Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Stamp Collector

Even without the millions of stamps issued across Britain and its Empire during her long reign, the image of Queen Victoria was, and still is, well known throughout the world. The monarch’s memorable portraits belied her stout, five-foot frame as they showed a powerful, earnest and thoughtful leader, who ruled during a vital period of our history, when innovation, industry, conflict and culture battled for recognition amidst the bustling, burgeoning British Empire. But these images of the Queen are taken to a new level thanks to the postage stamps of the era, each capturing this remarkable (if often problematic, at least in imperial terms) period of the nation’s history. Here is the Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the Empress of India, Defender of the Faith,…

Well-known philatelist Simon Martin-Redman has been appointed the new president of the Museum of Philately. His appointment follows the decision to make the museum a non-profit organisation. Previously sponsored by David Feldman SA International Auctioneers, the change to non-profit status was intended to further the development and promotion of philately worldwide. The museum was originally created in the early 2010s as the brainchild of David Feldman and Marcus Orsi, and since then, it has developed into a digital platform that presents online many of the most important philatelic exhibits and collections belonging to private collectors. Its images of collections are available to be viewed, even when they are no longer in the possession of the original collector. This means that users and previous owners can see these prestigious collections in…

The use of technology in philately now includes the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to search enormous numbers of images in nanoseconds to match a particular item with past images of the same or similar. A system that does precisely this is called ‘ProFi’, developed by German auctioneers Heinrich Köhler. This is a useful tool for many aspects of the hobby, especially for professional philatelists breaking down collections into single lots and ascertaining the provenance of a particular item. The ‘Philatelic Pedigree’ is a valuable component when offering any material, both for the seller and buyer. But what if the images you seek are found in printed catalogues yet to be scanned, and so the AI technology can’t help? Thankfully, we can often rely on auction catalogue archives and philatelic…

Based in Ottawa, Canada, Sparks Auctions is often seen primarily as a Canada/British North America company, but their sales offer material from around the world. Two such lots from their forthcoming auction on 29 February–2 March are examples of this variety. From Sudan, the auction includes a rare 1905 1m rose and red brown Army Official, with the ‘!’ instead of ‘I’ in ‘OFFICIAL’ overprint variety (SG A4a) (lot 370). Accompanied by a 1977 Philatelic Foundation certificate (not mentioning a very crease crease) and a 2023 RPSL certificate, this very fine mint and well-centred stamp, with very few examples known, has a SG catalogue valuation of £6,000. An interesting and unusual lot is a historically important collection of letters relating to the postmastership of New York city, dating from 1842…

SOLD FOR £4520 France, Airmail 1f50 blue Pasteur overprint. ‘10Fr’ on board of the liner ‘Ile de France’ MLH 1928 (with cert.) SOLD FOR £1098 Monaco, block of four × 15c rose Prince Charles III 1885 (with cert.) SOLD FOR £935 China, Mao Zedong 1967 MNH SOLD FOR £430 Fiume, Hungarian stamp 10f overprint ‘FIUME’ 1918 cancelled 1926 on piece SOLD FOR £665 Morocco, 10c overprint ‘+5c’ for the benefit of the Red Cross 1914–15 (with cert.) SOLD FOR £600 Ireland, 1927–28 Wide Date Saorstat three-line overprint in black 10s block of four used 1930 SOLD FOR £315 Belgium, 50fr carmine-red Albert I ‘Grand Montenez’ from Malines MNH 1930–41 (with cert.) SOLD FOR £600 Peru, Pacific Steam Navigation 2Rls carmine on bluish 1857 MLH superb margins SOLD FOR £324 FSAT,…

15 The total number of plates used to print the Twopenny Blue. Plates 1 and 2 had no white lines and were imperforate, Plate 3 onwards had white lines. Plate 3 was only used imperforate, Plate 4 both imperforate and perforated, Plate 5 onwards were all perforated. Plates 7 to 15 had letters in all four corners and the plate number engraved in the stamp. STAMP SPEAK Maltese Cross The cancellation introduced at the same time as the 2d blue and 1d black stamps, which was similar in design to the symbol used by sixteenth-century Christian group the Knights of Malta. The obliterators were sent to Postmasters on 25 April, 1840, together with instructions on how to mix the red ink to use on the stamps. Re-entry The doubling of…

