A lifetime of philately for Ballito couple Jeff and Angela Braun

For Jeff and Angela Braun, the humble postage stamp represented a lifetime of family memories.

Active philatelists (stamp collectors) since 1980, the couple eventually became one of the biggest bulk collectors in the country.

But after Angela’s untimely passing in November last year, part of that collection totalling many thousands of stamps and other related paraphernalia, has now been put up for sale by Jeff.

Originally from Johannesburg, the couple first bought a home in Ballito in 2000 and have been commuting to the North Coast intermittently ever since.

“We were married in 1967 and had our first daughter Lorna two years later,” said Jeff.

“She is developmentally disabled and we found we were spending more time at home and looking for things to do together. We stumbled upon stamps and it soon became what we did as a family. It is very therapeutic.”

From footballers to animals, royals, religious figures, presidents and national monuments, stamp collecting has enough variety for everyone to find their niche.

Angela focused on collecting stamps produced in Great Britain before 1953, particularly those featuring Queen Victoria and Kings George the V and VI.

Most stamps produced after 1953 have little value because of the increased number in circulation and because they fall outside of the ‘core text’ for philately, Stanley Gibbons’ stamp catalogue.

Jeff developed a love for pre-war German rarities and Lorna had an obsession with Disney-related editions. Their youngest daughter Cindy never became as hooked and now lives in Finland.

“Angela was amazing with her collecting. She was the most organised person I have ever met and her clients always appreciated the attention to detail.”

After initially collecting for fun, Angela became a regular reseller of stamps online via eBay and Bidorbuy under the name Stamps4Africa, and had a client list across the globe.

“She became well-known for creating full sets which people would often buy just to fill in their one or two missing stamps. She just loved it and you would always find her at flea markets and auctions trying to increase her collection,” Jeff said.

“After surviving a cancer scare in 1988, she also decided to use her skills for good and raised hundreds of thousands of rands for homes helping those with disabilities.”

Jeff worked for Tiger Brands until retiring in 2004 and began to increase his own collection, but never to the same extent as Angela.

“I would estimate she handled some 40 000 transactions, which could be anything from four to a hundred stamps at a time. Even still, the collection is in the tens of thousands.”

There are some true rarities such as ‘Penny Blacks’ and ‘Mauritius Blues’ which have significant value, but Jeff said they never chased the highest end of collecting.

He reckons the most expensive stamp they sold cost around R3 000.

Jeff’s other post-retirement interest is digitising old media files, from Super-8 film to VHS, and has built up a steady client base.

“It is something I love doing and often I will be able to show people memories that they haven’t been able to see for decades. It’s very special.”

“As for the stamp collection, I have decided it is time to let go and will be selling it privately.”

To find out what is available, contact Jeff at 083 645 0963.

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