Merchants Trading Stamps

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   Hi      Are there any collectors of the trading stamps that merchants gave out years ago? To bring up memories, in the UK you had Green Shield, in the US we had S&H, in Germany it looks like many stores had their own stamps.
      About ten years ago I did a 720 page book covering about 4500 named plans and about 10,000 described stamps. I hope to get a revised edition done before I turn 90. First I have to get a revised edition of "Perforated or Punched Initials, Numbers and/or Designs in US Revenue Stamps and Fiscal Documents" out, then a book on US Trade Union Dues and Assessment Stamps, one on Adhesive QSL Bureau Stamps, a revision to one on US Railroad Baggage, Newspaper & Parcel Stamps are in the pipeline.
       I have several other projects that should keep me active until I get to 100, if I and my computer last that long.

      Any one have a better name (in English) for Trading Stamps or should we use the German (Rabattmarken)?

Art

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cind-revs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Calverton, MD. Status: Offline Points: 12	Post Options Post Reply Quote cind-revs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Merchants Trading Stamps Posted: 30 March 2010 at 11:42
	Hi Are there any collectors of the trading stamps that merchants gave out years ago? To bring up memories, in the UK you had Green Shield, in the US we had S&H, in Germany it looks like many stores had their own stamps. About ten years ago I did a 720 page book covering about 4500 named plans and about 10,000 described stamps. I hope to get a revised edition done before I turn 90. First I have to get a revised edition of "Perforated or Punched Initials, Numbers and/or Designs in US Revenue Stamps and Fiscal Documents" out, then a book on US Trade Union Dues and Assessment Stamps, one on Adhesive QSL Bureau Stamps, a revision to one on US Railroad Baggage, Newspaper & Parcel Stamps are in the pipeline. I have several other projects that should keep me active until I get to 100, if I and my computer last that long. Any one have a better name (in English) for Trading Stamps or should we use the German (Rabattmarken)? Art
	cinderellas are for fun, revenues are for research

Steve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 26 March 2010 Location: Wrexham Status: Offline Points: 3917	Post Options Post Reply Quote Steve Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 March 2010 at 12:04
	Hi Art I have just a few in my modest collection. While specialising in some fantasy issues I am also building a small collection that is supposed to cover the spectrum of Cinderella philately with an emphasis on GB and 'ones that take my eye'. I only have later examples of Green Shield, Pink and Co-op stamps. I've not come across the Rebattmarken term before, though the literal translation of Discount Stamps is familiar. The other term I have heard is Customer Loyalty Stamps. There must be several large grouping of these items. You mention Green Shield, which were given out by many retailers and were redeemable for goods, but there are those for a specific retailer which I have seen but never experienced. I don't think any of these schemes still operate over here, though you can collect rubber stampings on a card at Cafe Nero for a free coffee, or cut tokens off various products to save for gimmick merchandise. I also remember Broke Bond tea did a brand called Dividend with a perfed stamp included within the wrapper. Again they were collected and could be redeemed. I was disappointed when my mother bought this brand as it meant no collectors card inside for me, but Brooke Bond PG Tips did have the card. Some of the larger supermarket chains offer saving stamps. £1 in the machine, get a stamp, fill a card and redeem at the till. Do these count in your listings? I am amazed that you have 10,000 stamps listed. You must be dedicated.
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Bill Porter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Olathe, CO USA Status: Offline Points: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bill Porter Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 April 2010 at 04:59
	Hi Art, Sounds like quite a task that you've set for yourself in the planned revision to your book. Atta boy! While I don't specifically collect trading stamps per se, I do have a few in my accumulation. Two of these you may not be aware of. One of them, however, is temporarily mis-placed. But in the meantime, here's one that is handy... As a kid, I helped my mother on many occasions to fill up the redemption books for both S&H Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps. Later, there was also the Gold Bond stamps. But I believe that my favorites were the Blue Chip Stamps. If for no other reason than the fact that they were produced in blue - a favorite color of mine. The Value Stamps shown above, were a marketing tool that we used for our own purposes to reward customers on both our web site and, for a couple of years, through our retail store front. The examples shown above were from a production run in 2006. The last year that we produced the stamps and the redemption program was discontinued in mid-to-late 2007. I probably should have kept better notes during that time when the program was operational, as I do not recall at the moment just how many sheets of these stamps were produced and distributed. But taking an educated guess, I would say that we produced about 500 or so sheets, each sheet bearing 50 stamps. All sheets were printed as shown, in black and purple on blue, 8.5" x 11" dry-gummed paper and pinhole perforated. And as you might imagine, I have no clue as to how many of these Value Stamps may still be "in captivity" by those persons that received the stamps from our companies. I do know, however, that I had two or four single stamps left that I saved for posterity sake, to go into some stamp albums I put together as gifts to my four grandsons. But that was the extent of known examples until late last year when a long-time customer mentioned that she still had some and wanted to know if we would still honor them, even though the redemption program had terminated years earlier. Graciously, we redeemed the stamps for her, making 35 stamps the total that I now have at hand. Although if I were to go back through the archives of accounting paperwork from that time period that are now stored in boxes, there probably are more to be found therein. (I don't believe that going on a search for them would justify the time, but I could be wrong.) As for the other trading stamps that I referred to at the onset of this missive, I will look through the files and try, at least, to get a scan of them for posting here. These are known as SAVER STAMPS utilized the the American Bicycle Association and are still in use today. We (The Olathe Poste) have been the producer of ABA's saver stamps for about the past five years. And off-hand, they distribute several thousand sheets annually among their member race tracks, etc., across the United States. I hope this is useful information for you, Art, and thanks for bringing up this topic. It brought back a few good, old memories. Edited by Bill Porter - 01 April 2010 at 05:05
	*Bill* The Olathe Poste P. O. Box 707 Olathe, CO 81425 USA

