Cyril Summerton of Australind is the third generation of his family to collect stamps. He inherited a wonderful collection from his grandfather but it was the people he met while fishing that really got him hooked on the hobby.
Cyril focusses on Australia's neighbours. This Elvis issue is from Papua New Guinea (ABC Local: SK)
Aviation first day cover. Cyril worked with Ansett for 30 years and travelled extensively (ABC Local: SK)
The Stanley Gibbons album is the stamp collector's bible. Every stamp issued in Commonwealth countries for almost a century (ABC Local: SK)
Page from the Stanley Gibbons album. In the very early days, stamps were glued in. Then hinges of cloth were used. Today, acid free plastic and special glues are available. (ABC Local: SK)
The Commonwealth of Australia issued its first stamps in 1913, using an iconic kangaroo design (ABC Local: SK)
A special issue for Australia's 150th anniversary (ABC Local: SK)
Only a handful of Mauritian stamps were issued. Rarity is one of the main criteria for value (ABC Local: SK)
Two of the tools for stamp collecting, special tweezers and a measure of performations (ABC Local: SK)
Stamps from the Pacific islands are often beautiful says Cyril and that's one of the reasons he still collects them. (ABC Local: SK)
Cyril with some of his collection. He has been collecting stamps since he was a boy. (ABC: SK)
Cyril is a true collector. He doesn't know how many stamps he has or their value. He does know that he cherishes the stamps that he inherited from his grandfather and father.
Three generations
The penny post was introduced in 1840 in the UK and philately was a popular hobby in the 19th century, says Cyril.
His grandfather collected but when he migrated to Australian in 1907, he no longer had the time to devote to the hobby and passed his stamps to his son.
"Then it went to my brother after WWII. I've inherited it all."
Of his grandfather's collection, Cyril still has one page of hinged King George V stamps of all denominations that he hasn't removed from the album.
The King George stamps were issued between 1910 and 1914 and vary in value from hundreds to tens of thousands for some of them.
Time is the stumbling block, he says. "A lot have watermarks and it takes skill and time to establish what they are."
Special chemicals which cause the watermark to appear are applied to the back of the stamp.
Put simply, watermarks can determine the rarity and therefore the value of a stamp, explains Cyril. Catalogues contain information about how many stamps were issued with each of the watermarks.
"[A watermark] may have had only had one to two thousand, some may have millions issued."
Value doesn't concern Cyril.
"The value of the stamp doesn't matter one iota.
"The genuine collectors don't worry about the cost because we're not selling. We hope to pass them on to our families."
Second generation
Cyril's father was an engine driver who worked shifts.
"When he came home, he wanted to relax. He sat down and played with the stamps he inherited."
In 1914, the Australian kangaroo stamps appeared and were popular. Like his father, Cyril also enjoys animal stamps; whales and elephants are his particular favourites.
When he was 12, the family moved from York to Bunbury.
Cyril often fished off the wharf. He got to know the regular people and the ships which came in. "I swapped Australian stamps for foreign stamps."
In the beginning, he bought stamps from all countries. Today, he's focussing on just nine, including Australia, its islands, New Guinea, Fiji and Nauru. "You do need to specialise after a while.
"Then you pray that you win lotto," he joked.
Condition affects the value of all stamps. They are categorised as mint, used and badly cancelled stamps. The Penny Black is the holy grail of stamp collecting, followed by the Tuppenny Blue and the Penny Red.
"It's rare to find an uncancelled early stamp and if it is, you can't even put a price on it.
"We've had stamps found in a 'box of junk'. One piece of junk fetched $80,000 because of a special watermark."
When asked which stamp he would happily part with, Cyril is aghast. "No way in the world," he says laughing.
So which would he be never part with?
"I sat on the phone for half a day on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 2011 to order one of a very, very small number of issue with that postmark and date on it.
"That would probably be the one I would grab and run and hope that I could still swim with one hand above the water."
Cyril's children aren't interested in stamps but he's hoping that one of his five grandchildren might take over the collection.
Collecting tips and traps
Cyril is a member of Eaton Stamp Collectors Club which began in 2008. Catalogues are an essential part of the collector's kit but can be very expensive to buy. But clubs will loan the valuable catalogues and offer advice and ideas to collectors.
Always hold stamps with special tweezers, Cyril advises. Stamps can be framed as well as placed in albums but light will eventually fade them, he warns.
New issues are a good way to start a collection and Australia Post has a free informative magazine.
Collect thematically or by country but start small, slowly and build up, says Cyril.
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