Among the best dealers we find some of the most advanced students of philately, who when it comes to research have many a time risen above considerations of commerce. Some of the most valuable contributions to the literature of philately have come from their unaccustomed but painstaking pens, and most of the dealers of repute take a pleasure in assisting the student to unravel a problem. In whatever spirit we form our collections, and with no matter what object in view, it is but human to nourish the hope, even if some shrinking from the admission of pecuniary motives never permits us to express it, that the collection formed with loving care and a considerable expenditure of money shall not, if parted with, result in a loss, or if retained suffer a heavy depreciation. If we desire to interest others we must be prepared for the _motif_ of the primary questions of the uninitiated, "What is it worth?" "What did you give for it?" though one can never hope to satisfy the ingenuous folk who ask the collector of many years' standing "How many stamps have you got?" and "I suppose they ought to be worth pots of money--how much do you think?" There are several factors in the stamp trade which are worth noting, as they have contributed in no small measure to the prosperity of the business, and they must increase our confidence in the security of our collections as investments. A world-wide market is open to the vendor of rare stamps; it is convenient of access beyond all other markets for _bric-à-brac_, because the rarest stamp in the world may be safely transmitted anywhere, within an envelope, through the post. The adaptability of the postage-stamp to effective and convenient arrangement is not of more importance to the collector than the portability of his goods, rare or common, is to the dealer. It involves no more trouble to sell a rare stamp in Yokohama than it does over a counter in that thoroughfare of stamp-dealers, the Strand. Nor is there the risk of damage that would attend the transmission of a bulky article of _vertu_ to a customer in a remote country.