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The
Miami News
September
9, 1985
Dade dealer is putting his stamp on a
computer-aided business
Rousso believes he can change the face pf
philately by using a computer to match buyers and sellers of investment-quality
stamps.
What he hopes to do, he says, is cash in on a share of $450 million-a-year
business of stamp collecting and trading.
Rousso said he hopes to get his International Stamp Exchange Corp. into
operation in Miami Beach by the end of this month. With the computer-aided
matching service, he said, he expects to pull in much of the business
that traditionally has been conducted in small shops and philatelic exchanges
throughout the country.
Rousso said that with instant access to information about the condition
of specific stamps and how much they are worth on an open market, he can
attract investors who usually plunk down thousands of dollars to buy stocks
or tax-free municipal bonds.
“I think it will turn small investors into serious collectors,”
he said.
But some philatelic experts question the benefit of Rousso’s computer-aided
system.
Ezra Cole, an 82-year-old stamp collector from New York, with a reputation
as one of the most competent philatelic experts in the world, said he
doesn’t like the idea of using computers to buy and trade stamps
but that if handled correctly it could succeed.
Herman Herst, a 52-year-old veteran of the stamp trade and noted author
on philately, said, “The problem is not finding customers; the problem
is finding rare stamps.”
“I have always stressed the fact that stamp collecting is a hobby
for pleasure,” Herst said. “Investment schemes have not always
turned out well. But I hope Mr. Rousso’s will work out. He’s
not the first to attempt this, nor will he be the last.”
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