Retired Casino Dealer Hits Philatelic Jackpot

Columnist John L. Smith of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports when casino dealer Denny Moreau retired, he renewed his interest in stamp collecting.

Going through some of his old stuff, Denny found a small box that he had purchased for $7.50 from a friend many years before.

Inside were lots of ordinary "2-cent reds" plus one that was out of the ordinary - it had a Schermack type III perforation. On closer inspection, Denny believed it to be the quite rare 1920, 482A, 2-cent deep rose of which only 40 are known to exist.

However, Denny doubted that he could be so lucky. So he put the stamp away. But after thinking about it, he decided to send it to the Philatelic Foundation just to make sure.

"He received a letter essentially informing him the stamp wasn't worth much more than the paper it was printed on," writes Smith.

Undeterred, Denny wrote back asking for an appeal. He then received another registered letter from the foundation. Its new opinion: The stamp was genuine.

Denny is quoted as saying, "I just jumped to my feet. I couldn't believe it. I was running around the house screaming, saying, 'I can't believe it,' for two hours."

When he decided to sell at auction, the stamp's opening price was $55,000. It sold for $95,000.

BTW - One correction in the story, Denny has been a life member of the American Philatelic Society since 1973... not the non-existent National Philatelic Society mentioned in the article.

To read the entire article, click here.