eBay Chat: Stamps

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-19-07 at 21:51:34 PDT

David Snyder… How’s your new job coming along, by the way? And I agree, you have to list mint current postage at face value.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-19-07 at 21:27:44 PDT

Jeff S-Raff… Weren’t you looking for single-usage 6¢, 8¢ commemorative covers?

Jim

Posted by postalhysteria ( 3753

)

on Aug-19-07 at 20:23:23 PDT

I have never known any person of importance to have to toot his own horn.

Others are usually impressed enough with him (her) to do it for him (her).

Self horn tooting is usually practiced by egomaniacs with inferiority complexes.

freud-raff

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-19-07 at 20:09:38 PDT

ABT marks on Swiss stamps. I did not know that Anne The Stamp Goddess does Swiss too! Amazing!!

Ok, sweet dreams of nonsense posts and we'll all get through the night in good shape. Bye!

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-19-07 at 20:05:26 PDT

Went to the one-day bourse SANDIPEX today in San Diego. It was reasonably busy while I was there.

The gossipy dealer crowd from old was covertly sarcastic. I laugh at them.

Spent a small amount on picture postcards and one nice Fourth Bureau postage due cover.

A good time was had by all.

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-19-07 at 18:41:53 PDT

drsearch Thank you for kindly mentioning my grievous error and stimulating my memory. Hence I believe it is Jack Solens, not Sollens, with apologies. Jack was always one of my favorite occasional wholesale customers and I hope to sell to him again one day when I get these infernal houses done, if he is still around. (Infernal because it is now at 115 degrees in sunny Borrego.) Jack would buy things that most others were afraid of for potential difficulty of making sales, such as early Canal Zone plate blocks, and he always paid a halfway reasonable price, which is actually a good compliment considering the run of ankle busters out there like dear Harvey Cohen, who despite being an ankle buster, is also one of my favorite customers for many reasons: frequency, honesty, and promptness of payment. And good conversations. Everyone has something to offer (as long as I stay in a good mood).

BTW Solens' first name is Jack, not Jacks. Gotcha!

But in general I should avoid mentioning names and numbers because wholesale deals should generally be private, so I would apologize to Jack and Sergio for the unwarranted, if positive, publicity.

One time I made a very successful wholesale trip to Las Vegas with Dan Grant of SCADs Hall of Shame fame. So--I now have linked Dan Grant with Sergio--through me! And that is perhaps why discretion in such matters wholesale is the so-called better part of valor.

Never got to know Sonny but have been told he has a wealth of US knowledge.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:47:35 PDT

Ladies & Gentlemen, let's follow for once the repeated advice of our Knudsen, ops, sorry Knud-Erik! ;-) ;-) ;-)

Not saying anybody is anything like that, but, as a general rule, the eventual troll might self implode if it is ignored.
I know it can be difficult to ignore, being quite picky myself, although I can say I never fed long-lasting flame wars. A fight which I pick up is over in a couple of hours (or of minutes).

Paulo ... err Paolo ;-)

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:34:21 PDT

malolo… Yep, the horse is long dead. Might as well get off it, you’re not going anywhere.

Jim

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:17:39 PDT

Roger,
A Razor for you?
Should be the first type of Aarau.
Off to look for an example of that type of taxation I mentioned before.
Paolo

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 16:17:08 PDT

David B. ----Your right about the value of stamps removed from souvenir sheets ,I ran into that years ago with the WIPA sheet

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:16:36 PDT

djs -
To sell it will have to be an excellent scan clearly showing all frame lines. Front and back won't hurt. 300dpi scan will draw collectors. No need to mention Sc19 in title. List it as "Switzerland 1854 40 centimes Strubel". To those who collect Strubels the straight line cancel will be a huge bonus, and the issue will be self-evident, if you shwo a large scan.No blurr! Good find.

Roger

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:08:35 PDT

Paul,

yes, another item for the spacefiller department,

luckily in Europe they still collect stamps from Souvenir Sheets as separate items whilst in some countries they are considered the W word.

David B.

Posted by paperhistory ( 1990

)

on Aug-19-07 at 16:07:42 PDT

jim: how about 850,000 pounds of farthings? Though I guess they have a wren on the reverse instead of a starling. [and I suppose in reality they aren't any more useful these days than 850,000 pounds of starlings]

[for those confused, I'm referring to the old British farthing coin (1/4 penny), about the size of a US cent]

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-19-07 at 16:04:14 PDT

I only won 710,000 pounds sterling. :(

But at least it was sterling! :-)

Posted by djs127 ( 597

)

on Aug-19-07 at 15:59:36 PDT

malolo Thanks for you info on my Switzerland stamp. The color of the thread is green. The printing and embossing are very clear ( the back shows the nice embossing), so I guess I have green threaded 19. The paper itself is very thin - so a 19 it is 2006 catalog value of $250. Need to figure out how to get a better scan of it and what price to start it on Ebay. I see one listed on Ebay as faulty for US $32.95 buy it now price.
David Snyder

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-19-07 at 15:59:01 PDT

jaywild -
So now you blame me for introducing the employment history aspect for cutting up fellow collectors. Give it a break!

You introduced the topic, and apparently reserve the right to have the last word with no input from anyone else. I found your comments below patently offensive and with no redeming value. Your pass-the-blame on me doesn't cut it. No matter how you try to turn things around, this is how you started it:

"Posted by jaywild ( 969 ) on Aug-16-07 at 20:45:10 PDT
Paul… With all the vast sums you are always bragging you are making, why have you never bought one of these? Doesn’t your atrocious spelling and grammar embarrass you? (BTW, it is “embarrass”—there’s no such word as “embrass”).

How in the world did you ever work for any kind of broker with such an appalling lack of language skills? I know you have bragged that you are great friends with Leo Melamed, but in response to a direct email from me he told me he never heard of you. He’s also interested in why you claim to be an associate of his. Come to think of it, that makes me curious too. Perhaps you can explain.

I can only guess that all the rest of your bragging has as much behind it as your boast that Leo Melamed is a “good friend” of yours; namely zilch.

Now you have a direct challenge to explain some of the b*llsh*t you have been papering this board with for years. Time to put up or shut up."

So, do you think you should apologize to me, to others, to the Board in general? You always require apologies from certain others, who in your judgement make mistakes! The horse is long dead.

Roger

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-19-07 at 15:54:54 PDT

Joke of the Day… The latest scam email to come in informs me that I have won a British lottery. My prize? “850,000.00 Pounds Starlings”.

I wouldn’t know what to do with one pound of starlings, let alone 850,000.

☺

Jim

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 15:49:16 PDT

DAVID B. -----My copy is 65 x 78mm .I did receive a e-mail stating its cut down from a souvenir sheet of 159 x 122mm.The value is cut in half and only catalogs at $70.00.Just a spacefiller until I can find a better copy .

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-19-07 at 14:54:22 PDT

Paul,

what is the exact measurements in millimetres of the Belgian Sheet,

David B.

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-19-07 at 14:43:55 PDT

malolo… Well, your point about “let’s stick to stamps” is very well taken, so why did you feel compelled to include the slap about checking anyone’s employment history? Is that sticking to stamps?

I guess it was just too good of a dig to resist making. Seems to me everyone could make the same defense about their own digs and jabs.

If we are to stick to stamps, that means foregoing the opportunity to get in one last slap. Your last post was merely in keeping with the disagreeable tone already established.

dr.search... Thanks for the tip! I talked to a couple of professional guys at Superior when I visited the auction, and was impressed with their attitude, but didn’t get their names.

Jim

Posted by dr.searchphd ( 0 ) on Aug-19-07 at 14:01:20 PDT

POSTALVIEW;

Im sure that you know that you have spelled Jacks name wrong from Armstrong stamps.

JAYWILDMAN;

Next time at Superior ask for Sonny, (nickname) very helpful behind-the-scenes wink, wink.

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-19-07 at 11:18:21 PDT

Paolo -
I have just bought two items from the seller of the white paper stamps. I can’t vouch for the expert, though the ABT is very common. The stamps look good. I have no idea whether they are good “value” based on Swiss collecting requirements.

A Refusé cover and a http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270087414955&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=017 target=_blank>machine roller cancel cover, which my reference list as very rare. Why? Because this was a Krag machine adapted for the 1920 and 1921 Expositions and very few covers show both French and German markings complete on the same cover. We’ll see when I resell this in the future.

Here is an example of the correct marking for an UNGULTIG item. In this case a business card sent from a German company was refused by a Swiss business because there was postage due to pay. It was returned to Germany uncollected. The way the Swiss PO operated was this. The under aid item was received at the PO,it went to the clerk who logged the item and applied a Postage Due stamp. The delivery clerk received the letter after paying the accounting clerk the required amount. Then the delivery clerk collected the money from the recipient. If the money was uncollected, the post man returned to the office and got a cash refund and the letter got an UNGULTIG marking and was returned to the sender. Another, I doubt they are very rare! LOL

Sheryll -
Thanks for the photos. I can prove to my wife I really was in Portland at a stamp show!!@@@!!. );>) I will go to the larger images tomorrow and download them. It was fun viewing the exhibits with you, as well as having the chance to meet and chat with Bill, Bob, and Clark. Our Helvetia group had a great dinner at a Swiss restaurant (what else?) on Friday night and that was a very friendly get together. Long trip back with the flight out of Portland late by 45 minutes, making connection in SF very, very close. Though to put it in perspective a United flight arrived 4 1/2 late last night from LA, and it’s only a 5 1/2 flight. Some of our screeners had to stay until after 2am. We can’t leave the airport until the last plane is pushed back from the gate. If the plane comes back to the gate after push-back it’s security’s problem to move people out of the airport and not let them back in! No fun in the middle of the night! (We just screen boarding passengers not those coming out of an airport.)

Roger

DJS -
Look at the color of the thread. If it is green, it maybe a 40, a 29 needs to have dark maroon thread. If you look at it with a good magnifier and see the printing and embossing are very clear ( the back shows the nice embossing), you have green threaded 19. If the printing is coarser and the embossing flat,it is probably a 40.

Knuden -

Get's boring, doesn't it? Have you ever had to justify what you did for a living? I didn't know this chat "required" a past employment history to particpate. Though I've volunteered often enough my experiences, I don't think it should be manditory. Let's stick to stamps rather than requesting background chcecks. I have to admit since Paul started showing some of his collection, I've seen things I didn't know existed, which is what a world collector runs into continually. Let's stick to stamps, eh?

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 11:09:50 PDT

DAVID S. ----Without examinating the paper, type of thread and it is too poor of a scan to tell the impression for anyone to say what the catalog number is .

Posted by djs127 ( 597

)

on Aug-19-07 at 11:04:38 PDT

I won a worldwide collection on Ebay which arrived last week and in it was a stamp from Switzerland which the seller was unsure as to whether it was Scott Catalog number #18, 19, 29, or 40. Here is a scan
http://members.aol.com/djs127/switz29or40.jpg
Can someone tell me which stamp it is?
David Snyder

Posted by knuden ( 2306

)

on Aug-19-07 at 08:36:07 PDT

NOIP - One of the reasons I don't write so much any more here, is personal attacks on people here.
Sometimes this place are more like a kindergarden, where mud are thrown in others face.
Please behave like adults and stop it.
If you want to get personal - do it by mail or via ebay's links!!

K.E

I'm a silly little man - whoopee!!

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 08:30:10 PDT

DCDEROO ---Thats not a cancel from the P.O. ,it looks like a old self -inking numbering machine found in the shipping or mailing dept of many firms years ago .

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-19-07 at 08:26:01 PDT

Curiosity question.
What type of cancel(?) is on these stamps?

cancels?

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 08:12:28 PDT

PROCHUTE ---Sorry for being hard on you ,but I want to thank you for paying your Federal taxes because I wouldn't be able to pay myself the salary that Im getting for doing this with Federal grant money ,thanks for keeping my salary above all those educated people PAUL'S work .....paul

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-19-07 at 07:53:58 PDT

Geez The diarrhea is contantly flowing from the uneducated former floor trader now parking lot fixer upper.

I wonder what university he graduated from. PU???

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 07:47:14 PDT

NOIP----Can someone tell me if this Belgium souvenir sheet originally had the ragged edges on them ,it looks like a dull blade cut to me . Belgium sheet.....paul

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-19-07 at 07:22:02 PDT

Jaywild-----Your wrong for the third time here ,in your posting of 8-17-07

That was insulting what you wrote ,my market experience has nothing to do with boiler-rooms

I was the youngest corporate officer of Peavey Company of Minneapolis Minn. and was bonded for $20,000,000 {today that would be $100,000,000} to sign brokerage checks and access a line of 10,000,00 for short term loans at the bank for overnight requirements of the brokerage house {just a side note for everybody else it is my signture on the check that Hillary Clinton took from the commodity business ,The F.B.I. showed me a photo of that check years later}.

After leaveing the firm and becoming a floor trader ,I was technical advisor to the discipline committee and arbitrator for the NFA {National Futures Association }.

As a side note, was also agent for J. Aron and Co. of New York which is now the precious metal divison of Goldmen Sach 's .

Jay you can't make claims you know nothing about ,try staying away from insulting people it makes you look like a hot head here ,try sticking with stamps because sometimes your correct .......paul

Posted by djs127 ( 597

)

on Aug-19-07 at 05:40:52 PDT

jaywild and prochute - Thanks for replying to my comment about purchasing older versus new copies of Scott Catalogs.
jaywild - I still can't see myself starting a US mint never hinged sheet which cost me $7.80 at anything less than face value once it is no longer on sale at the post office.
David Snyder

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 04:27:38 PDT

Roger,
[...]... I'm missing the 2 centimes white paper used. [...]
Me too! :-(
Between brackets, what do you, or anybody else, think of this set:
Switzerland 1882 YV 58-62 white paper signed Abt CANC VF?
Is the 'signature' (I presume is an expertising stamp) ABT valid on Swiss area?
The colours look good, and the 15c. IMHO looks better than just VF from the image. I would call it close to XF. Unless there is a little problem on reverse. In fact, on these postage stamps on white paper, and on those with granite paper from 1882 to about 1884 (gross extimation), the control marks were very deeply impressed: it can happen to find the oval of the contro mark partly disconnected, like a segment of oval shape tear in the paper. Is this considered a serious defect?
TIA,
Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 04:09:24 PDT

"..."Ausser Kurs" cancels." overprints. Maybe I should have better not mentioned it in this context.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 04:06:29 PDT

P.S. in the Italian Kingdom (not States) area, such postmarks (ANNULLATO, various types, one type boxed in a rectangular double lined frame) were also used, albeit sporadically, to 'de-monetizise' stamped values.
I believe the Swiss equivalent is the "Ausser Kurs" cancels.

Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-19-07 at 03:56:36 PDT

Good day all!

Hello Dave (Philatarium),
Please add my compliments as well to Sheryll for the beautiful meeting page!