The perforations After 15 months of argument, the Treasury agreed a price for Archer’s patents and commissioned five perforating machines from David Napier and Sons. These steam-driven perforators were installed at Somerset House. They perforated five sheets at a time, and each one could produce up to 3,000 sheets per day. They were comb perforators, which perforated the top and both sides of a stamp simultaneously, and each sheet made 21 strokes in 21 positions as the sheets moved though the machine. Initial trials were successful and British stamps were officially perforated from 28 January 1854. The initial gauge of 16 was, however, too fine for daily use and the sheets came apart while being handled. This was solved by coarsening the gauge slightly to 14 holes per 2cms. Throughout…

Two centuries ago, approximately 1,800 ships were wrecked every year around the British coast, and mariners of every salt understood that their way of life included the very real risk of drowning in a shipwreck. Living on the Isle of Man, officer, author and philanthropist Sir William Hillary witnessed dozens of wrecks, and took part in rescues, including that of HMS Vigilant in 1822. Only a couple of months after that, on 14 December, he witnessed HMS Racehorse as she was wrecked on the rocks of Langness on the Isle of Man. Five courageous locals made four trips to ferry survivors to shore, but six Racehorse men and three rescuers were drowned. In the wake of this disaster, Sir William drew up plans for a lifeboat service that would be…

The US Postal Service has announced the appointment of YouTube presenter Graham Beck to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). CSAC members are appointed by the Postmaster General to provide expertise in business, history, science, technology, art, education, sports and other areas of public interest. Working together, they make recommendations for future stamp subjects. Since 2016, Beck has promoted philately through his YouTube channel, ‘Exploring Stamps’, which has gained more than 32,000 subscribers and nearly four million views during the past seven years. He is a member of a growing online philatelic community, producing educational and entertaining content for all levels of collectors. He began collecting stamps at eight years old and his varied philatelic interests mostly centre around thematic collections. Beck is a member of the American Philatelic Society…

The Collectors’ Club of New York has awarded Dr James P Mazepa, one of America’s leading philatelists, the 2024 Alfred F Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately. The award was announced at the club’s annual meeting in New York on 10 January. Longtime collector of Poland and Ukraine, where his grandparents originated from, Mazepa has written extensively about philately, with over 200 articles and monographs to his name, with the most recent appearing in the January–February issue of The Collectors Club Philatelist. As well as being on the organising team for US international stamp shows from the 1980s, a philatelic judge and US commissioner for overseas exhibitions, he has served on numerous committees for prominent societies and won numerous gold and large gold awards at exhibitions. He has…

Three entrants have been named as winners of the ‘Boston Connection’ contest organised by the Boston 2026 World Expo. When it was announced in November, collectors were invited to submit lists of stamps and souvenir sheets related in some way with Boston, site of the next US international philatelic exhibition. Pedro D Sarmiento of Fort Washington, MA, provided the greatest number of connections with 88. He is a fan of John F Kennedy, and many of his submissions of US and overseas stamps dealt with aspects of the former president, who was born and raised in nearby Brookline and educated at Harvard University. Ninety-year-old Pedro is an Air Force veteran and member of the APS and ATA among other philatelic organisations. The next two winners were selected at random. Keith…

The latest in Italy’s artistic and cultural heritage series is a €1.25 stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Riace Bronzes. Issued on 12 December, the stamp reproduces photographs of the two statues found on 16 August 1972 on the seabed off Riace. Considered among the most significant masterpieces of Greek art from the 5th century BC, the statues are kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria. For its first issue of 2024, Jersey Stamps celebrated the Year of the Dragon on 4 January with a single stamp and a miniature sheet. As the fifth animal in the Chinese zodiac, the dragon is the only zodiac animal that is a mythical creature and is usually used as a symbol of power in China. Dragon’s play…

ABNORMAL ISSUE On 16 January, Stanley Gibbons auctioned part two of the Phillips Collection of Great Britain. One of the highlights of the sale was an 1862 1s deep green from Plate 3, with hair lines across each of the squares containing the check letters (lot 184). This rare stamp was a top-marginal example of this abnormal issue, so called because it originates from the five sheets printed after the initial imprimatur sheet was produced. Lettered AD, this very fine stamp, with original gum, surpassed its £8,000–£10,000 estimate to reach a hammer price of £25,000. SOLD FOR £25,000 NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR OVERPRINT Raritan in New Jersey, USA, held a Worldwide Air Post Stamps and Postal History, Philatelic Rarities of the World sale containing 1192 lots on 10–11 January. The…

