by MICHAEL DASHIELL

Sequim Gazette

Jim Kloetzel is, understandably, a stamp collector.

Editor of the Scott catalogs — home of the dominant stamp numbering system in the world, for the better part of eight years — Kloetzel has collected volumes upon volumes over the years.

But his favorite in the collection isn’t a stamp at all. It’s actually a cover, or the outside of an envelope or package with an address.

It’s a Civil War-era patriotic cover with the Liberty Bell on it that was sent and delivered to locations in Philadelphia. Inside is a letter of appeal from the Women’s Anti-Slavery Society sent to a local merchant asking for donations to an upcoming fundraiser for wounded warriors.

“I started a mint U.S. stamp collection (years ago),” Kloetzel said, “but it didn’t take me too many years in the auction business to know I wasn’t going to build this great collection,” Kloetzel said.

Kloetzel brings his personal and professional expertise to the Strait Stamp Society, presenting to members at their next meeting set for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.

Much of his talk is less personal than the “History of the Scott Catalogue,” a historical journey tracing the development of the Scott catalogues from the first edition in 1868 (and even earlier) to present time.

The significance of the Scott numbering system, Kloetzel said, is that stamp collectors worldwide found they can talk in a kind of common language.

“Once the Scott numbering system took hold, they had a lock on the market,” Kloetzel said.

The talk, club members say, will be filled with facts and interesting stories most collectors have never heard before concerning the catalogs and their creator, John Walter Scott — including the reasons behind spelling the publications “catalogue” instead of “catalog.”

“These are the bibles of the stamp collecting industry,” Strait Stamp Society member Phil Castell said.

Kloetzel was the editor of the Scott catalogs from 1994-2011 and has been the consultant handling all valuing and editing of the United States and Canada portions of the Scott catalogs from 2011 to the present.

Though his father was a stamp collector when he was youth growing up in Los Angeles, Kloetzel didn’t catch the collecting bug until graduate school. He gave up a career in academia (he studied history and philosophy) to join the auction firm of Richard Wolffers, Inc., in San Francisco in 1974.

“My professor (Kenneth Stampp) said, ‘OK, leave if you want, or come back for your PhD,’” Kloetzel recalled. “I never went back.”

He then joined a firm in Dallas, Texas, for several years and then the staff of Scott Publishing Co. in 1994.

Kloetzel and his wife, Karolyn, retired in 2011 and moved to Port Ludlow in 2012. Make that semi-retired: Kloetzel still works for Scott Publishing — nearly seven days a week during their busiest times (May, June, July and August) —

editing and valuing their United States and Canada stamp listings.

He also makes the occasional appearance for a stamp club such as the Strait Stamp Society, or for conventions like the one he’ll speak at in late September in Los Angeles, a two-day event, where he’ll discuss how to get the most of of Scott catalogues.

Kloetzel said he treasures two collections in particular: Civil War-era patriotic covers (40 albums worth) and advertising covers that date back to the 1840s.

Everything else — including most of his father’s 50-volume collection — is for sale.