Roger,
Thank you for your kind comments. :-)
Browsing through eBay.ch I saw this auction which tickled my hilarity (couldn't help).
"Schöne Rarität vielleicht unikate ich weiss es nicht!"
~"beautiful rarity, likely unique, I don't know" uhm...
*They are not even scarce with that linear cancel*.
The UNGULTIG (or ANNULLATO) linear postmark was used in case a postage due letter was re-addressed and was to be taxed with adhesives at the new (correct) P.O. destination, or when there had been a mistake in applying the adhesive postage dues (this on Italian area).
There are some Swiss covers, currently on eBay, that show this particular usage.
The word we use in Italian 'segnatasse' for postage due, explains better their use: to indicate (literally to sign, to the recipient) the amount of a postal taxation.
In the very beginning of their use, in 1863 up to about 1869 (Italian area), the adhesive postage due had NOT to be postally cancelled (Postal normative), because if they were the recipient would have thought the taxation had been erroneous, like it was the norm in the pre-adhesives period, to cross out or to postmark over an erroneously applied sign of tax.

Best,
Paolo

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-19-07 at 03:33:52 PDT

Wow Jim -
I was just going to post a

"'Night! (here on the mid-Pacific)

and there you are getting up before I'm going to bed. All in one country!

Roger

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1383

)

on Aug-19-07 at 03:26:15 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by philatarium ( 235

)

on Aug-18-07 at 23:12:46 PDT

And since I'm already logged in, I might as well post on these sundry matters as well:

Sheryll: Thank you so much both for posting the pictures and, especially, for creating the web page. What a great summary of your experiences at the show!

Roger, Bill S., Bob L., & Clark Frazier: I hated to have not made it to the show to meet up. It would truly have been a privilege (although I had the pleasure of meeting Clark in Sacramento several years ago). Maybe there'll be another opportunity in the not-too-distant future.

NOIP: Speaking of which, I may be able to combine a family visit with the APS winter show (mid-January) in Charlotte, NC. Anyone from the board planning to be there?

Jim/Jaywild: Thanks for the kind words from a few days ago. And once I get some 19th century covers scanned in, I'm planning on checking in with you for advice!

Thanks to all. 'Night! (here on the West Coast)

-- Dave

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-18-07 at 22:04:04 PDT

"what is needed more old time dealers, wonder how that can be arranged,"

Turned 50 this year myself, am getting there!

The big mail order dealer I once worked for was frequently targeted for lack of ethics, etc, and fairly accurately so. But after leaving his hall of shame, it's turned out that most other dealers both large and small are worse than he was!!

At any rate, the wealth of good honest dealers are still easy to find, am glad to report. You all can tell who they are fairly easily, am also glad to report.

I note SCADs has helped us all out a lot as well, with kudos to Grumpy George and his vaunted "pattern recognition skills" as recognized globally by MSN. Cheers!

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-18-07 at 21:57:06 PDT

Tried to contact promoter of the San Diego Third Sunday Stamp Show, now called SANDIPEX. No response so they are probably away from their office.

So will pack my stuff and show up at show Sunday AM and see if anyone still collects stamps in SD.

Single tables are probably up to $200 by now and if so I shall pass as most likely the room will echo a lot.

Will see what happens. Had decided to quit one time back around 1990 after first day of a two day show. Was going back on Sunday to go through the motions, then sell out later. But first guy in the door spent nearly $1100 with me and it seemed every person walking in came right to my table and bought. Could not quit after that.

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 21:55:00 PDT

Postalviews, the article was in a magazine about 25 years ago. I remember that it mentioned that none of the auction houses came out clean but some old time dealers acted like perfect gentlemen and advised the " owner " to take the items that were salted in the material and sell them separately. That is most probably what is needed more old time dealers, wonder how that can be arranged,

David B.

Posted by postalviews ( 4198

) on Aug-18-07 at 21:50:50 PDT

D2 Kind thanks to you for the very interesting historical observation regarding the Belgian Philatelic Forensic Experiment.

I did temp work for several auction houses and would never send anything of mine to one unless I had the material all down pat per jaywild.

What dealers and auction houses all hope for is a big estate lot that the surviving family hates. Then everybody wins.

Apologies as this a repeat story: I once worked for a big mail order dealer who received a call from a well-to-do widow. Her husband had the infernal hobby of stamp collecting and had even added a small room to the house to house it all in. She hated it. So the boss offered her $50 each for the 250 albums at gross of a significant-sounding $12.5k and the well-to-do widow then had some spree money while getting the hated mess cleaned up in the process. Aside from the whole run of over 100 well-filled Scott Specialty albums, there was a set of four of the old brown Scott Internationals that we realized well over the $12.5k for. Everything else was profit, and a good time was had by all. All told I believe gross realization was over $100k and it took us over a year to attribute, prepare and sell it all.

But of course, other side of that coin is that when one spends $10 monthly on ads and another $10k monthly on salaries, they had better find something really good once in a while!

As to the opj question, it illustrates well the difference between a money grubbing hack and a professional philatelist. As for my own policy, the return period is infinite if item turns out to be not as described. That is because some difficult items may require up to two years or even longer for proper authentication, and new technical info does come to light from time to time. As well, I often find minor faults in used stamps years after I myself had originally adjudged them to be sound.

My father at times complains that in business I am "Too honest."

And partly due to such policy, I am poor, what did you expect,

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:50:19 PDT

philatarium, Mounted & Hinged would both be understood here.

David B.

Posted by keleofa ( 3503

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:46:19 PDT

Linda,

I was so successful at staying away from all the Privates I didn't even know about the change! Thanks!

Matt in Arizona

Posted by mini*lindy ( 450

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:42:36 PDT

Matt eBayers with (private) feedback are no longer allowed to Sell on eBay. Only Buy.
In its wisdom(?) eBay have also recently blocked bidders from seeing other bidders id once an item reaches a certain price (I think from memory its $150 or $200 but can't remember).
So whilst private auctions are sill there, (private) sellers are gone!
and I agree with you on 2. as I asked recently, what's opj trying to hide from us with his silly widgets ???? sounds like a suspicious deal to me.

Linda

Posted by philatarium ( 235

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:40:28 PDT

David: Thanks for the info. The challenge is simply that that's the term Scott uses (and, in my limited knowledge, the American philatelic community), and to search for those items by keyword would necessitate using that term (with the hyphen), unless one browsed for the relevant sections using the bookmarks capability I described.

I do agree that it's always helpful to understand these differences in terminology even in the English-speaking philatelic world. The one that comes to mind for me is "mounted" versus "hinged".

Can anybody supply some others?

Posted by keleofa ( 3503

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:35:54 PDT

1. Private Auctions on eBay: Since eBay is unwilling or unable to prevent shilling, user IDs is/are the only way users can determine if shilling is occurring. User IDs are not names and addresses and can be kept somewhat private. Personally, I try to stay away from private auctions and Sellers with private feedback.

2. OPJ - I would like to see the exact description and image of the lot in question prior to rendering judgment. The most honest and ethical among Sellers would refund the money but due2cents makes some excellent points.

Matt in Arizona

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 20:20:24 PDT

philatarium, the term " semi-postal " is not used throughout the English speaking philatelic world, it would mean almost nothing to collectors here, we use the term " Charity Stamps "

David B.

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1383

)

on Aug-18-07 at 19:31:46 PDT

member

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 19:28:06 PDT

I don't turn pages to find stamps in the catalog. The computer is so much faster, and also I learned stamps on it. So it's not an adjustment to me. Adobe 5.0 is great for what I was trying to do. I just got version 8 and had it on. The search is still messed up. I guess it's an obscure part of the program. You know, I've never complained to them, they might not even know about it at Adobe.

Posted by philatarium ( 235

)

on Aug-18-07 at 19:14:25 PDT

Dragonstamps: I'm wondering if it would be unreliable to search for stamp type (like semi-postal, airmail, etc.), because I think Acrobat is doing a keyword search on the text on the page (although it does seem like it should find the right section of the catalog for a given country).

But I think another problem would be that Acrobat is going to search within all the countries in that particularly document (as Scott defines it). So, for example, a keyword search in the pdf file that contains Japan would, I think, include everything from Jamaica to Kenya, but I could be wrong.

You're probably familiar with this, but just in case you're not, you can click on the "Bookmarks" tab on the far left of the Acrobat window, and you'll see the individual countries listed within a given document. If you click on the "+" sign just to the left of the country name, it'll open up a list of the different sections within that country, like semi-postals, airmails, etc. So that's an easy way to get to the "back-of-the-book" stamps within any country listing.

(I don't know if any of this made sense. It's hard to describe this stuff without showing it someone standing right there with you!)

One last thought: for the keyword search to work correctly, you'd have had to enter "semi-postal" with the hyphen. I don't believe it would have recognized "semipostal", since that's not Scott's convention. But that bookmark thing should work every time!

However, it seems like the keyword search would be terrific for someone looking for a particular subject or topic, or, especially, for an issue date. The limitation would be in how accurately Scott describes a stamp.

Well, enough rambling from me for now ...

Posted by wbattles ( 5729

)

on Aug-18-07 at 19:13:33 PDT

infla-alec: thanks for the information.Will

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:50:14 PDT

Dave: I thought I had looked at the SP area for those two stamps from Japan. You know, the older Adobe acrobat versions have a much more reliable search I guess. Maybe I just did a search for the type (I use a computer version of the Scott catalogs), and it came back with nothing.
Oh well, back to adobe 5.0. That has a better search I think.
I'm just afraid to use that version when I'm online.... I guess it had security issues?

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:41:25 PDT

My pet peeve is the retraction of negatives. I say no. You got it, you keep it.
Oh well, whatever keeps Ebay going, makes me happy. (teeth grind)

Posted by philatarium ( 235

)

on Aug-18-07 at 18:36:09 PDT

Dragon: Just fortuitous timing. I happened to check in to the board, recognized the stamps right off and had the Scott's handy. Glad to help!

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:35:43 PDT

Jim: But at the same time, you've been complained about for that(2 ID's)!
Everything looks fishy if you stare at it long enough.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-18-07 at 18:30:02 PDT

Ted

Unless you are lacking in wherewithall, your ebay buying alias has nothing to do with your real name.

D2

does not buy under the name dbenson, nor often do I under iomoon. I can keep my privacy without making the auction private.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:28:08 PDT

dragonstamps: None of my auctions are ID protected. I do not run private auctions as, e-Bay frowns upon that, policy.

e-bay is set up with Feedback that is public, therefore, it is different than a Public Auction House.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:24:27 PDT

Wow, that was fast. Thanks Dave.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:24:14 PDT

Iomoon: PRIVACY! None of your business what I buy! I certainly do not care what you buy or how much you pay for it?

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:23:24 PDT

Ted: The main reason is the shill possibilities. But your option of protecting ID is very valid. I'm not opposed to it, unless it is granted to a seller who has had shill bidding suspensions.

Posted by philatarium ( 235

)

on Aug-18-07 at 18:22:50 PDT

Dragonstamps: Those stamps are Japan Scott B4-B5, semi-postals commemorating the fall of Singapore (issued Feb 1942). Scott 2007 cat val for the set of 2 is $2.25 hinged, $3.75 unhinged.

Hope that's helpful!

-- Dave

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:22:12 PDT

Iomoon: The last Christian that I am aware of that attempted to do what she thought Jesus would do was: Mother Theresa. And she is dead. Ted L.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-18-07 at 18:21:42 PDT

Ted
"both the high bidder and the underbidders names should, be confidential between the bidder and the seller ie: Auction House"

Why?

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:13:50 PDT

ack. I still can't post links 100% of the time. So sorry.
If you grab the location up to >, the image is there.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 18:09:46 PDT

Does anyone know the origin of this overprint(s)?
http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/Dragonstamps/Japan3.jpg>Japan

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-18-07 at 17:57:47 PDT

Bidders Names: Why is it any ones business as to who is bidding on a lot?

The amount of the high bid is important but ,in my opinion, the bidders ID's should be confidential.

Imagine winning a $30,000 lot at a Greg Manning Auction and instead of the auctioneer yelling out: "sold to bidder #29" he says sold to: then insert your name!

What the lot description was and the amount it sold for is everyones business ,but both the high bidder and the underbidders names should, be confidential betwwen the bidder and the seller ie: Auction House. Ted L.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-18-07 at 17:52:17 PDT

Alternatively,

Do what you think Jesus would have done in similar circumstances!

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-18-07 at 17:14:42 PDT

Right off, I wouldn't bid on any auction where the auctioneer's name was the unabreviated version of opj (that's just me, an atheistic pragmatic anarchist).

Second, I wouldn't bid knowing the bidders names are hidden.

Third, opj's auction descriptions are interpretable in several ways.

Four, refund it opj.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 17:08:44 PDT

Speaking of used cars, my brother bought a used car when he was about eighteen, and he actually believed the guy that he didn't have the keys handy but would get them to him the next day. Oh to be young and foolish again, eh?
All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't get that car started.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-18-07 at 17:02:34 PDT

Jaywild: I kind of figured you did have all the stuff scanned, documented. That's really the only way to go nowadays if you are buying investment quality stamps.
I'm not saying that stamp dealers are dishonest as a rule. The vast majority are honest I'm sure, but I compare buying/selling stamps to buying a used car.
You've got to be careful.

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 16:07:50 PDT

due,

it all depends on what the actual auction description said and not what the buyer thought it said.

If the item was described as a particular widget and it is not then the money should be refunded no matter how long it took or whether the buyer had contacted the seller or not. If, however the item was described as a widget and it is a widget then it is the buyers problem.

Without seeing the auction description then it is impossible to say who is right & who is wrong,

David B.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-18-07 at 15:51:36 PDT

OPJ

I Strongly Disagree with the others here who have given you their thoughts.

Here is what I see.
Some buyer thought he was ripping you off for a valuable stamp.
Using His Knowledge(he thought) he bid on your widget,
Thinking to his self Stupid Seller has no clue (But I do)
Then after trying to Take advantage of your lack of knowledge Thru his Own Superior knowledge(he loses)
He did not warn you before purchase That he was going to send THIS valuable widget in for a Cert.(so as not to inform you of your stupidity he was taking advantage)
SO I say Tough Cookies
IT IS A Widget
He Bought a WIDGET
He Got a Widget
Just not the Widget Class HE Tried to STEAL from you.
Yet HE bought the WIDGET
I would not even waste the bandwith on someone who tried to Crook me out of a widget , and then complained that his turkey shoot was off the Mark.

He saw it- he bought it- It Was/Is a widget as you said.

Now I know that most here will disagree with what i just posted.
But OPJ most of the folks here delight in buying widgets from unknowing sellers for a song and many here have bragged about their buys fron Unknowing sellers Some times the swoopers get swooped.

like what's his name said in a song " Instant Karma gonna get you yada yada yada

Education is a wonderful thing, provided you always remember that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught.
O. Wilde

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 15:37:21 PDT

Linda, Auction houses have obligations to the vendors to pay within a certain time frame and items that are given extensions are withheld from payment to the vendors. Comparing the major Auction Houses to Ebay is like comparing Happles & Horanges,

David B.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 450

)

on Aug-18-07 at 15:15:11 PDT

Well, if opj comes in here looking for advice (sympathy), but is unwilling to say what stamp and how many $ involved I don't think he deserves our advice. What's he trying to hide behind his 'widgets' and 'private' auctions??

