I yield

A few months ago, Israel raised the postage rates by 0.05 NIS. Since I collect machine vended postage, I got an example of the new rate on the SIMA labels in use. I bought a mint example from each machine, as well as a FD of the new rate from each machine. Now, a few months later, they have again raised the rates another 0.05 NIS. I received a mail from a dealer I have bought from in the past in Israel, and he shows there are 13 machines (9 at post offices throughout the country, and 4 at the philatelic service). A set of 1 from each machine mint would be $30, and then FD covers another $100. If I wanted a complete set of 8 rates (rather than just the cheapest inland rate) from each machine, the mint price jumps to $247, and the FD price to $650. This is the 3rd change to these SIMA labels in the last 6 months (first, there was a change from purple ink to black, then the rate change from 1.50NIS to 1.55NIS, and now 1.60NIS). So, rather than shell out for this new rate change, I have decided that the rate change is not a new stamp, and just ignore it. I am sure there will be a whole bunch of new stamps with the new rate anyway, and I will continue to collect them. This is similar to the decision I made a few years ago to only collect a single example from each machine, at the lowest denomination, rather than a complete set of all 8 rates. It is just cost prohibitive.