Benjamin Miller Collection

frame|Benjamin K. MillerThe Benjamin K. Miller Collection is a unique collection of stamps and other philatelic materials donated to the New York Public Library in 1925 by Milwaukee attorney Benjamin Kurtz Miller (1857–1928). This collection has been considered the first complete collection of U.S. stamps ever assembled.

One cent Z Grill Of the great rarities and philatelic items in the collection is the One-Cent Z Grill, one of the rarest of all U.S. stamps. Only two copies of this stamp are known to exist; the other copy is in the collection of Bill Gross.

Background Benjamin Kurtz Miller was born in 1857, the son of a Milwaukee lawyer and grandson of one of the first federal judges in Wisconsin. He joined his father’s firm in 1877 and later became a partner, retiring in 1906 to pursue personal interests. The firm continues today through its successor, the major U.S. law firm Foley & Lardner.

The collection Miller built his collection a little late in life at the age of 61. He started stamp collecting seriously on a large scale only after 1918, when he bought one of the famous Inverted Jenny stamps at the age of 61.

It returned to public view when the National Postal Museum put it on display in two parts in from 27 May 2006 to 1 October 2007, and in 2007 from 5 November to 12 January 2009.

Recognition In recognition of Miller's philatelic accomplishments and scholarship, the Royal Philatelic Society upgraded his status from "member" to "fellow".