However.. .. In any major philatelic auction house, it is customary for the buyer to notify the auctioneer PRIOR to BIDDING, if they require an extension to send the stamp for certification.

Linda

Posted by infla-alec ( 561

)

on Aug-18-07 at 14:57:58 PDT

Will The first scan is a German private issue from April 20th 1942. These and other such looking stamps are really Vignettes and those were made by the action committee for the French Volunteers legion of France against Bolchevism.
They come in a set of 5 and are worth Euro 2 as singles if MNH and €4 if with the label attached as some of yours appear to be. 1 Million sets were printed

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-18-07 at 14:44:01 PDT

Return's: I have a 14 day no questions asked return policy.

I have no problem if someone asks for an extension. If the stamp is found not as described ,I will issue a refund, and pay for the Expertization.

If the buyer does not ask for an extension and many month's later notify's me that the stamp was not as described I will still refund the purchase price & S&H, but I no longer feel that I am obligated to pay, for the Cert.

Buyer should give seller notification that he/she is going to send the item in for Cert within a reasonable time. I do not believe that several Month's should go by before I am notified as such.

I had one buyer wait a whole year! Ted L.

Posted by wbattles ( 5729

)

on Aug-18-07 at 14:39:37 PDT

Hey All, Long time no chat. I've been busy with the archaeology, about to get married and all that.
Anywho, I've come across several French labels I was wondering if anyone knew any details such as year issued, purpose, etc. I'm rusty with the links and all, but here goes:

http://www.battlestamps.com/12195.jpg some type of military label

http://www.battlestamps.com/12196.jpg railroad label?

http://www.battlestamps.com/12197.jpg label for war victims of sorts

http://www.battlestamps.com/12198.jpg label for military mail

http://www.battlestamps.com/12201a.jpg National subscription and back of same - http://www.battlestamps.com/12201b.jpg

Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Will

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 14:35:25 PDT

opj, thanks for acknowledging that your expertise on stamps is not perfect, no one's is, that is why they have expert committee's who can make judgements. Yes, the buyer was wrong in not contacting you that he was going to ask for higher advice, however you appear to have supplied soemthing different than what was stated and you are in the wrong in that respect. It would be best for your conscience if you returned the money with a strict letter stating that in the future the buyer MUST inform you if he intends to get the item certified,

David B.

Posted by ohpreciousjesus ( 27

) on Aug-18-07 at 14:24:40 PDT

My area of interest and knowledge is in paper currency and not widgets or stamps. But that does not mean I can't offer a stamp for sale. So that is why I give a 5 day return policy for stamps. Perhaps I should state the return policy differently next time. When I make a pruchase of something that I am knowledgable about, then I can decide for myslef well within 5 days if I'm going to keep it or return it. If I needed to rely on outside assistance, I would be sure to seek permission from the seller before hand, especially if thir return policy is stated in the auction as 5 days.....just my thought....

Posted by ohpreciousjesus ( 27

) on Aug-18-07 at 14:18:45 PDT

Thank for the angle dbenson. I will consider your coment carefuly. In the end the decision is mine to make, and I'm sure I will do what I believe to be best thing. Yes, it's a widget, but it is a widget class-i. FYI...The winning biddre told me that the widget sells for 7X more than the auction ended. The widget class-i sell for a little less than what the auction ended at. I still don't understand the specifics of the classes of widgets or know what the different varieties are or what they mean. I just knwo the reason stated in his email to me. Thanks again for your responses.

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 14:09:01 PDT

opj, if you stated it is a widget and the certificate states it is a widget class I then it is still a widget but if the certificate states it is something else then the refund has to be sent.

David B.

Posted by ohpreciousjesus ( 27

) on Aug-18-07 at 13:59:54 PDT

Thanks for the responses. I did not want to confuse the question with detalis about the item. Let's just say that it is a widget. And it was advertised as a widget. Then 70 days later an expert says it is a widget class i. If I had known that he needed 70 extra days, then I could have allowed or not allowed for an expert certification. If I would have said that I would not wait 70 days, then he could have taken 5 days to decide if he wanted it or not. My issue is not with the certification or the item. Just with how the certification was conducted without regard for my 5 day return policy or asking if that would be okay.

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-18-07 at 13:51:22 PDT

ohpreciousjesus -
You've got a problem.
It's an ethical issue, not a "My thought is that I spent the money after not hearing from him after 5 days." issue!

Since you make no reference to the vlaue of the item, or to the item itself, we have no way of helping you decide what action to take.

Bluntly - I would never bid on your auctions as they appear to all be "private" auctions. You are asking for help without providing enough information.
In my opinion if the description was wrong and the buyer has a certificate stating the description was wrong, you should refund the money. Anyone dealing in expensive collectables should know 5 days is not enough time to get anything expertized. Most philatelic services take anywhere from 45-90 days to expertize items. You should be aware of that fact and maybe your buyer should have confirmed he was sending the item to a service. Five days is way too short a time for return. How do you know when the delivery was made, etc, etc?

Roger

Posted by dbenson ( 8485

)

on Aug-18-07 at 13:41:18 PDT

opj, my advice,

GIVE HIM BACK HIS MONEY

David B.

Posted by ohpreciousjesus ( 27

) on Aug-18-07 at 13:34:43 PDT

Seeking advice.....My auction sold about 10 weeks ago and the buyer wants a refund now. I state that I have a 5 day return policy. He said that he had it certified and it is a different variety that he thought and what was in the auction. My return policy is clear (5 days no questions asked full return). My thought is that I spent the money after not hearing from him after 5 days. Now that it is 2 months after he got it, he is asking for a return. If he had asked for longer time to have it expertised, then I would have saved the money and allowed the extra time. But he did not. Any advice would be appreciated.

Posted by sayasan ( 714

)

on Aug-18-07 at 12:12:19 PDT

Just caught up with the news of the sudden death of the philatelic writer James Mackay. A disaster for the British philatelic press (what's left of it), as he wrote nearly all their articles single-handed.

I gather that his record of probity was not 100%, judging by the interesting discussion about the man in progress on Virtual Stamp Chat, where the usual Brit-kicking (led by KL) is going on before the corpse is even cold. On the other hand, let's face it, this man was a damn good philatelic writer, and did sterling work keeping popular philately on the shelves in the bookshops.

Richard W

Posted by jaywild ( 969

)

on Aug-18-07 at 10:38:56 PDT

NOIP… Regency/Superior has a branch in Beverly Hills, and I attended an auction there about a year or so ago. I was surprised at how much the bundled lots were going for, i.e. there were remainders from what had been a larger US collection. One lot consisted of perhaps 8 Columbians, some of which were regummed. Prior to the start of the auction I asked one of their staff to look over the lot and see if all the gum was original, and without seeing the describing card the fellow examined all the stamps and picked out the regummed ones correctly. Even with those drawbacks the lot fetched $1600.

I think I will take my collection down there for a preliminary evaluation some time this year, even though it might cost me a couple hundred dollars.

Jim

Posted by claghorn1p ( 412

)

on Aug-18-07 at 09:02:19 PDT

Welcome to the eBay Stamps Chat Board!

It would be greatly appreciated if chat board participants
provide LINKS to pictures
rather than posting them directly to this board.
Here's how to post a LINK. Thanks.

Yellow Boxes

You're new to stamp trading?
You've acquired a stamp collection you want to sell on eBay?
Check out these links:

Chosen links will open in a new window

This is a community creation by eBay Stamp Board users. Thanks to all who contribute!
Click here for board code download.

06/28/07

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-18-07 at 02:58:53 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by sayasan ( 714

)

on Aug-18-07 at 01:06:00 PDT

David B - Yes, it's a sort of deferred revenge for the mess Mountbatten made of partition. I think we're doomed to perpetual humiliation. I try not to take any notice of cricket any more. Just as well the Burmese aren't cricketers ...

Posted by infla-alec ( 561

)

on Aug-18-07 at 00:36:55 PDT

Mjbpark The Nepal specialist collector here is 22028 / Rainer but he is currently at the airport on his way back to the Gulf. But if you can post a scan as a link here I'm sure Rainer can tell you more about the stamp in question when he sees a picture.If memory serves some inverted centers are genuine but most are forgeries.

Posted by knuden ( 2306

)

on Aug-18-07 at 00:32:04 PDT

David B. - "I just remembered that they included the Belgian 1949 UPU 10f. in all of the collections but I can't remember if it was mint or used."

Which one???

K.E

I'm a silly little man - whoopee!!

Posted by dbenson ( 8481

)

on Aug-18-07 at 00:11:19 PDT

postalviews,

I just remembered that they included the Belgian 1949 UPU 10f. in all of the collections but I can't remember if it was mint or used,

David B.

Posted by dbenson ( 8481

)

on Aug-18-07 at 00:09:21 PDT

postviews, I am not sure of the exact year but it was about 1970 when the Belgian Philatelic Association made up some special collections to be valued by various dealers & auction houses which were purported to be from deceased estates. The integrity of the dealers & auction houses was noted and hardly any of them were honest with the purported owners of the material. Virtually all of the good stamps which were placed in the collectors had disappeared when they were returned to the owners and in only a few cases the dealers gave the correct value. I think it has also since been tried in a few other European countries,

David B.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 23:37:37 PDT

dragon� Yes, all is already scanned. The stamps are on my own album pages, with all the certs listed below the stamps, as well as the plate position when this is known. For instance, I have forty different Plate 1 Late positions of Scott #9. (The certs are scanned as well.) All the early machine cancels are in sleeves in albums along with cards for each that include Hanmer and MCS ID when available, and also scarcity ratings. (I only collect scarce or rarer, otherwise the collection would have swiftly got out of hand.) Of the many covers, pictures of which appear in various machine cancel catalogs, those are noted as well. (I was fortunate to buy several items from the estate of Bob Payne.)

My solo use prexies are in separate albums, as are the Liberties and Prominent Americans. Each usage is on its own heavy stock page, and is described in detail, and refers to specific pages in Beecher/Wawrukiewicz that confirm the rates.

I have not rated or made any notes as to quality, which is a subjective business. The quality of the material will speak for itself. Either people will bid on the material or they won�t.

?

Jim

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 23:27:25 PDT

Some interesting stings could be set up whereby expensive used stamps could be salted into mediocre collections, then sent to auction houses to see what becomes of them.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-17-07 at 22:41:22 PDT

I only say to use a disk with scans because even if you use notes, and jot down that you have a "103 xf from widget" the unscrupulous dealer could switch it for an average 103 and who would ever know?
In my limited auction experience, I'm never surprised when a collector over describes his own material. And 9 times out of 10, it's been over described. I'm not saying any stamps were ever switched, I'm only saying it is possible.

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-17-07 at 20:37:53 PDT

A nice touch on that would be to add your comments to stamps/covers, so it looks like you are adding valuable footnotes to the collection. You're NOT doing it for security reasons. :)

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-17-07 at 20:29:23 PDT

Jaywild/Jim: I'd also scan most of the more valuable stamps/covers and make disk(s) from the scans to accompany the lot(s).
(To avoid the lots from being picked over)

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 20:22:35 PDT

Grading Stamps: Double Standard.

I have always had a problem with fellow dealers who want to buy a stamp at one grade, and then wish to sell it at as, a higher grade stamp.

I only have one grade and that is the grade that I believe that a stamp is in. Being a dealer I have to buy the stamp for less than I can sell it for. That is kinda basic.

I do not try to buy a stamp from a collector as Fine and then list it as Extra Fine.

I believe the profit should be made on the margin between, the buy price and the sell price, not on trying to beat down the condition of the stamp to lower than what it actiually is. Ted L.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 19:59:48 PDT

All of my collection will go straight to an auction house when I am through with it. Everything is listed and cataloged and I have an envelope of instructions for whomever telling them where to go and what to do. I hope to be able to sell my stuff myself one day. When I started collecting in earnest, about 8 years ago, my plan was to buy stuff now and hold it until I turned 70 or 75, when circumstances might dictate the need for fewer stamps and more cash.

?
Jim

Posted by mjbpark ( 2712

) on Aug-17-07 at 19:40:07 PDT

Hi,I have just found a Nepal 1929 5r black & brown with inverted cenre,is this a forgery as I cannot find it in Gibbons or Scott.

Posted by revenue-bc-2* ( 229

) on Aug-17-07 at 19:38:15 PDT

Jaywild....nice stamp & when you are ready tyo sell the dealer will tell your heirs that their are 6 short perfs, and that this disqualifies this stamp from being worth much, and will offer you about 15% OF CAT. FOR IT... just my humble opinion of mosts dealers

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 19:02:06 PDT

My "big mouth costs me $ !

I once had an elderley lady come up to my table with several Glassines full of Stamps.

She told me that she was offered $100 for the lot. She also said that she would like a 2nd opinion before she sold them for that amount.She said they were part of a colection that she and her husband sneaked out of Germany ,just in time, before the Holocaust spread.

Most of the stamps were inexpensive inflation era Germany & some German States etc. But one envelope contained a complete Mint NH set of blocks of 4 of the 1934 Wagner Issue. At that time ,around 1979, that envelope was worth quite a bit just as it is today.

I told her that this one envleope had some valuable stamps in it, and that I would sit down and figure out, a fair price for her.

Well, she asked me valuable? And I said yes pretty valuable, and she said : "Oh good I will take them home and keep them until they become more valuable" I never saw her again.

I sure was rewarded for my Honesty! Ted L.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 18:49:07 PDT

One I "threw back". I once found a mint sheet of US #634A in a dealer friend's inventory.

He had the complete set of 632-42 in sheets of 100 but never checked the 2c to see if it were the Type 2. I guess he figured that the sheet is quite rare so why look at it?

I pointed it out to him and he was amazed. He never forgot the favor and we were friends until he passed away. Ted L.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 18:42:30 PDT

dcderoo: You are lucky to have a 6c prop.in any condition!

Mine was well centered but had thins and a small tear. Ted L.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 18:41:04 PDT

Incidentally, I paid $43 for that R84a. The seller, one of the big volume sellers on eBay, had it listed as an R85c, and apparently no one else saw that the number was incorrect.

The seller probably thought it was a good idea to have some poorly informed drone listing his lots for him. Fine with me!!

?

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 18:31:07 PDT

dcderoo� Thanks for showing your R101s. They are indeed nice.

This shows what might be an imperf R84a, next to a R84c. The ink used to cancel it leached out into the stamp and discolored it, so I don�t know whether or not it is genuine. Sometime this fall I will send it off for a cert, just to satisfy my curiosity. CV is about $5000, so I am doubtful.

Jim

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 18:16:17 PDT

An R31c in a dealer's box. WOW!!!
Here's mine. Not as good as Scott lists, but...:

R31c

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 18:04:17 PDT

Nice Find: Many years ago I attended a club show in Indianapolis In. They had a table full of both on paper and soaked stamps for the kids.