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 May 2010 at 18:03
	Art, what's the name of your book? I would like to see a copy of it. I'm trying to learn about some of the trading stamps I have. I'm actually posting them for sale in my Etsy shop ("StampClub") and I always think it's nice to give a little detail about them. I've posted four kinds so far, and the research is just taking forever. I think probably a lot of the ones I have are from local shops, but there are some green stamps that look different from the other. They're S&H but it would be nice to know what era mine are from so I can call them "vintage" or "antique", give a little detail in the description. I have put the ones I have in a set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomleigh/sets/72157624063200982/ but this is the S&H I'm wondering about: Any info is appreciated!! Thanks, Ande

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 May 2010 at 18:07
	are trading stamps considered Cinderella stamps? I would think the answer is yes but I wanted to make sure before tagging my listings and getting it wrong.

Colin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 29 March 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2500	Post Options Post Reply Quote Colin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2010 at 23:29
	Yes! Trading stamps are considered Cinderellas! Thanks for posting, you are very welcome here. I am sure someone can help with your enquiries and I look forward to seeing the results here. We have similar 'Co-operative' stamps in the UK - discount or trading stamps issued by a national department store chain. Edited by Colin - 15 May 2010 at 23:32
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Bill Porter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Olathe, CO USA Status: Offline Points: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bill Porter Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 May 2010 at 04:48
	Hi Ande, For what it's worth, here's my two-cents-worth on the subject. Unfortunately, yes I'm afraid that the majority of folks today will mis-categorize **anything that is not a real** postage stamp as a Cinderella. It has become far too easy - besides misunderstood - to just lump everything together in one, catch-all term. Personally, I consider trading stamps a separate category of and by itself. Then the many, appropriate sub-categories for other types of trading stamps, such as what Colin refers to, can be differentiated properly. I am guessing that Art, in his book, probably addresses the many types and differences that this historic topical arena of stamp collecting worldwide represents. But as I've never seen his book nor heard more from him here about it, again, it's only a guess. From the perspective of your offering these types of stamps on Ebay, I don't know either whether or not they offer a "trading stamp" category. So you may well have to use the category Cinderella to improve your odds to their best potential of viewers and possible buyers. But if you find yourself interested enough in the trading stamp topic to not sell-off everything currently in your possession, and start a collection of them of your own. Then you may want to investigate how Scotts, Gibbons, or any of the other collecting "Bibles" treat them and go from there. I would imagine too, that special interest reference books such as Art's, would also be an invaluable tool for anyone who takes up this area of collecting. For what it's worth, Ande, I hope these comments are helpful to you in some way. And welcome to the forum, too.
	*Bill* The Olathe Poste P. O. Box 707 Olathe, CO 81425 USA

Colin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 29 March 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2500	Post Options Post Reply Quote Colin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 May 2010 at 22:47
	Thanks Bill - and apologies for herding every type of non-postal stamp together into one area of collecting. I have now started a separate forum heading for any other trading, discount, savings or merchants stamps and will move this thread into that later in the month. I did not think eBay has a category for 'trading stamps' - I have certainly never searched for that so would advise Ande to put as many appropriate phrases as possible in his item descriptions and let his potential buyers decide what the stamp represents to them.
	My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - Check regularly for updates and special offers... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately .

cind-revs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Calverton, MD. Status: Offline Points: 12	Post Options Post Reply Quote cind-revs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 May 2010 at 00:47
	Hi, On eBay any search for "trading stamps" or "@1 trading stamp*" will also pull up the kitchen boxes to hold books and loose stamps and postage stamp assortments for traders. But that is better than looking through all the listing under collectables. Art
	cinderellas are for fun, revenues are for research

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 May 2010 at 17:02
	It's a "merchant" stamps, although not a merchant "trading" stamp...but reading this thread brought it to my mind and this seems as good a place as any to drop it. I don't do it, and I'm not going to do it, but I have often thought about it and regretted not having saved/collected those little brand name stickers that they paste on virtually every piece of fresh fruit and some of the vegies these days. Fifty years ago, they were pretty much only on bananas. It would have been a fascinating collection.