Bil & Co 10 February Washingborough Community Centre, Fen Road LN4 1AB www.bilandco.co.uk Provincial Philatelics 11 February 90 Park Road, Didcot, Oxon OX11 8QR www.provincialphilatelics.co.uk Schuyler Rumsey 14–15 February 47 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA www.rumseyauctions.com Christoph Gärtner 19–23 February Steinbeisstraße 6+8, 74321 Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany www.auktionen-gaertner.de South West Philatelic Auctions 24 February The Watermark, Erme Court, Leonards Road, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 0SZ www.swpa-stamp-auctions.com Viennafil 27 February Auerspergstrasse 2/4A, 1010 Vienna, Austria viennafil.com Sparks 29 February–2 March 1770 Woodward Drive, Suite 101, Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 0P8 Canada sparks-auctions.com Cavendish 5–7 March Cavendish House, 153–57 London Road, Derby DE1 2SY www.cavendish-auctions.com Warwick & Warwick 6 March Chalon House, Scar Bank, Millers Road, Warwick CV34 5DB www.warwickandwarwick.com Details may be subject to change, please check before attending sale.…

Ever since stamps were invented, people have been finding new ways to collect them. The early stamps were studied as they appeared by pioneering philatelists like Melville and Pemberton. They wrote up their findings and the publishers of catalogues and monthly magazines broadcast news of every new discovery. The resulting body of literature is enough to fill a sizeable library, like that of the RPSL. It started with the 1d black plates – 12 different plates with no helpful numbers – just copies of the original imprimatur sheets to go on. But there are enough variations in the corner stars, check letters and other features of the stamp to enable most singles to be clearly identified. The next challenge was to reconstruct the plates. Today, almost all of these have…

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Under the Consolidated Contract of 1879, De La Rue were printing all Britain’s postage stamps, as well as revenue stamps and telegraph stamps. This was widely seen as wasteful and Postmaster General Henry Fawcett was determined to rationalise the situation. One set of stamps would serve for all purposes, saving costs and boosting efficiency. The main problem concerned the re-use of cancelled stamps. The Post Office had tackled this with singly fugitive inks to prevent the removal of postal cancellation, but most revenue stamps received pen cancellations, so the printer’s ink had to be doubly fugitive, reacting to both water and ink-removing chemicals. One such ink was available, in a lilac shade. And, as a step on the road to unification, the Customs and Inland Revenue Act of 1881 called…

Many of the stamps issued to celebrate the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have highlighted significant milestones in the organisation’s history, and the 200th anniversary will be no different with a range of new stamps set to be issued during 2024. The Isle of Man, have already issued a set of six, with five of the designs showing lifeboats and the sixth a portrait of founder, Sir William Hillary (as reported in last month’s Stamp Collector). Guernsey are also issuing stamps this year, with a set of six due out on 4 March, and Jersey will follow suit the following day. It is intersting to note, however, that Royal Mail have not, as yet, announced details of any stamp set, perhaps deciding to sidestep this year’s celebrations having…

The Penny Black went on sale at British post offices on 6 May 1840 and exactly 100 years later a stamp exhibition marking the centenary welcomed visitors to Lancaster House in London, writes Christer Brunström. The exhibition was open for six days and many collectors used the opportunity to view some of the world’s best stamp exhibits. The exhibition was organised by the Royal Philatelic Society London and the displays included pages from the Royal Collection. In fact, despite his busy schedule, King George VI was able to pay a visit to the Stamp Centenary Exhibition. This was at a time when splendid stamp-like souvenirs were frequently produced in connection with major stamp exhibitions and the London event was no exception. Waterlow & Sons rotaglio printed a set of five…

Once again, the American Topical Association (ATA) is offering free online programmes via Zoom on a wide variety of topics from January to March. Covering everything from picture postcards to tropical birds, ‘Warm Up to Topicals’ has something for every collector. Future topics to be discovered are: ‘Discrimination Never Takes A Vacation’ on 20 February; ‘Enhance Your Hobby Experience With Social Media’ on 19 March; and ‘Meet the Todidae Family from the Greater Antilles’ on 26 March. Additionally, it is hoped that earlier presentations will be uploaded to the website for those who were unable to attend. Previous subjects covered are: ‘How Picture Postcards Saved the US Postal Department’; ‘Energise Your Stamp Club – Part II’; ‘Touring from the Dalmatian Coast to Budapest via the Stamps of Eastern Europe’; and…

At the latest meeting of the Royal Philatelic Society London on 11 January, the unusual collecting area of the Ocean Letter was explained to the members by Luc Selis of Belgium. Luc described the procedure: ‘A passenger on board a cruise ship handed the message to be transmitted to the radio officer of the ship. As the ship was usually too far from any coastline, the message was transmitted wirelessly to a ship within range, sailing in the opposite direction. The radio officer of the receiving ship wrote or typed the message on a specially designed form and placed it in an envelope. At the first port of call, the letter was handed over to the harbour post office for forwarding to the addressee.’ The system was introduced in 1911,…