They were either free, or 1c, I do not remember which.

I came home with a little sack of my treasures. As I started to put them in my album I would, of course, check the current Scott CV of each one of the stamps.

Out of nowhere I screamed out loud: "I found a good one"
My Dad came running in my room to see what I was so excited about.

I showed him my little gem: it was a R31c the 6c Proprietary. My Dad looked at it and told me it was worth very little, as while it looked nice, it had some fault's.

I kept that stamp until 1979 when I sent it in to be expertised. It was found genuine but faulty. As many of you may know this is one stamp that is worth $ even in less than perfect condition, and is quite rare ,in 100% sound condition.

This is the only big find of my life. I have had some nice medium finds and many small ones but not like this one.

I have always wondered if this was an accident or maybe some wealthy old time Indy club member thought that he would make a young collector happy? Ted L.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 18:02:06 PDT

R74a (120 kb); I need a better one

jaywild, here's my copies of the two that you are missing:

R71a (180kb)

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 17:52:23 PDT

R89a - early printing (180 kb)

To demonstrate jaywild's comment about early and later printings of US revenues, look at these two:

R89c - later printing (180 kb)

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 17:47:05 PDT

dcderoo: I would not mind finding either one of your R101a items in my stocking this Christmas. lol. Ted L.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 17:44:42 PDT

jaywild: Interesting info on the imperf's.

I assume that one can possibly differentiate the real imperf's, from trimmed perforated stamps, not only by size but also by shade.

I used to deal some in rev's, but it has been so many years ago ,it looks like I have forgotten much of what I knew about them.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 17:42:38 PDT

Got diverted.
Here's my R101a's:

R101a Single (210kb)

R101a Pair (210kb)

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 17:08:28 PDT

Ted L� Thank you again. All the imperforate stamps of the first issue (the imperforates) were printed first using dull colors. Later incarnations, when they had perforations all around, the colors were deeper and more stable. All the $1 issues I showed were used in a period between late February and early October 1863, with most being used right around the time of the battle of Gettysburg. Frankly I bought them separately with an eye toward matching the colors.

Jim

Posted by 220man ( 155

) on Aug-17-07 at 16:38:08 PDT

paperhistory: Matt, the submarine commander that sunk the USS Reuben James was Erich Topp in U-552. He survived the war and later became an admiral in the West German Navy, see bio: http://uboat.net/men/topp.htm
Phil

Posted by sheryll*net ( 91

)

on Aug-17-07 at 16:11:42 PDT

Hi all! Many thanks to those who have made such nice comments about us eUSC members' time at the APS StampShow last weekend. I have gone through my photos and put them up on a webpage which also tells the (rather long) story of the show seen though my eyes.

It is because of your continued support and appreciation that I have taken the photos and shared them, and I must say that being an eUSC member added an important, richer and special dimension to my time at the show.

Noticeable omissions are no pic of Roger's razor cancel exhibit (we put it off till the medals were announced, then forgot to do it). Also the standard one of me in front of my exhibit (blame my husband's not attending for that one!). And pics of the Convention Center and the show layout in general, which would have set the scene better.

I regret not spending more time at the exhibits or at the Court of Honor, as there was some absolutely stunning stuff to be seen, and I am not sure when I will have another opportunity to do so.

S2

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 16:09:37 PDT

I fact I do believe that so-called 'rave parties' ought to be directed to the home addresses of Fed governors so as to finally stamp out organized crime occurring within our communities.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 16:03:38 PDT

I had set my real estate goals based on overall market and economic conditions, but now that the central banks are cheating their own system again on a daily basis, I have lost all confidence in the system and now must rethink everything.

We people out here deserve much better.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 16:01:02 PDT

Have enjoyed all the posts, scans and comments on the early US revenue stamps. Though I forgot which one it was, I had a large, expensive part-perf one that had one imperf side cutting in. Eveeryone thought it was trimmed, so I sent it in for a cert. It turned out to be authentic and as it was explained to me by Eric Jackson, they could tell it was a part perf because the ink on that issue was different than that used on the later, fully perforated ones. At the time it cataloged $1100.

Jack Sollens of Armstrong Stamp wanted it but would only offer $435 wholesale, and it thus went to Sergio Sismondo for $500 wholesale. It had come to me in a large early revenue lot.

So your scans of good old revenue stamps bring back good old memories.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 448

)

on Aug-17-07 at 15:22:39 PDT

*bookmark*

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 15:20:56 PDT

Jaywild: Nice group of $1 Imperf's.

Did you notice that all of them are essentially the same shade?

They must have used a small batch of ink on the imperf.$1 issues? Ted L.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-17-07 at 15:17:04 PDT

Thanks Paolo
That is what I figured, They were hinged into an old Album full of stuff I bought .

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-17-07 at 15:14:00 PDT

Paolo -

You are becoming an expert. eBay stamp managers can't tell anything from a scan, present "stamp watch committee" can, so can many collectors! The following question arises in my mind - at what point does one report auctions such as the ones you illustrated? Of course, a blurry scan would have resolved any questions for the seller. LOL

You made me take a look at my album. I'm missing the 2 centimes white paper used.

Roger

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 15:01:19 PDT

dcderoo� I would love to see your 101a�s, both the single and the pair. Post a link, so others can see them too. I know there are a few US revenue collectors besides us who frequent this board.

I�m trying to get clean sound copies of all these as �a�s�, i.e. imperforate. I lack the R71a and the R74a, but as I said I have not been devoting much time to searching for the revenue stamps I lack.

Jim

Posted by dbenson ( 8481

)

on Aug-17-07 at 15:01:18 PDT

Sayasan,

there was a nice comment in yesterday's SMH Letters to the Editor,

" The best thing about the partition between India & Pakistan is that it gave two teams instead of one that could beat the Poms at cricket "

David B.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 14:42:57 PDT

I'm beginning to think (after I read my last post) that I shouldn't even get close to my computer after X amount of beers (X being something more than 6.)

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 14:39:51 PDT

jaywild, I've got no problem with calling a "spade a spade".
If you see something wrong, mention it.

Your R101c is tremendous.
Not only the centering, but the color is bright.
Mine is ordinary in color, with a cut cancel and touching on the left (top/bottom centering is very good.)
BUT my R101a is as well centered as yours, but not as bright (as most of the earlier printings were.)
And my side-by-side R101a pair is clear (creased between) and the left stamp has problems.

If you want pics, just let me know.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 14:34:38 PDT

P.S. the 12 c. postage stamp of which immediately below bears the control mark of the second type (KZII -- or KZ1Y as per Michel), which were used from 1894 on: this makes the 'white paper' issue evaporate even more rapidly.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 14:29:38 PDT

Still on the numeral and cross Issue, these two
recto
verso
are offered as 'white' paper of 1882.
Well, the 15c. doen't exist in that colour, this was onlyprinted on granite paper.
Regarding the 12 c., apart from the colour, you can see a few of the silk threads from the images.

Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 14:17:31 PDT

One of those things that stop me from buying a collection, like finding forgeries on the first few pages, is also finding stamps that are in the wrong place; just nitpicking on the first page shown of a Swiss collection (actually offered on eBay):
Here, on the first row, both the 5c. and the 10c. unused (the last is a very good stamp in unused O.G. condition) cannot be on the 'white' paper of 1882 because their colours do not match those of 1882 proper to the 5c. and the 10c. (the 2c. and the 15c. could be on white paper, but that is all to verify).
Paolo

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 14:17:15 PDT

djs� In my opinion, and it�s just my opinion, you should never be �afraid� of getting less money for an item than you might have at another time, or �afraid� that you will pay more for an item than you might have if you had waited a day or two. You are surrendering your peace of mind to your money, and I can�t think of a worse trade-off.

It might be well to remember that in the long run you win a few, and lose a few, so agonizing over a few cents lost here or there is pointless, because you will make up the same few cents at some other time. Besides, it�s only a few cents, so who cares?

I personally subscribe to prochute�s point of view and buy new every time. It doesn�t cost much more, and there�s never a worry that the item is damaged, missing pages etc. Since I buy only one catalog, when I update I can always send my couple-year old catalog gratis to someone who can use it. The feeling of satisfaction that comes from that is worth far more than any picayune sum I might make selling the book on eBay.

Just my 2� of course�

Jim

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 14:06:32 PDT

Due2cents,
Sorry, the ones you showed (i.e. also here) appear to be private reprints, not drawn from original cliches or even dies, as a proper 'reprint' would qualify, but from duplicates of it (galvanos).

Best, Paolo

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-17-07 at 14:02:30 PDT

djs127 If you must know, I buy new Scott & Gibbons catalogues every year and sell my "old" ones here on eBay, when I get the current cats. I usually fetch 50% of my original cost. Not too many folks will want a 2006 Scott except perhaps, volume 1.

I buy ALL my supplies NEW from that wonderful gent in Brooklyn and my Scotts from upstate NY. But then again, I do not quibble over money. It's there to be spent!

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-17-07 at 13:35:39 PDT

Aloha -
I did this a couple of times while completing exhibit pages. Just as I got to the finishing touch, I sneezed!

BTW -
The top right stamp is graded -5J due to uneveness of perfs. The others range from 65-70.

Roger

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 13:10:16 PDT

NOIP� In looking for a picture of a stamp perforating machine I found this in Google images. The second illustration from the left at top is from one of my stamp identifiers! (You can check it out by going to my

page and scrolling down to the bottom where my identifier links are.)

Ted L... Why thank you. I like the large format revenues but don�t like the small format ones, i.e. the ones the size of definitive stamps. I have neglected my pursuit of 1st, 2nd & 3rd issue revenues as I got interested in other things, so I still have several holes to fill.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-17-07 at 12:15:19 PDT

Jaywild: What a beautiful R101! Ted L.

Posted by sayasan ( 714

)

on Aug-17-07 at 12:14:52 PDT

due - found it, posted. Thanks for the link!

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-17-07 at 11:53:52 PDT

Nomad
CYE

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-17-07 at 11:52:40 PDT

Sayasan

Ask here http://www.uscs.org/

They have a chat room , great buch of folks,
some who used to be regulars here.

The chat room asks for a password But you create it

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 11:45:47 PDT

dcderoo� I didn�t mean to sound disparaging of your R113�I think it is a nice looking stamp. Cut cancels don�t destroy the value of a stamp, the way a cut would on an ordinary postage stamp; the value is merely halved. I don�t have a R119, so yours beats mine by a mile!!

I don�t think your R129 has fake perfs. Remember that these stamp sheets were fed by hand into hand-operated perforating machines, and the look of the perfs at bottom left is perfectly consistent with the sheet being held in an uneven fashion when it went through the perforator. If the perfs were fake they would be wonky all along the line. Just my 2� though.

First, second and third issue US revenues are incredibly hard to find in unfaulty shape and XF centering. This is the best centered revenue stamp I have, and it cost me a pretty penny.

Jim

Posted by sayasan ( 714

)

on Aug-17-07 at 11:35:47 PDT

Query for anyone who knows something of US naval covers -

Cacheted covers, in a single design, are known from a couple of ships in the Burma Navy. They all appear to be sent within a similar time frame - my two examples are both from August 1952. All are sent to various addresses in the USA, which I guess are collectors who subscribed to some sort of worldwide naval cover scheme. Would that make sense? My two examples are sent to a Karl Schauermann in Milwaukee and a Dr Wreff[?]in PA. Do either of these names mean anything in terms of naval cover collectors or dealers? Any idea who was the entrepreneur behind this scheme in Burma? Thanks,

Richard W.

Posted by nomad55 ( 915

)

on Aug-17-07 at 11:19:52 PDT

Matt....glad you obtained that ship lot. Its a nice grouping, especially since the usages are all official naval, not cacheted philatelic souvenirs. I looked at it, as I do for all ship post marks from the 1930's, but nothing expo related.
You guys are right about the wartime significance of both Indianapolis and Reuben James.
Indianapolis cancels are known from its visit to the Golden Gate expo. Similarly, Reuben James visited the NY worlds fair in 1939.
An Indianapolis cover can also be used in a topical exhibit on sharks.

Due 2....please 'e' me.

Posted by djs127 ( 596

)

on Aug-17-07 at 11:11:42 PDT

As many on this board have told me before starting items on Ebay at lower amounts generates more sales.

As an example last Sunday I listed my Scott Catalog Volume 1 2006 at $9.99 and it did not get a bid.
Wednesday during the free listing with gallery display I re-listed it starting at $4.99 and right now its is already at $16.05.

I have seen some dealers listing brand new catalogs to start at 99 cents but for older supplies I am always afraid that one week very few people will be around to bid on it and it will go for 0.99 cents.

I wonder how many collectors on this board exclusively buy their Scott catalogs used on Ebay versus brand new from a dealer? What about other stamp collecting supplies?
David Snyder

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-17-07 at 10:50:50 PDT

Paolo

are these even Hole fillers

JunkorNot

Thanks

Posted by paperhistory ( 1989

)

on Aug-17-07 at 10:48:13 PDT

jim: of course -- Jaywild mentioned the story of the Indianapolis in his original post so I didn't repeat it. Interesting group of covers all around -- unusual to find two well-known sunken WWII vessels in a group lot like that!

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 09:36:36 PDT

Araso4u0b,
Welcome to the neurotic stamp board!
Looked at your me page: would you be so kind as to correct the header into "Hi Fascists" instead of "Hi Fashionistas" for me? It's a shorter word, methaphorically with similar meaning for the recipient.
Do you collect fashion/mood (or moods) on postage stamps?

;-), Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-17-07 at 09:23:51 PDT

Good day all!

DC,
I, too, think your "R129" has been reperforated (at least partially) on the horizontal sides.

Roger,
Among else, thanks for the hint! ;-)

Ted,
Glad the photo was funny!

Tom,
That plastic house is not even mine! It's by a camper my wife and her sister rented for the summer.
Along this line, I more and more sound like Paul, which fact stupefies me! ;-)
Is there a cure?

Best to all, Paolo

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 09:17:52 PDT

postalviews, sounds reasonable and correct.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 09:10:44 PDT

dcderoo When you buy your R119 the dealer will call it VF for the issue and overlook the trimmed perfs. When you go to sell to same, he will say it is poorly centered and faulty.

That is all you need to know about grading your stamp.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 09:08:39 PDT

And grading neurosis.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 09:05:05 PDT

Oh no, more perforation neurosis.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 08:51:57 PDT

"argument", not "arguement"

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 08:50:38 PDT

soggy, this means you disagree with the Scott standards which are split at "before 1870" and "after 1870".
That's simply a statement, not an arguement or accusation.

Thus it leads to a general observation that there is no industry-wide grading standards.

BTW, numismatics has the same difficulty, but to a greater extent.

Posted by araso4u0b ( 1581

)

on Aug-17-07 at 08:44:49 PDT

hello

Posted by soggy333 ( 55

) on Aug-17-07 at 08:21:24 PDT

dcderoo
Your post about R119 raises a fight in philately that continues to surface every year since the beginning of the argument, whenever that was. A stamp is graded VF when the stamp is VF. No exceptions. One cannot say that a stamp is graded VF just because no VF examples have ever been found. You asked what grade the R119 was considering the year it was printed. It is the same grade it always will be, no matter what year it was printed.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 07:53:34 PDT

Considering the value of an R119 and the fact that its problems were a product printing and use, that will remain in my collection unless there is a large influx of cash such as winning the lottery.

