Donald Sundman, ASDA flip-flop?

Donald Sundman, in a Readers' Opinion letter in the August 2 edition of Linn's Stamp News, questions whether or not the ASDA has committed a "flip-flop" on the question of stamp destruction. That has not happened.

There is a major difference between the Legends of the West error sheet and the National Postal Museum's proposed destruction of revenue stamps.

The USPS is a government stamp issuing entity that routinely destroys stamps in the course of its business. What they destroy has commercial value for its intended purpose, in this case to move the mail. If I remember correctly, the USPS was going to destroy all of the error Legends of the West sheets, so the release of 150,000(?) sheets was good for philately and a favor from the USPS. Both stamp dealers and stamp collectors have benefited from this sheet being an item of value. If the USPS had released the entire holding, they would be nothing but discount postage today. The ASDA supported then, and still supports, the normal everyday business practices of the USPS.

On the other hand, The National Postal Museum is not a government stamp issuing entity, but a museum entrusted with the preservation of objects. The stamps that the museum wants to destroy have no value for their intended purpose. The only value they have is as collectible, historical items. Destruction of items by a museum serves no valid purpose and is just plain wrong. The ASDA opposes destruction of stamps by a museum.

Additionally, Mr. Sundman, along of James Helzer, CEO of Unicover Corp., filed a lawsuit in the state of Wyoming against the USPS in an attempt to force the USPS to release all of the Legends of the West stamps and save them from destruction.

Mr. Sundman also points out that as a stamp dealer, I have a self-interest in the offering of the stamps by the museum. That is true, I am a professional philatelist earning my living as a specialist in revenue stamps. However, for the record, I am vehemently opposed to the destruction of any of these stamps by the National Postal Museum and this opposition trumps any other interest I may have in these stamps.

Lastly, for the sake of accuracy, Mr. Sundman's letter should have revealed that he is president of Mystic Stamp Co., chairman of the National Postal Museum's Council of Philatelists, and a member of the ASDA.