Canada Post has announced its 2024 stamp programme. Among the highlights will be a stamp remembering Mary Ann Shadd, an influential abolitionist and the first black woman to publish a newspaper in North America, which will be issued ahead of Black History Month. Canada Post’s ever-popular annual Flowers series returns in March, which this year stars a pair of regional wildflowers. On Monday, 8 April, a total solar eclipse will cross over Canada, and on the same day, Canada’s first stamp featuring a total solar eclipse will be issued. A new series showcasing Canadian graphic novelists will be issued in May. In July, Canada Post will continue its tradition of featuring wildlife on stamps with endangered frogs. Several popular annual stamp series continue this year. These include a fundraising stamp…

The latest stamp in Austria’s long-running music series was released on 25 January, with a €1.20 denomination dedicated to the bassoon (fagott in German), which is the biggest and lowest-sounding instrument in the woodwind family of instruments. The exterior is usually made of maple wood and the interior consists of a long conical tube of around 250cm in length, folded in two, which gradually widens in diameter from around 4mm to 40mm at the bell. A long metal S-bend known as a bocal is attached to the instrument, into which the mouthpiece made of reed is inserted. The bassoon is played standing or sitting, holding it diagonally in front of the body. It has a warm, dark tone and is now primarily used as a bass instrument in chamber and…

There are dates that are extremely significant in philatelic history and 6 May 1840 is by far the most important one. On this day, the world’s very first adhesive postage stamp – the Penny Black – went on sale at post offices all over Great Britain. The postage stamp was one of the main ingredients of Sir Rowland Hill’s postal reforms, which completely revolutionised postal communications in the country. It certainly comes as no surprise that many collectors all over the world want to add a copy of this iconic stamp to their collections even if they don’t collect British stamps. Others have built impressive specialised exhibits of the Penny Black. The Penny Black is not really that scarce in used condition; finding a mint copy of the stamp is…

The development of the line-engraved 2d blue mirrored that of the 1d black and 1d red. The 1840 2d blue, printed from Plates 1 and 2, with no white lines below ‘POSTAGE’ and above ‘TWO PENCE’ (Figures 1–3), was concurrent with the 1d black. When the black colour of the 1d was changed to red in 1841, there was a corresponding change to the blue ink of the 2d value. On 18 November 1840, Rowland Hill had written ‘As it may be important to be able to distinguish the new from the old Twopenny labels I would recommend that the new ones be printed with a white line above and below the head… The distinction of colour between the new and old Penny labels obviates the necessity for any alteration…

By the mid-1840s, it was becoming obvious that the two existing stamps were not enough. In 1841, postal treaties had been signed with America and France, setting rates of 1/- and 10d respectively – and while multiples of 1d and 2d stamps look great in a collection, they weren’t so desirable in practice. It took a general election to move things along. In 1846, the incumbent Tories were ousted by a Whig/Liberal government under Lord John Russell and with an energetic new Postmaster General in the Marquess of Clanricarde. The first requirement was for a 1/-stamp to use on mail to the USA, Canada and Australia. But the thought of producing such high values filled the Inland Revenue with trepidation. Their first concern was to produce a stamp that was…

By the mid 1870s, the Penny Black plate numbers were nearing the 200s and the Twopenny Blues were up to plate 15. The series looked as if it might go on forever. But in a few years, everything changed. These stamps had been produced in essentially the same way since 1840. But it was a craft process in an industrial age. Line-engraving was great for producing images with intense colour and a wealth of fine detail, but it was not ideal for volume production. Attempts to mechanise the process in the 1850s had failed, and it was still manual work. The paper was handmade – of variable thickness – and supplied untrimmed. The sheets were printed wet, so they tended to shrink. And the degree of wetness varied from sheet…

I know, it’s a matter of taste! Maybe what is most shocking about this stamp is that it was not issued in Britain but Belgium, where it was part of a sheet from 2001 that commemorated great figures from the previous century. Britain has never issued a stamp featuring this man, but he is arguably the most influential thinker our island produced in that entire era. John Maynard Keynes was born in 1883. He grew up in Cambridge, where his father was a lecturer, and won a Scholarship to Eton, then another one to Kings College back in Cambridge. Here, he studied mathematics but also found himself drawn into the Bloomsbury Group: young, unconventional (and highly privileged) aesthetes. At the same time, the country’s leading economist, Alfred Marshall, begged him…