More disturbing is this item:

R129

Top & Bottom Perf Match

At first I wondered why there wasn't enough room to get the whole stamp image inside the perfs.
A lot of US sheets were printed with not a lot of room between the stamp images so perfing the sheets was a bit tough, but this seemed a bit much.
That thought caused me to take a closer look at the bottom left.
What I thought were trimmed perfs could actually have been evidence of a reperf.
Looks like that might be the case.

What do you think?

Posted by jimbo ( 404

)

on Aug-17-07 at 07:47:00 PDT

Matt L. et al,
RE naval covers: the USS Indianapolis also has a history.

jimbo

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 07:24:10 PDT

jaywild, I looked at the two places you indicated under 10x magnification.

Something definitely interferred with the printing at the place you labeled "...a chunk of wood embedded in the paper."

The stamps definitely has a cut-cancel part of which is manifested at the point you indicated.
Much of the cut-cancel is more "embossed" rather than "cut", but that's just semantics.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-17-07 at 06:51:47 PDT

Matt L
Glad you mentioned your interest or it could have gone
a little higher. :-)

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 06:43:40 PDT

Matt L� Congratulations�

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 06:41:28 PDT

dcderoo� I don�t think the centering criteria are as strictly applied to large format revenue stamps. I may be wrong on that, but that is my impression. I also think very few of them ended up with spectacular centering. I would question a couple marks however�see here. The red arrow points to what looks like a chunk of wood embedded in the paper, while the green arrow points to what might be a cut from a herringbone cut-cancel. Either of those would definitely affect the value negatively.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 06:34:44 PDT

220man� Speaking of the Constellation, the US honored it in 2004 with a beautiful engraved stamp, Scott 3869. This poor image, lifted from Scott, does not do justice to the exquisite engraving on the stamp.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 06:28:23 PDT

gerryess� Sorry, I have no familiarity with Hard Core. Perhaps others here know how it works.

Jim

Posted by 220man ( 155

) on Aug-17-07 at 06:26:38 PDT

I'd forgotten that in 1942 Constellation was a sailing ship for training middies at the USNA, yet still in commission!http://www.baygateways.net/general.cfm?id=117

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-17-07 at 06:26:20 PDT

Taking into consideration when this stamp was printed (1871), what grade do you give it?

R119

Posted by gerryess ( 232

) on Aug-17-07 at 06:11:30 PDT

Has anyone recently tried to upload pix to the Hard Core site? All I get is "your pictures too big and must be 300kb or less" yet I have nothing bigger than 66kb!
thanks

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 06:04:44 PDT

Matt� Yes, the Reuben James rang a bell but I couldn�t remember why, and didn�t bother to Google it. I hope you get the lot.

?

Jim

Posted by paperhistory ( 1989

)

on Aug-17-07 at 05:50:57 PDT

jaywild: thanks for pointing that out -- I think there is actually an even more interesting item in that lot. I want USS Cincinnati for my Ohio thematic collection, but it's the one from USS Reuben James that is of interest -- first US naval vessel sunk in hostile action in WWII. (sunk by a torpedo while escorting a convoy in October of 1941).

I am passing over the Panay incident in China in 1937, of course (gunboat sunk by the Chinese on the Yangtze river, but apologies made by the Japanese gov't).

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-17-07 at 05:41:35 PDT

Paul� I take your answer as confirmation that your market experience was really only boiler-room phone sales, what�s known as the Little Old Lady market (named for the targets most susceptible to sales pressure). I think I now have a pretty clear picture of what your background is, and why you have to trot out fairy tales to embellish it. No need to feel ashamed�remember, it�s not your fault. It�s the school system�s, and the guys who ridiculed your stamp collection all those years ago, and I think you�ve given us umpteen other excuses that I can�t recall right now. For some people, the highest they ever rise in life is Victim of the First Order.

Did that honor come with a medal? If so, perhaps you can melt it down then brag about all the money you made in the tin market.

?

Jim

Posted by claghorn1p ( 412

)

on Aug-17-07 at 05:21:03 PDT

Welcome to the eBay Stamps Chat Board!

It would be greatly appreciated if chat board participants
provide LINKS to pictures
rather than posting them directly to this board.
Here's how to post a LINK. Thanks.

Yellow Boxes

You're new to stamp trading?
You've acquired a stamp collection you want to sell on eBay?
Check out these links:

Chosen links will open in a new window

This is a community creation by eBay Stamp Board users. Thanks to all who contribute!
Click here for board code download.

06/28/07

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-17-07 at 03:42:29 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-17-07 at 01:30:11 PDT

UN Stamps: apparently my whopping $303 face value of UN NY must have collapsed the entire market for UN NY postage, since the price I was offered for it halved overnight after I posted my shipment!

Of course I do not believe any of it, not a word.

But I do hope the end of central banking is at hand, as the Fed has stolen every penny and then some of American surplus since it was scammed into law in 1913.

Your currency is backed by hot air and nothing more. It is utterly worthless.

BTW AFINSA is a ponzi scheme.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-16-07 at 21:33:27 PDT

JAY ---Your wrong again {just like your stock market advice last week} LEO was a egg,cattle ,hog and bellies{bacon} man at the Mercantile Exchange .Im from the Board of Trade for 23 years .So you need to get your facts straight .I did trade with a Merc firm for two years to trade currencies over a phone line .Gee Jay you looked foolish crying about the interest rate move a few months ago on this board , now your looking foolish with your stock market remarkes . just say your wrong about the "GO TO CASH "statment is for people who are afraid and should be in the stock market two weeks ago .Your slipping ,and I love those 5.20% CD's as the FED"s lower rates .CD's are the safes place with this ecomonic mess,yes everytime I purchase them ,it was a monthly or quartely high in rates ......P.S. don't worry about the spelling it never slow me down ,besides market trading skills were always more important than language skills .

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 21:06:13 PDT

paperhistory: Re: UN Stamps.

Thanks for reminding me about afinsa as I forgot about them.

I can remember back when Vatican City, San Marino and Isreal were "Hot" It was a manufactured demand. TedL.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-16-07 at 20:45:10 PDT

Paul� With all the vast sums you are always bragging you are making, why have you never bought one of these? Doesn�t your atrocious spelling and grammar embarrass you? (BTW, it is �embarrass��there�s no such word as �embrass�).

How in the world did you ever work for any kind of broker with such an appalling lack of language skills? I know you have bragged that you are great friends with Leo Melamed, but in response to a direct email from me he told me he never heard of you. He�s also interested in why you claim to be an associate of his. Come to think of it, that makes me curious too. Perhaps you can explain.

I can only guess that all the rest of your bragging has as much behind it as your boast that Leo Melamed is a �good friend� of yours; namely zilch.

Now you have a direct challenge to explain some of the b*llsh*t you have been papering this board with for years. Time to put up or shut up.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-16-07 at 20:24:50 PDT

NOIP� I�m not a Naval Postal History collector, however there�s an interesting item in this lot, if any of the readers out there are interested in World War II items. Although the seller doesn�t mention it, the USS Indianapolis delivered the first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian in either June or July 1945, then was sunk by a Japanese sub on her way back across the Pacific.

Jim

Posted by chaswilly ( 1639

) on Aug-16-07 at 20:12:31 PDT

stamps123456789 your apoligy is not accepted. You are an idiot. Notwhistanding your personal attacks on catalogue queens and midgets.

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-16-07 at 19:43:39 PDT

member

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-16-07 at 18:46:04 PDT

APOLOGY TO ALL especially MITCH Gee im now feeling worst than just getting slapped around by David B. .I feel real bad about my recent actions and don't know how to face all the fine members of the E-BAY STAMP USERS CLUB and how will I get respect from them in the future .I need to be exonerated and forgiven for my recent behaveior. It truely was uncalled for and put the many readers here in a uncomfortible position .The embrassment is so great that tomorrow I may not post here ,truely sorry for being arogent and thinking I know it all .

Sure in the past I did some bold things here like tell everybody that im buying silver and then bragging when i sold it and made a profit and then did the same thing with the GOLD market and took the profit and purchase stamps .but this behavior even surpass the swiming pool money that I made in the Corn market {about $60,000}.

Then coming on here and making a prediction on the Interest rate market and being three days before the Federal Reserve announces a major change in policy wasn't as bad as my recent behavior .

Even telling everybody that they should liquate their investments and going to cash{THE GO TO CASH THINGY} two months before this market in most investments started to head south big time .

But back to what i truely feel sorry about and Mitch caught it and now im truely sorry to all the readers .In my vindictive style I post a remarke which I wish i could take back and feel sorry about .As many of you know i said the Tannu Tuva lot {190139640253}would most likey sell for over $60.00 and Mitch in his fine style corrected me and said no more like $53.00 but today the lot when off at over $100.00 .But my gross error and what im truely sorry about is my statment that I would get blown out in the last hour of bidding ----But im truely wrong and apology because my prediction was wrong and was nocked out 24 hours before my prediction ----please understand that was wrong on calling it to the final hour ......embrassed Paul

Posted by paperhistory ( 1989

)

on Aug-16-07 at 18:33:34 PDT

ted: the buy prices from not long ago were probably based on heavy purchases by the spanish company Afinsa, or another large market-making dealer. When that dealer stopped buying, everyone else stopped buying too. The spike in UN was a relatively short-lived market. It's mostly been a drug for the last 30 years, other than a few specific items.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 18:17:54 PDT

UN Stamps: During the past 30 years I have seen the UN stamp market be both strong and at other times weak. The UN market is usually one of the most highly invested in areas of Philately. Sometimes there have been some some pretty strong adjustments within a short period of time
.
I do not recall ever remembering such a drastic decrease in prices as I have seen in the last 12 Mos!

There were many "buy" prices a year ago now I see only a few.

I have been folowing the prices on e-bay for UN recently and must say that it appears that UN prices are at their lowest levels in many many years.

What I am wondering is this: Is the decline in prices only due to, investors all bailing out at the same time ,or are there political ramifications?

Are there many collectors & investors who just do not like UN stamps anymore, or is it because they do not care for the, UN itself?

Anyone on here that can enlighten me on this subject? Ted L.

'

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-16-07 at 18:06:06 PDT

FIJI Rate Question

Is this just an Overpaid card
Airport

Handling Question

On this Card how was the penny paid in Milwaukee
for the forwarding to Nekoosa
was it similar to a Held for Postage Item
ie: they mailed a notice that they owed postage
why not just DUE 1
Howdone

Posted by mini*lindy ( 448

)

on Aug-16-07 at 15:52:03 PDT

rbstudio121 - sorry no-one has replied to your question yesterday at 15:31 about the Egyptian Stamps you have. As I know nothing about Egypt I cannot comment, our resident Egypt expert is Anne, and she usually checks in to the board on the weekends, so keep reading every day! Checking them out in a Scott Catalogue is certainly the best place to start.

chas If I was trying to sell a $2,000 cover think I'd take it out of the plastics first to photograph, and do a close up of the actual stamp/cancel, eh? That type of description/photo rings alarm bells first off with me.

My first stamps? well I never got any packets bought for me, but my grandfather's sisters lived in London and Bern,Switzerland, in the 1950s but never used 'different' stamps on their mail, so I had lots of Swiss and GB.. mostly the same! and lots of 'queens heads' from our local Australian mail :(

Linda

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 15:04:56 PDT

1covers: That is what I would have normally assumed. In this case though the group of covers I viewed,were not in a collection, but rather in a stack of family correspondence.

The covers ranged from about 1860 and ran to the early 1900's. So, if not a fake, someone accidentally used it against regulations, and it was not noticed. I do have a hard time believing that a postal clerk, would not recognize a $200 face value stamp,but on the other hand why would a fake be included in a pile of covers with no Philatelic connection?

It's just one of those strange little items that one comes across during a 50 yr. odyssey with this the King of Hobbies. Ted L.

Posted by 1covers ( 1367

)

on Aug-16-07 at 14:52:00 PDT

Ted - I am sure that cover was a fake. The only genuine usages of revenues that was allowed is as shown here. Some small values occasionaly slipped thru in the mails. Most got caught and were rated as postage due.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 14:43:03 PDT

R102c: About 35 or so years ago I had the opportunity to view a cover which had a tied R102c,used as a $2.00 stamp, on a large envelope.I do not remember if it was registered or just heavy or both.

At that time I thought that it was kinda neat. Now in retospect I am wondering if this would not perhaps be quite a valuable item? In addition to the R102c I remember their being a couple of '69 pictorials on the cover. I do not remember their denominations.

If I remember correctly ,the cover was mailed from New York, and the destination was San Francisco.

I wonder if the sender ever realized ,both the inappropriate usage of the revenue,and the fact he lost $198.00 on the deal? A $198.00 boo boo back in the late 1860's or early 70' would have been a tremendous loss to all but the most wealthy. Ted L.

Posted by 7720matt ( 140

) on Aug-16-07 at 14:40:19 PDT

Hi all. What happened to the new Duck stamps? Recieved the Fall issue of the USPS catalog and they're not in there. Nor are they listed on the USPS web site. Also no junior duck stamps.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-16-07 at 14:05:59 PDT

I asked one of the US revenue gurus about my R102c.
He says it's not unreasonable to be that far off.

To quote:
"...not so uncommon on large format stamps. this is more off-kilter than usual, but not enough to suggest bad behavior."

But I have to check the nature of the top perfs.
Apparently if they are too neat/clean then I might have a problem.

Posted by chaswilly ( 1639

) on Aug-16-07 at 13:31:11 PDT

I emailed the seller of this item. There is no known single franking of the 8 Tausend on 30 Pfg. stamp with network watermark that I am aware of.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-16-07 at 13:12:44 PDT

Pro

probably the latter.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-16-07 at 13:11:38 PDT

IO
With the recent Quakes and Volcanic activity
are we seeing a higher level or just hearing more
about them.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-16-07 at 13:05:36 PDT

Krakatau was the same magnitude as the Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines.

Effect on modern world - more press coverage and hopefully fewer deaths.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 12:22:56 PDT

Iomoon: PS: What do you think the ramifications of an eruption, similar to Krakatoa, would have on the modern World? Ted L.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 12:20:40 PDT

Iomoon: My Great Great Grand Uncle was aboard a Ship that was close enough to Krakatoa to see smoke clouds from the 1883 eruption.

If I remember correctly, they were several hundred miles away and assumed that the cloud was coming from a source, that was much closer than it actually was.

They did not hear about the details until after they arrived at their destination.

My Great Aunt once had a letter that her father wrote to his Wife telling her about what he had seen. Unfortunately it has not survived. That would have been a nice postal history item to have passed down to future generations. TedL.

