just about every stamp collector knows what the Scott Catalogue is. But few know much about the man whose name it bears.

John Walter Scott was born in England in 1845 and came to the United States as a young man.

After trying his hand at gold prospecting in California, he went to New York in 1866 and opened a stamp store mostly with items he had collected as a child.

According to February 2007 issue of The American Stamp Dealer and Collector magazine, "Within a decade, Scott had become one of the leading stamp dealers in the United States-having begun circulating his own printed price list in 1867.

"That 'price list' was to eventually turn into the premier stamp catalogue in America widely respected and continually published today by his successors."

It's also a little known fact that Scott organized the first stamp auction in the United States.

Scott died in 1919... but his name lives on today.

To learn more about John. W. Scott, click here.