Clive Feigenbaum

Clive Harold Feigenbaum (1939–2007) was a colourful and controversial British businessman who was involved in a lifelong series of scandals in the world of philately.

Feigenbaum was born in 1939.

According to the biographical profile on the website of his firm Stampdile Limited, Feigenbaum started dealing in stamps as a child and had his own shop in Paddington by the age of 18.

In 1970, Feigenbaum was expelled from the trade body for stamp dealers, The Philatelic Traders Society, for selling "labels resembling stamps" without indicating that they were not genuine postage stamps, though Feigenbaum claimed that he resigned from the body.

The dispute turned on the status of the stamps that Feigenbaum produced and marketed which he termed British locals, similar to those produced for the island of Lundy, but which the PTS saw as little more than tourist souvenir labels.

Feigenbaum is believed to have been behind the issue of stamps supposedly from the Indian state of Nagaland in the 1970s and 80s.

Gold stamps, similar to those of Staffa, were also produced for Nagaland.

In 1971, Feigenbaum was charged with 14 counts of receiving and dishonestly handling stamps and proofs stolen from the British Museum.

James A. Mackay, a curator at the museum, and George Base were also charged in connection with the same matter and it was from Mackay that Feigenbaum had received the stolen items.

Mackay had exchanged the proofs for Winston Churchill themed stamps.

Feigenbaum, who had denied the charges, was cleared on the judge's direction.

The affair sparked a review of security at the museum and the police officer who investigated the thefts, Bob Schoolley-West, subsequently joined the Museum staff.

In 1979 Feigenbaum became involved in a dispute with the U.S. Customs Service about whether 20% duty applied to 'gold' stamps of Staffa imported into the United States.

The stamps were to commemorate the United States Bicentenary and were in sets of up to 13 priced at $20 each, the total retail price of the stamps being $5.2 million.

Feigenbaum argued that as Staffa had a legitimate mail service the stamps were not liable for the duty.

However, the mail service at Staffa, a remote uninhabited Scottish island, actually amounted to no more than a mail box on a jetty where letters could be mailed back to the mainland, weather permitting.

As no-one lived on Staffa and visitors were invariably from the mainland in the first place, it was doubtful whether the mail service amounted to anything more than a tourist curiosity.

Feigenbaum had the right to produce stamps marked Staffa in return for a fee paid to the island's owner, who operated the postal service.

In the mid-1980s Feigenbaum, and companies he and his associates controlled, were named in litigation relating to tax shelter schemes in the United States.

The companies controlled included companies registered in Liberia for tax reasons.

According to The Sunday Times, Feigenbaum and others had created a complicated scheme involving what they called "stamp masters" (printing plates) used for producing stamps of Scottish islands, which were transferred between a succession of companies in order to obtain a tax advantage.

The judge in the case, Whitman Knapp, described the arrangements as "abusive tax shelters" and a "conspiracy to perpetrate a tax fraud".

Particularly notable was the sale of "gold" stamps from Staffa and his role in the collapse of attempts to list Stanley Gibbons on the Unlisted Securities Market in 1984.

In 1984 Feigenbaum applied for re-admission but withdrew his application before it could be considered following adverse press comment about his business affairs.

The Times reported that "Six leading stamp dealers have said they will resign if he is readmitted."

In 1984 Feigenbaum attempted to list Stanley Gibbons, of which he was chairman, on the Unlisted Securities Market in London but the attempt failed after newspaper disclosures about his previous business problems.

The Times described the attempted float as "disastrous" and reported Feigenbaum's resignation as Chairman of Stanley Gibbons shortly thereafter.

The London Stock Exchange had refused to allow dealings to begin and managing director David Stokes was quoted as saying in The Times that "...the press comment obviously ruined the reputation of Mr Feigenbaum in the eyes of the Stock Exchange."

In 1985, Phillips auctioneers disposed of bulk lots of Nagaland, Eynhallow and Dhufar in their 26 September sale, causing Gibbons Stamp Monthly to comment: "...not the sort of material one normally associates with Phillips sales. Most were offered in considerable quantities (several thousand), estimates were very low".

Stamps of Staffa, Nagaland, Eynhallow and Dhufar are still commonly found together in collections today, indicating their probable common origin.

In 1985, Feigenbaum returned to 'gold' stamps with a series on the life and times of H.M. The Queen Mother supposedly from the Scottish Bernera Islands (Great and Little Bernera).

The stamps had a face value of £10 each and were marketed as "22-carat gold-embossed stamps".

The stamps were ostensibly to pay the cost of transporting a letter by boat to the British mainland where it entered the normal postal system once a Royal Mail stamp was applied.

For comparison, the cost of a first class letter in 1985 was 17p and a second class letter 12p.

In 1985, Feigenbaum was the organiser of stamps of Tanzania to mark the 85th birthday of H.M. The Queen Mother.

The stamps had to be reprinted when it emerged that the original designs were marked "85th Year of H.R.H. The Queen Mother" rather than "85th Birthday of H.M. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother".

The stamps, printed by Holders Press, were eventually issued in corrected form on 30 September 1985 while the original printing was not issued in Tanzania.

The British Crown Agents recommended that the original stamps be destroyed, however, they continue to be available on eBay and through stamp dealers.

Holders Press went on to produce a number of further stamp issues for Tanzania.

Feigenbaum sold his approximately 13.4% stake in the company to companies controlled by Paul Fraser in 1989.