Posted by bobgggg ( 76

) on Aug-16-07 at 12:03:02 PDT

Ehen = When

Posted by bobgggg ( 76

) on Aug-16-07 at 12:02:19 PDT

Jaywild

Ehen I logged onto Ebay, and I signed in

Ebay told me I have 4 alerts

Everything went thru Ebay

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-16-07 at 11:58:48 PDT

On August 13 at 10:15UTC, a large sulfur dioxide cloud was detected over Ethiopia and Sudan by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite. This is presumed to be the result of a volcanic eruption in western Afar, Ethiopia, though the source is currently unclear. Preliminary analysis indicates that the cloud contained ~8000 tons of SO2, although the SO2 amount depends on the
altitude of the cloud, which is not yet known.

Inspection of MODIS hot-spot data (http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu) show the appearance of a cluster of hot-spots centered at 12.25�N, 40.65�E late on August 12, presumably corresponding to an active lava flow.
This location is around 40 km SSE of Dabbahu volcano, which had its first historical eruption in September 2005. The closest volcano to the eruption site appears to be Manda Hararo (12.17�N, 40.82�E), a system of fissure vents with no recorded historic eruptions. OMI data on August 14 showed continuing SO2 emissions, although the extent of the MODIS thermal anomaly had diminished. Further updates will be
provided in due course, and images will be posted on our website.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 11:16:41 PDT

Jaywild: Thanks for the warning. All of those Virus's and Trojan's etc. sure make being on the "net" a lot less fun.

Hope some of the offenders find themselves in Prison. Ted L.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-16-07 at 11:14:46 PDT

bobgggg� What�s a TKO notice? If you received any communication from eBay that your account has been suspended or suspected of �suspicious activity�, the email did not come from eBay. If you clicked on any link in those emails, you are in deep doo-doo.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 11:14:15 PDT

Vonbag: That was hilarious! Quite a Chateau you purchased with those approvals etc.

Unfortunately ,you must have purchased a bunch, to be able to have sold them for enough to even buy that small mansion!
Ted L.

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-16-07 at 11:12:45 PDT

NOIP� New potential scam alert�

I just got a desperately worded email from a friend indicating a new deadly virus is on the loose, with �proof� supposedly supplied by Snopes.com, which the email provides a �helpful link� to.

No fool, I went to Snopes directly (i.e. without clicking on the link) and saw no mention whatever of this �new deadly virus�, so all indicators are this email was a hoax, and if you click through the fake Snopes link you really will have a virus.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 11:09:27 PDT

postalviews: Re: your last posting.

I can remember one day while I was in Catholic Elementary School. One day Sister asked our class who was President of the USA?

I quickly raised my hand and answered: Well, Sister, I do not remember his first name,but his last name is Franco.

This is of course not a true story, but I sure did see plenty, of those Franco Heads!

Just think, if I had kept all of those hundreds of Franco's until today almost 50 years later, I would still have a worthless pile of stamps! Ted.

Posted by bobgggg ( 76

) on Aug-16-07 at 11:05:17 PDT

Can someone tell me whats going on ?

Since June 25th., I have received 4 TKO notices

I have had to change my password 4 times

Posted by malolo ( 849

)

on Aug-16-07 at 11:05:00 PDT

scott -
Your link is screwy becasue you used a punctuation mark in the image name. Proves you understand English "gramer", but need refresher course on HTML links. );>) It's also best to not use capital letters. As I understand it, the only non-letter symbol that works is the underline used for separating words in the image name, i.e. bartels_book.jpg

Welcome to the chat board, I don't recall seeing you here before.

Paolo -
When I explained how to look tall in a photograph I meant that one should stand on tip toe with BOTH feet. In your photo you have one foot planted firmly on the ground, which destroys the "tall" look. You may have done this for any number of reasons:
1. You wanted to make your villa look bigger than it really is.
2. You only go on full point wearing ballet shoes.
3. You forgot what I wrote in my earlier message.

You should write to dcderoo, he has a slightly faulty carpet that might look real good in your master bedroom suite.

Anyway, the red tile roof looks great, and the blue door is a touch of genius! );>)

Roger

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 11:03:08 PDT

1covers: The person who re-perfed that R102c must have had a drinking problem! LOL.

I can remember as a young collector seeing many more US stamps, in dealer inventories that were SE's, than I do today. TedL.

Posted by 1covers ( 1367

)

on Aug-16-07 at 10:58:44 PDT

The R102c is reperforated poorly at top. Not printed single stamp to a sheet (R133 was).

Posted by jaywild ( 968

)

on Aug-16-07 at 10:45:00 PDT

dcderoo� As I recall those �Persian rugs� were printed a single stamp to a sheet. Therefore it�s likely that each side was perforated separately, and thus it would be fairly easy for the machine to go astray.

While I personally doubt the stamp has been reperforated, I think its value will suffer because of that wonky line.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 10:42:46 PDT

dcderoo: Re: Your R102c. I do not know what caused the top perf's to run at a partial angle.

I do know that I have owned 2 similar looking R102'c in the past. This makes me believe that this may be a product of manufacture rather than a post printing alteration.

I hope someone with more expertise than I can solve this riddle, so that if I run across another similar one in the future ,I will know more about it. Ted L.

Posted by scottpel3 ( 833

) on Aug-16-07 at 10:18:46 PDT

TedL

I guess we both are looking at the same picture, seeing it clearly, but are wearing different filters.

I didn't buy the packets you refer to until the early 70's. And then I didn't pay much. For the convenience of not searching for the better price, and for the small amount at the time, it was worth it to me.

Scott

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 09:53:53 PDT

scottpel3: I agree with you as far as it was a good way to become acquainted with this Hobby.It was also fun. I am glad that both you and I had fun.

I was not referring to people buying the overpriced junk as an investment. I am speaking of paying more than what the material was worth anywhere else!

Do you have warm and fuzzy feelings about getting ripped off? Did you enjoy paying 25c for a partial set of CTO Hungarian pictorials, when 25c was more than what they were worth, at that time?

There is nothing wrong with buying inexpensive material as long as one pays a fair going price for what one receives.TedL.

Posted by dcderoo ( 1682

) on Aug-16-07 at 09:45:20 PDT

I have a Scott US R102c that has a strange characteristic.
The top and bottom rows of perfs are not parallel, and by a significant amount.

Stamp

Perf matchup

Any ideas about this situation?

Posted by scottpel3 ( 833

) on Aug-16-07 at 09:40:45 PDT

Ted L

I guess we were posting at the same time and I hadn't seen your post.

You are absolutely right for those with no knowlege of philately who purchased from those approval dealers with an idea of making an investment for the future.

However, as an introduction to the hobby for a very young child, they were invaluable.

I am sure the mass marketers of today are hurting many uneducated would-be collectors. However, there are probably a few that are being introduced to the hobby and will go further.

There are probably some people who purchase from, as an example, the Postal Comm. Society that feel they are getting their money's worth and are enjoying the items.

I guess what I am trying to say, if people derive pleasure from their purchase it may be worth it to them, if they are doing it as an investment they are probably making a mistake.

Scott

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-16-07 at 08:37:59 PDT

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

I will not deal with Paul, the two-bit backstabber, any longer.

Riff, the EDUCATED catalogue queen

Posted by scottpel3 ( 833

) on Aug-16-07 at 08:14:31 PDT

For some reason the end of the site is not in blue. If you copy the entire address into the address bar it should work.

Scott

Posted by scottpel3 ( 833

) on Aug-16-07 at 08:12:44 PDT

As long as we are going down memory lane. Here is an approval? book that I received from my father. Inside is a notation for the 1930 Scott's for pricing.

Warning: it is large file of about 200k.

http://www.ceremonyprograms.com/others/Bartel'sbook.JPG

Hope it loads.

Scott

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-16-07 at 07:47:33 PDT

In one of my boxes of carp I have a couple of those bags of stamps, and a whole bunch of those window envelopes
full of "Rare and exotic " stamps.

I'll see if I can dig some out I think it's in my carton full of those "wonderful" UN issues.Or maybe in the box full of Gold foil FDC's .

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-16-07 at 07:42:27 PDT

Oh-h-h-h, I had forgotten all those loathesome Franco heads ... you just HAD to remind me, din'tchew?

Paolo The building budget here is getting a bit thin, so I really need to order one of those colorful plastic huts for my rancho. Plenty of room on roof for both cats and flow-through ventilation, ya can't beat that in a home.

Posted by scottpel3 ( 833

) on Aug-16-07 at 07:18:20 PDT

Ted L. and stamps12345

Your posts hit a cord. I remember receiving one of those bags in 1952 as a birthday present. I was very young and found it hard to believe that the stamps were real and came from all over the world. It started me in the hobby and I am sure many other kids. For me the bag had far more value than the catalogue value of the stamps.

Scott

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-16-07 at 07:17:11 PDT

P.S. with the provents from the sale of a collection (one of those "Very, very rare, wonderful, incredible, unpicked with unbelievable catalogue value, just starting at a dime"), on top of those 150 lire I bought a Villa in the wood! (Warning! Large picture ~ 134Kb) ;-)

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-16-07 at 07:04:38 PDT

stamps12345 Paul: I am going to have to partially disagree with your last posting to me.

I do agree with you that many people became stamp collectors because of those bags of stamps and from buying from one of the large approval dealers that advertised seemingly everywhere.I was refering to actual value of the product not emotional considerations.Yes,it was fun.

What I was refering to was the statement that those bags were unpicked virgin lots that came straight from the missions etc. If this were true ,I would have found some interesting stamps, in the bags I purchased. I can not remember EVER finding one sound hi-value definitive, or even a sound commemorative. It was all the same old stuff just like Postal Views mentions. In each of those "unpicked" bags one would find a handful of comm's and hi-values, but invariably they were faulty.

Now, in retrospect one may say "what the heck bags were only $1 so what did you expect"? But one needs to factor in inflation. That $1 I spent for a bag in '59 is probably more like $8-10 in todays money. $8-10 for a bag of junk!

The reason why they sold so many of those bags is that collectors of that day were naive and they thought they had a chance of finding a great rarity. I just wanted to find a couple of nice stamps for my collection, not a bizilion more low value Franco heads,QE2 heads, Wilhemina heads etc etc.

Oh and those cute little approvals that came in those pre-printed envelopes? Well in many cases one can find them still intact in collections today. I have found some recently that were 40-50 years old. In some cases the price paid for the envelope is higher than the 2007 Scott CV! So, I can not imagine what those stamps catalogued 40-50 years ago. It seems that there was no correlation between CV or even retail and the prices people paid for those cute little envelopes.They were convienient though, and the sellers of those approvals were masters of their trade.

How they advertised their approvals made them sound both interesting & exotic. And of course if you ordered them you received some free stamps.Many times the Photo would show mint stamps, but next to photo you may see a little blurb about the stamps you will receive will be cancelled.

Old time collections ,that were built primarilly from the above sources, are worth very little today. In many cases one can not recoup the amount of $ that was spent 50 years ago on them. The Heirs usually think that they just inherited a huge fortune. They will find a stack of those old glassines and think to themselves: "well heck grandpa paid $25 for just this little stack, those alone must be worth, $100's of Dollars today. Baloney!

Now if Grandpa had taken that $25 ,and went to a shop or a show and spent it or a small group of better stamps,the heirs may have something to cheer about. TedL.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-16-07 at 06:52:48 PDT

Tom,
I like Swiss postage stamps also because there are very few Issues per year, as compared, for instance, to Italy:
an inflation of Issues per year, most of which close to useless, to commemorate perfectly unknown saints, poets, writers and/or politicians and/or to depict small villages near or akin to the influential political man of turn... almost as bad as the monetary inflation. All crowned by the grossly pumped-up prices of the Sassone catalogue: this has got to be a detriment to old and new collectors.
Off to fill up my plastic bath with Bath paper, even though one can't float on paper.

When I started to collect stamps, my first total rip-off was when I sent 150 lire (at that time you could not buy a Mercedes with this money *LOL* but you could well buy a box of HO scale soldiers or 1kg of bread) to a certain address in order to receive 148 different postage stamps, as from the advertisement in a strip book I used to read (Topolino, but I preferred Paperino, Donald Duck). I never heard anything back, nice encouragement!

Paolo

Posted by 1covers ( 1367

)

on Aug-16-07 at 06:05:32 PDT

I had the chance to view first hand one of the operations that supplied "unpicked" mission mixture stamps in the 1960's and early 70's. A man named Paul(?) Shelton in the Detroit area had a large outdoor swimming pool filled with stamps. He purchased tons of large lot materials from suppliers abroad as well as from auction houses like Rasdale, Kenedi, Apfelbaum, Harmers, etc. where he bought large hoards and then dumped the contents into the pool. Kids packed the stuff up to meet specifications from the wholesalers like Harris.

I formed an early opinion that the people who responded to approval offers from matchbook covers and similar ads ended up collecting the world in defective used condition mounted in pretty blue Minkus World Wide albums. The people who purchased stamps from a local dealer or who bought country specific packets of all different often ended up collecting in Scott Specialty albums by country. The few who actually attended stamp clubs ended up collecting on their own mounted pages.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-16-07 at 05:31:04 PDT

As well, there was only one other kid in my entire grade school of about 300 kids who collected stamps, as opposed to the "every kid" which Paul cites.

It just shows how times change.

But it also shows how all those postwar printing presses whirring the world over churning out unneeded postage stamps ruined the hobby by flooding it with so much stuff that no one could hope to keep up with it any more. That is what really undid the hobby, because kids gave up on stamps long before video games, and even before TV became much good. I know that because I was there collecting stamps as a kid in the '60s and virtually no other kids were.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-16-07 at 05:25:24 PDT

Born in '57, I was a schoolkid in the 1960s in Cheyenne, WY, and began collecting then at about age 6 when introduced to it by my father, who collects world wide packet material up to 1960 in the Scott International Series.

I received the dreaded orange bags twice for Christmas. The second time, when I was 9 or 10, it really galled me because I had just compiled a list of all mint US coil pairs and coil line pairs out of a Minkus specialized US catalog and typed them up in a cross table with technical, price and other data. So here comes this all-too-familiar orange bag full of nothing but Canada QE2 Heads and Netherlands Wilhemina Heads, with a few George VI Heads thrown in for effect.

Getting back to stamps, I compiled the list of mint coil pairs because I had begun collecting them at the PO and by mail order. And I sent an order for such to HE Harris that just barely topped $15 out of earned lawn job money. Both parents bellyached over that and I never was able to order stamps from Harris again. Years later I sold my collection of mint coil pairs, on which I had spent roughly $18, for $63 and even realized quite a hefty profit on those which I purchased from HE Harris. In fact the guy I sold those mint US coil pairs to 29 years ago is going to be called today to discuss business and stamp shows. So that is a story that has meaning for me--how my vocation goes back to being a kid collector. But those infernal orange bags are nothing but a reminder that my parents not only never paid much attention to what I was interested in, but also have resisted my philatelic career every step of the way going back to age 9 when they bellyached about my purchase from HE Harris.

