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. 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.

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. 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 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.

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 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.

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