Stamp Collector"Baron Ferrari, the world-renowned stamp collector, received the news of his wife's death as he was on the point of fixing a rare Greek stamp in its appropriate place in his collection. This blow so affected him that, unconsciously, he completely destroyed the stamp which he had in his fingers.
"In 1917, the baron became ill and entered a sanatorium in Switzerland. While he was there a new patient, a provincial professor, came in to be treated. He had a small collection of stamps which he invited the baron to inspect. Suddenly the baron saw another specimen of the stamp he had destroyed when his wife died; the famous five-drachma Greek with the head of Hermes.
"'I'll buy that stamp from you,' he said to the professor. 'How much do you want for it?' 'The Greek five-drachma? Shall we say five francs?'
"The baron produced a five-franc piece from his pocket, took the stamp and retired to his room. Some minutes later, in walked the nurse. Baron Ferrari lay dead on the floor."
[It is interesting to note that Hermes was the god of wealth, commerce, trade, travelers, chance, luck, sleep, and dreams. (He was also our patron: the god of story telling.)]
[Trivia: Bhutan, the snow-capped "land of the thunder dragon," once issued a postage stamp which doubled as a tiny phonograph record. Naturally, it played the Bhutanese national anthem.]
Ferrari, Baron (?- ) Italian industrialist and collector
[Sources: Oscar Ray, Millions and Millionaires; Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts]More Baron Ferrari anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Stamps Mourning Coincidences Collecting Losses Death Mythology Rarity
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