Last weekend while conversing with my mother, she told me she had seen a young mother at the PO in McCall, ID buying sheets of stamps with her two young sons. Mom told me that she asked the woman if they were stamp collectors, and was told they were. Then Mom told her that she had three boys who collected stamps when they were little. I asked Mom if she told the woman that one of them became a stamp dealer. She said no in a slightly surprised tone that told me the thought did not occur to her, and went on to say that she just told the woman that she had three sons who collected stamps when they were little and that one of them really enjoyed it. So I guess she still isn't paying attention.

Perhaps the orange bags were much better back in the days when you remember them from, Paul. I'm willing to bet the quality went down over time. I recall a long, anecdote-filled article in a stamp publication regarding the origin of those bags as stating the early bags contained too many of the Chinese Junk definitive stamps, but I never found a single one in either of the two bags I was given, as it would have been considered a minor treasure amongst all those worthless, ugly queens' heads, picked over forever ....

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-16-07 at 04:34:45 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-16-07 at 03:58:28 PDT

TED -----Its hard to look back and say the stamp firms were ripping off kids and over-pricing everything .It was a special time and exciting time to be a beginner stamp collector,like you said in a earlier posting .

Every kid got excited about those little pieces of paper from far away places and it gave younster the magic of knowning something about the world .So was it a rip-off ,not really im still hooked on it 50years later .....paul

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-15-07 at 19:23:35 PDT

stamps12345: Yep, thats it. They must have sold millions of those bags.

Was advertised as: just as received from natives ,banks & missionaries. Baloney!!!

All you received were mostly low value definitives. The occasional Commemorative or hi-val. def. was invariably damaged.

I used to wonder why every time I found a "goodie" in my bag it would be faulty. Being naive, I just figured it was my bad luck ,and that the next bag would be different.

Of course it is now obvious why all of the better item's were faulty: they kept all of the better sound ones and soaked them off to put in their overpriced approvals. Ted L.

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-15-07 at 19:15:34 PDT

Paul, sorry about that, the truth hurts sometimes, makes up for the uncalled insulting remarks you said about me last week,

David B.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 19:05:16 PDT

TED not tom,was laughing too hard

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 19:02:06 PDT

TOM L. ------Understand about your first purchase ,so when I met you I got a Christmas present for you .Your not going to believe it . TOM'S Christmas present

David B. ---You hurt my feelings ---off to bed

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-15-07 at 18:42:23 PDT

Philatelic Memories: My Dad and I both started to collect in the Spring of'59. My Dad did have a little collection back in '35 but he was not that much into it.

During the Summer of '59 my Dad had 2 weeks vacation. He and I would travel within a 60 mile radius of our home looking for old stamps at Post Offices.

Back then Postal Clerks & Postmaster's could keep stamps for much longer a time than they now can.

We never found anything valuable but did find quite a few older issues. I remember one day we located a P.O. which had a small stock of some of the odd value '38 Prexie's. We were so happy to have found them. In actuality ,those stamps were still only worth face value ,but we did not care.

As the '54 Definitive Set was still current we bought one single each, and a Plate Block, for my Dad's PB collection.

We had a lot of fun as beginner's. I remember that our first catalogue was a 1960 Scott US Specialized. Soon the 2008 Edition will be released. Time does fly!

Just some ramblings of a middle aged Philatelist looking back and realizing that Stamp Collecting is a lot of fun.

That first purchase of a H.E Harris's 'big bag of stamps'meant more to me in '59, that buying my first set of Graf Zepp's for about $500.00, did back around 1974. Ted L.

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-15-07 at 16:50:25 PDT

Paul, sorry I thought you were past the " spacefiller " stage " and had graduated into a real collector,

David B.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 16:01:29 PDT

DAVID B. ---Your right they are not hard to find ,not like the handstamped speciman copies which sell into the hundreds of dollars each .The ones that I have sell in the $60.00 to $70.00 dollar range with Brusden White having a catalog a little higher.But still something to add to a collection until a used high value set comes around but at $5,000.00 catalog this set of high values{cost $150.00} will do .....paul

Posted by rbstudio121 ( 0 )

on Aug-15-07 at 15:31:28 PDT

Hi. Question to all:
My Dad died about a year ago, and knowing he had some kind of stamp collection, I asked my Mother for a look recently. I discovered that he had amassed a ton of stamps (2 small collections in bound books of Egyptian stamps) that seemed to date from the 60s & 70s. But to my horror, when I looked into this old rusty lunchbox he kept, I found literally hundreds of old stamps just thrown in there. Obviously, he wasn't a prof. collector.
However, just poking around in there, I found that most of the stamps are Egyptian, and the earliest seems to have been from around 1945 or so (including some stamps featuring that old stamp "king" himself, Farouk). So I pulled out some tweezers for a better look: I found several first day covers and several unused stamps still with their original gum. A lot of his stamps were obviously soaked off of envelopes because there is no gum.
So here's the question: Does anybody know whether there is anything Egyptian dating from 1945 or so that is especially valuable and that I should look out for? BTW, he also had a small group of foreign stamps from other countries too.
Thanks for your input! P.S., also, should I try to find values in Scott's, or is there some better source?

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-15-07 at 15:25:50 PDT

sorry Jim, no nasties from me! In fact I won't even look at any of the links posted here for fear of what I'll see. I'm a big girl, quite happy to travel the world alone, but, don't show me spiders, bugs, creepy crawlies! yuck! However, I must say I did love seeing fireflies when I was in Pa. first I had ever seen, and my friends meadow was covered in them!

Kangaroos oh dear Paul! just a couple of weeks ago I had the Dormer Legge 1d KANGAROOS Book up for auction right here on eBay, you missed your chance. A great book published in the 1980s and it sold for a mere $15, could have been a starting reference for you.

ok off to work with me, its 8.25am!
Linda

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-15-07 at 15:15:04 PDT

Paul, try to buy one of the references, it will help to differentiate the various types.

What you have is one of the " also rans " and is not considerded to be of much importance. if it was on one of the issued stamps then it may be of some value but on the cto. SPECIMEN overprints they are not of much use and do not have any premium. The SPECIMEN overprints are actually cto's and not the same as most Specimens although they are catalogued they are fairly easily obtainable and hard to sell except as spacefillers for the real stamps,

David B.

Posted by malolo ( 848

)

on Aug-15-07 at 15:07:16 PDT

Aloha -
One of the important aspects of attending an exhibition is to compare one’s own collection with exhibits of similar material.

These two cards are from my collection of the Sitting Helvetia period. (Jaywild will be GooGaa over the top one, but I hate to say it’s no longer available.)

A Helvetia Society member has been exhibiting Sitting Helvetia for many years and in 2005 won the APS Champion of Champions Award. This year his topic is postal stationary, so I wandered by to study the 8 frames.

The first page of the postal cards showed mint examples of different issued shades, and a used copy dated 22 Oct 1870, with a notation that the earliest know use is 6 October. I had to tell the exhibitor I had a 5 October use (top on my scan), making mine the earliest known. To me the significance of this card is that for over 130 years of collecting and exhibiting Sitting Helvetias, this card turns up on eBay and I get it, just satisfied that it was used during the first week of issue. I certainly didn’t know it was the earliest known use! It will be mounted on his first page in the near future.

The lower card is interesting as I took it with me to get an opinion on the rate. Luckily I saw a similar card further along in his exhibit. I bought mine because I wanted the commercial date cancel, and I also had never seen a 15 centimes rate before. I overcame the feeling it had a stamp missing in the upper right and got it for $6.50 on eBay.

I now know the short lived pre-UPU 15 centime postal card rate to Belgium started July 1 1874. The exhibitor’s copy was noted as being one of 4 known examples of this rate, mine is number 5, and the exhibitor estimated it to be worth around $1000. Go eBay! Bottom fishers unite!!@@!

One of these days I’ll be writing up my Sitting Helvetia and maybe I’ll discover I have other special items in my collection.

Roger

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 14:52:12 PDT

Iomoon… You win!!!

Jim

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-15-07 at 14:46:09 PDT

Stag Beetle

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 14:37:55 PDT

NOIP------Interesting reading on here about inflation ,hyper-inflation and all the ecomical stuff ,I see we got very educated people here . Thats good .

But making money has nothing to do with that ------Here's what you need to know ------Its the Hedge Funds that are in trouble ,these funds don't disclose there positions or value to the public or to the government .They will slowly release infomation to their investors over time but not right away. This is what is causing this uncertainy with the market. So look for this problem to be around for a while like a few weeks ......Thank God the smart money was out two months ago and safe .....paul

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 14:32:47 PDT

Ted Lawrence… Here’s a Palo Verde beetle smiling…

☺

Don’t worry, they are strictly an Arizona critter. I haven’t seen one in the flesh (or chitin) in 30 years.

Jim

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-15-07 at 14:32:35 PDT

member

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 14:22:52 PDT

DAVID B. ------To answer your question ,no I don't have a reference book on ROO varitions .A few years ago there was a collection up for auction which gave me a good understanding of all types of early Australian plate differences .Having never seen that material written up ,wasn't sure how to price it ,so someone else out bid me,if I remember it when high ....paul

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-15-07 at 14:17:24 PDT

Jaywild: Y'all can keep that Palo Verde bug over there!

That is one nasty looking insect!

My ex-fiance collected both insects and insects on stamps. She also worked with them in her job. Personally, I hate, most bugs. I do like worms, lady bugs,lightining bugs,and Caterpillars and especially any bug that is not in my house! Ted L.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 14:16:42 PDT

DAVID B. ----Thanks for clearing that up ,MOST HELPFUL .

dear EDUCATE THYSELF PLEASE look PROCHUTE our friendship is getting a little strained here .You can't look at some picture in a Stanley Gibbons catalog and start a fight over it. People here will start calling you one of the "CATALOG QUEENS" but since we are friends try leaving knowledgeable information to people like David B. ,I KNEW HE WOULD LOOK AT IT AND MAKE THE RIGHT RESPOND .His knowlegde and past experience on that subject would be far more than what I know or can read ,so try to relax and do some more friendlier postings ....paul

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 13:52:58 PDT

NOIP… This is what I meant by a “June bug”, since the term means different things to different people.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 13:48:15 PDT

NOIP… Speaking of arthropods, I happened to catch a hapless June bug (actually a beetle) in my local Trader Joe’s yesterday. It had gotten inside and was wedged behind a window display, and everyone thought it was a cockroach. I tapped on the window and got it reoriented so I could pick it up and throw it outside, where it flew happily away. They are completely harmless to humans, although they will crap on you if you hold them in an enclosed hand. I think that’s the first June bug I’ve ever seen in California. In heavily urbanized areas, such as where I live, the saturation of pesticides keeps many insects that are common elsewhere to a minimum. Alas, every summer I see only about five or six butterflies, usually tiger swallowtails. At home in Arizona when I was growing up our backyard was literally ablaze every summer day with butterflies of all types.

This is a desert critter we learned to stay well away from. For about two weeks in early July they would swarm in droves at dusk (yep, they do fly) and what looks like a bump on the front end in the photo is actually a closed set of pincers that can deliver a very nasty bite. They will also hiss at you quite loudly. Compared to one of these, cockroaches seem almost angelic.

☺

Perhaps Lyndel can add to the discussion of dangerous critters with a dissertation on the blue-ringed octopus….?

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 13:29:05 PDT

Bill D… I am always glad to learn something new. I did not realize how those two terms differ, but now I know, and the distinction is perfectly sensible. Thanks to you and luxmark for setting me straight.

English is a beautiful language, and discovering new twists and turns only deepens my appreciation of it.

Jim

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-15-07 at 13:23:47 PDT

Thought I'd Share This Held for Postage Postcard

I really like the Way that the CDS is almost Perfectly
in the same exact place even tho 10 days apart

Twice-Struck

Posted by wrd3 ( 100

) on Aug-15-07 at 11:51:27 PDT

For those who are curious about the distinction between venomous and poisonous, see here. I had no problem with jaywild's,/b> use of poisonous, but I'm glad for the opportunity to be reminded of the difference.

Bill D.

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-15-07 at 11:45:16 PDT

prochute,

all of the bicoloured Hi Face value Kangaroos, 5s., 10s., One Pounds & Two Pounds were printed using the same plate for the vignette which contains many with various attributes that specialists have given name to. The names using relate to the appearance of the face and the legs and almost every position on the plate can be given a name if so desired. Most specialists ignore them except for the popular varieties such as " Rat Face, Fox Face, Ewe Face ", " Hunchbacked Roo ", " Muzzled Roo " Broken Tail ", " Clipped Tail ", " Long Tail ", " White Collar on Roo ", " Muzzled Roo ", etc., etc., etc.
There are plenty of reference books and articles but working without any of them is going to be a problem for any collector,

David B.

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-15-07 at 11:17:28 PDT

Like the sun-tanned Hilo Monster!

Surfs' up!

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 11:17:26 PDT

luxmark… Gee, I stand corrected. I didn’t realize there was a distinction.

Jim

Posted by luxmark ( 374

) on Aug-15-07 at 10:57:38 PDT

jaywild -- venomous, not poisonous.

Posted by poppadawg ( 711

)

on Aug-15-07 at 10:52:45 PDT

JAYWILD: I already have the site bookmarked. Paid my money a couple of years ago and downloaded what I needed. Now can't find one file. I am not going to pay again to download one file. His permission page clearly states that you can give away this material. Hope someone can help me with this.

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-15-07 at 10:41:25 PDT

poppadawg… Bill Steiner’s site.

Paolo & Tom... I saw an actual Gila Monster in the flesh once. Normally they are very secretive, and stay well away from humans. They are very slow, and while poisonous they have to grip your skin in their jaws are worry it back and forth for the venom to enter your system. What with all the development in the desert they are becoming exceeding scarce.

Jim

Posted by poppadawg ( 711

)

on Aug-15-07 at 09:57:15 PDT

Need a favor from someone. If anyone has a copy of Bill Steiner's album pages for Hong Kong, would you be kind enough to email me a copy of the file? My copy has disappeared somehow. If you are concerned about this, please read the permissions statement included in the files. E-mail to dbosquet2@excite.com. Thank you very much.

Posted by antonius-ra ( 641

)

on Aug-15-07 at 07:48:32 PDT

Stupid me! I should have known it would be a mistake to pay a compliment to what's his name. I will try to remember never to do it again. I have never had enough of those stamps to know the differences between the genuine and of all the fakes.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 06:11:13 PDT

Paolo I think we do have a few smallish eloderma here in SE California but I think they are larger and more common in Arizona. One hears a lot about them over there, but not much here.

Most of the ugly bugglies I have seen here were ones that came in from the hot, so to speak, to enjoy the relative cool of the house, whereas outdoors I can rarely find them save for an occasional flourescent scorpion on the ground at night or a marauding wind scorpion canvassing a wall with its palps in machine-like fashion for tasty goodies.

My other cat Winky is in full cover since May 29. We have only seen him once since then, but he stops by every day to eat the tuna I leave out back for him. Poor little fellow, I love him very much.

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-15-07 at 06:10:09 PDT

stamps12345 YOU DO NOT HAVE A BROKEN FOOT 'ROO. ACCORDING TO GIBBONS, THAT FLAW ONLY OCCURS ON THE 6D. AND HAS THE LEFT LEG ALMOST ENTIRELY OBLITERATED.

Educate thyself, please...

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 05:40:10 PDT

Paolo I seem to have forgotten who was calling me Tome back when. In my case it would not have annoyed me, though had they called me Tim I might have been.

I note that some authors strategically mispell the names of others in news articles so as to derail the search engines.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 05:21:22 PDT

My apologies: not "Tome" but Tom (an innocent typo).
Tom, by the way, do you recall of somone who used to be a regular here and who used to call you that way (not by mistake, I suspect?)?
Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 05:18:36 PDT

Tome
Nice picture of that Scolopendra!
They can be aggressive and it is said that when you see one there is likely also another one (- this is true for the indonesian type, though -).
There are smaller version of it also here in Holland.
I adore to lift up stones or rotting trunks in the nearby wood: there can be found some surprises (well, you can't find an eloderma here, though ;-))
Best, Poalo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 05:11:54 PDT

Hello Tom,
Hope for the best! I, too, see no convenience on this sort of behaviour on buyer's behalf.
Anyhow, now that I have reflected a little, I recall of one occasion when I offered 750 euro to a dealer for a collection, and then I didn't buy it because of lack of funds! I presume he's still pi@@ed off with me, though! LOL
Good continuation!
Paolo

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 05:08:26 PDT

Here is the little monster.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 05:07:19 PDT

My cat Tiger just came in with a swollen jaw and a puncture wound in it. I hope it was a fight or an accident and not some poisonous bite.

Had a huge 4" long wind scorpion in my room here for two days, though I thought it had just been in and out until tonight when I noticed it was still here. I have a feeling it slept in the tubular metal leg of the bed frame nearby, as that was the last spot I saw it near two nights ago. Took several photos while I was evicting it, but sadly have yet to get the hang of closeup photography with my digital camera, so none turned out. Drat!

Last year I had an 8" long http://www.postalviews.com/Photos/Borrego/Animals/Giant_Desert_Centipede.jpg>giant desert centipede in here when I had to store a stack of 2x4 wood in the kitchen for a few weeks. In photo, its tail end is to the foreground and it is looking back at us with its beady little malevolent eyes. I had to kill it because I had two kittens. To do so required pounding the stack of wood tightly together, as it simply could not be caught--too shifty. It died vertically between two boards and was well preserved other than the head. I still have its hardened remains, as it stuck to a piece of cardboard that was beneath the boards.

Normally I let all these animals go because they are all rare and disappearing, especially wind scorpions. Plus they all eat undesirable bugs and other pests.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 05:01:24 PDT

On this page (*), a gross and incomplete resumption, where are shown genuine stamps with fake cancels (partial forgeries) and entirely forged stamps (with fake cancels, obviously),
the first stamp on the fifth row from top bears a viciously fake ornamental cancel of Sicily.

I have about 10 of these pages that cover Italian States area forgeries and fakes, this being just another one of them (the block of four of the 40c. below is genuine, for comparison - (**)). I just accidentally accumulated it over the years.
(*)= In that page:
On the first two rows are genuine postage stamps with FAKE cancels.
On the third, fourth and fifth row are complete forgeries.
On the sixth row, which doesn't belong there, are again genuine stamps with FAKE cancels (a set is expertised as genuine by a German expert).

(**) = [After the observation of one of those experts 'know it all' (...one of those which often turn out to be 'know nothing' and that write articles on magazines or on internet, or worse, write books plagiarising other's writings, and issue 1 wrong certificate out of 10... and want to buy material from you at, say, 1 planning to resell at 100) a few years ago at a stamp show in Riccione, I separated the forgeries and fakes from the genuine. ;-)].

Tom,
Now I remember that on that negative sale occasion of mine I mentioned earlier, I had contacted this buyer from an advertisment on a Dutch philatelic magazine (at that time I didn't have or use the internet). He paid less than what it was advertised, but not because of a lack of quality, just because he couldn't keep his word. I could publish the name, should look back in those magazines.
A few months later, not only because of this reason, I discontinued my subscription to that philatelic magazine.

Paolo

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 04:40:29 PDT

Paolo Hello!

Yes, it's the old "buy list" scam again.

I had some good buy lists years ago but it is hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in that arena.

I believe this guy hosing me around has made a costly mistake that will play out little by little over time as people sell to others.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 04:18:11 PDT

On Sicily forgeries:
These, in the flesh, shouldn't fool anyone that knows at least how they were printed:
all the forgeries I have, or have seen, or have record of are surface printed (lithographed) whereas the genuine are recess printed (engraved, line engraved).

Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-15-07 at 04:09:52 PDT

Good day all!

Tom,
Sorry to read about your recent dealing mishap.
I hope you either get back your material or fetch the price that was initially agreed.
I think to recall I had a similar negative experience with an entire Dutch collection I sold some years ago.
It was agreed around 15% -- Dutch colonies, normally, should not be sold at less than 1/3 of catalogue -- but, upon envisioning the item, the offer plummeted to a miserable 10% of the catalogue value

Roger,
Didi you get enlighted about that rate (printed matter for a postal card) you asked about some weeks ago?

Paolo

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-15-07 at 04:02:40 PDT

MITCH What are you saying "I do think there are a few in the lower area of your page that are questionable " ..........They are all fakes and are identified on that page as FOURNIER forgeries and broken down to types ????????......what the heck......somebody shoot the guy -please!!!!

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 03:36:50 PDT

linda Yes, you are 100% correct.

And I actually gave him a much better deal in that there was $303 face for only $100.00 net, or only 33% of face, and I also threw in an unsorted packet of mint UN NY at no charge that was worth another $20 or so face value!

Imagine that.

And I even left all of the stamps on their album or stockbook pages at his request so that he could put some of it into his UN retail stock--which resulted in my postage cost being $13.45 rather than about $4.

Those who publish so-called "buy lists" are often quite shifty both in terms of actual price paid and in terms of assassinating the character of one's material upon receipt (which latter, however, goes both ways as collectors often send garbage while expecting the advertised price). Others are quite fair, however, and the whole game is to sort the honest ones from the snakes, which takes time, patience and money. I see where I have come across a snake with this UN NY material.

Of course I told him to send the lot back and have a feeling that this will cost him a lot more in the long run in terms of bad publicity and reduced sales than the postage both ways will have cost me. He will lose more than I on the first deal that someone skips him over on.

I could file an ethics complaint with APS over the unethical changing of a deal in midstream, but in this small case it is better to simply let others know to avoid doing any business with that person.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 03:15:53 PDT

Jacques Schiff enjoys referring informally to an overpriced EFO as a "sinking ship". The same can now be said for a certain postage broker in NJ. What goes around, comes around, and everyone I meet in philately will hear all about it, along with whom to avoid.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-15-07 at 03:09:31 PDT

Postalviews, I think you should tell Mr.Bove that you understand his price is 20% NOW, But when you shipped and invoiced his price, as quoted, was 40% and that is the figure you are expecting him to send you.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 03:06:54 PDT

As for ethics, ask yourselves what type of person would change his terms after agreeing to a price on a deal.

Ans: a very slimy one.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 02:35:09 PDT

I called a postage broker named Victor Bove on Sunday, who offered 40% face for any mint UN NY of any period.

I shipped a UN NY discount postage lot to Bove Monday.

Tuesday, after telling Bove by email that I have shipped the lot, he emails to tell me he dropped his buying price to 20% of face for mint UN NY, and that the present offer is only for complete NH sets.

If any of you wonder why young people do not collect stamps nor enter the stamp business, there is your answer.

Posted by vinnysf ( 553

) on Aug-15-07 at 02:28:50 PDT

my aps membership is now official. yay! but i didn't realize how much mail i'd be getting from various philately organizations. my little quart of milk carton sized mailbox can barely handle it. lol

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-15-07 at 01:43:35 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-15-07 at 00:49:21 PDT

With regard to the discussion of monetary inflation, I must apologize for making a very stupid math error yesterday in that $60 billion divided by 300 million people in the US is only $200 per capita, rather than $2000.

It looks like that won't go very far--maybe a week to a month--and things will inexorably be right back where they were on Aug. 10.

As for the Fed buying up the MBS, it is a way for the privately held Fed and its related 300 or so oligarchal international families to acquire fiscal control over vast amounts of tangible US real estate by nothing more than legalized sleight of hand. Disgusting.

It is kind of like when Meg Whitman et al created $4 billion of eBay stock options and handed them out free of charge to their friends on various corporate boards. That was really disgusting also.

Posted by antonius-ra ( 641

)

on Aug-14-07 at 21:25:09 PDT

Paul Yes, we shall see how that Tannu Tuva lot works out. As I said, my first thoughts were that it would end at around $53.00. This was before I realized that Scott had started listing the post 1932 issues. I was quite suprised to see many good values on these later issues. I think that lot was nicely assembled but I did not see any of the more valueable "overprints". Thus there is nothing there I would need. Also there are many dups I.E. mint vs. used (I would not trust any of the cancelled ones) Still you may well be correct in thinking it will realize more than $60.00. We shall see.....................

I also would like to thank you for your decent showing of early Sicily. A very difficult area as there are many convincing forgeries. I do think there are a few in the lower area (f your page that are questionable, but still much better than what I have.

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-14-07 at 21:19:04 PDT

Paul, do you use any reference books on Kangaroos as they have been well studied and varieties can be positioned,

David B.

Posted by claghorn1p ( 412

)

on Aug-14-07 at 21:18:41 PDT

Welcome to the eBay Stamps Chat Board!

It would be greatly appreciated if chat board participants
provide LINKS to pictures
rather than posting them directly to this board.
Here's how to post a LINK. Thanks.

Yellow Boxes

You're new to stamp trading?
You've acquired a stamp collection you want to sell on eBay?
Check out these links:

Chosen links will open in a new window

This is a community creation by eBay Stamp Board users. Thanks to all who contribute!
Click here for board code download.

06/28/07

Posted by antonius-ra ( 641

)

on Aug-14-07 at 21:03:12 PDT

Hi everyone! Been having some probs with internet (DSL) connectivity. Finally broke down and called customer support
aka (embarq, formally Sprint). Well after 10 minutes on hold they decided to send a tech out. He arrived in about an hour and we found (as I assumed) the modem was bad. Whooppie fixed!!!

Sheryll, Roger & Bill S. Most hardy and heart felt regards on your showings at the Portland show. You do yourselves and the EUSC proud in your efforts to expand and fulfill our beloved hobby/obession.

I would like to suggest to Bill-Sey that we add all award winning members onto a special place on the EUSC website.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-14-07 at 20:54:01 PDT

TED, I think as many, if not more, people are collecting, but there is not the 'need' to meet others, face to face in a cold room one night a month!
Just look at the Exhibitions held around the world each year, every one is over-subscribed with exhibitors and dealers.
I think people just look at collecting differently these days. I collected as a child, and as a young married, but never very seriously. I started working for a stamp dealer in the 1970s and worked for a variety of Dealers over the next 30 years, only retiring recently to care for my sick husband. WE still go to all the local shows and he attends one club meeting a month (Postal History Society).
I find a similar situation in the other clubs I'm a member of, China/Porcelain and Antique Collectables. Shows are well attended, but club meetings have really dwindled, several collectables clubs have closed here in Melbourne in recent years.
However, I hate to feel like I'm saying..In my day.. gosh I sound like my Dad bemoaning the loss of Tennis Clubs in the 1960s!
Linda

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-14-07 at 20:17:52 PDT

NOIP-----Pick this up recently ,a broken foot variety. 2 POUND ROO.....paul

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-14-07 at 20:11:43 PDT

David S. -----The name was different,I'll have to find the business card .

TOM L. ------When to a few Polpex shows they are held at the White Eagle Resturant up on Milwaukee ave in Niles .

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 19:40:31 PDT

While I feel quite Chatty: Overall,with the exception of a few noteable stinkers,I have found stamp collectors to be both a very honest & honorable group.

I can count, using my fingers and a few toes, how many times I have been cheated or otherwise abused by collectors in my 33 years of being a dealer.

Now as to fellow dealers.........gonna have to grow some extra appendages! Ted L.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 19:32:22 PDT

mini*lindy Linda: Thanks for your comment.You anticipated my next posting. lol.

Maybe just too much going on in the World to be able to spend time on Hobbies? TedL.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 19:29:45 PDT

Stamp Shops: There used to be many hundred's of retail stamp shops in the US.

From huge ones on Nassau Street in NY to tiny ones in small towns. They are all pretty much gone now. As far a I know there is only one here in the Metro Atlanta area. Atlanta Metro has over 4 mil. population including many from up North.

One very obvious reason is the cost. It is very expensive to run a brick and mortar shop. Even in smaller towns the cost is high especially in Malls etc.

I am wondering though is that the only answer? Is there a more ominous one? Are there just so many less collector's than before? Maybe it is the combination of both factors?

Some people may point to e-bay and other online places to buy stamps. Well,I noticed the decline in shops, for many years prior to their ever being an e-bay.

Any opinions on this subject? TedL.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-14-07 at 19:21:18 PDT

Ted sadly, it's a world wide trend, and not just for stamp collecting, but all kinds of Collectables Clubs have dwindling membership numbers.
Linda

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 19:17:11 PDT

stamps12345 Paul: I was just wondering if you ever have had a chance to attend one of the "Polpex" shows in Chicago?

I will never forget the '66 show. First Day Ceremonies for the stamp that honored the 100th Anniv. of Poland.I was only 17, so was quite impressed, especially considering that I am polish.

I wonder if the Polonius Stamp Club still sponsors a show or not?

Our little club in So. Bend Indiana held some really nice shows from about 1971 to about 1985. We had over 110 members in the mid 70's.No more shows now. I understand the club enrollment dwindled until relatively recently.Heard they are slowly coming back. Hard to believe this but that club had more members in 1935 than it did 5 years ago!

I wonder if that is a nationwide trend or just a local one?

Ted.

Posted by djs127 ( 596

)

on Aug-14-07 at 19:09:45 PDT

Paul you said "the owner of New Hamshire Stamps" is that Harry Tong? Or am I confusing two different dealers?
David Snyder

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 17:50:58 PDT

Inflation & First Class US Rates:

First Class postage was still 3c for, a very brief time, when I first started this Hobby in early '59.It is now 41c

That is an appx.1350% increase over those 48 years. I do not have available to me the history of inflation during this time period. I would suspect that it may be closer to 800-1200% for the economy in general.

If I am correct I am still not going to complain. Just think about those folks back in 1847 who had to pay 5c a half ounce and 10c an ounce. Back then that was big money.

In addition to this I believe that those above rates were for, only a certain distance, not coast to coast as today.

Being able to mail a letter from Maine to Hawaii for 41c is dirt cheap in my opinion. You can't ship anything at all, through either fed-ex or UPS, for 41c! Ted L

Posted by lluehhhb ( 290

) on Aug-14-07 at 16:40:14 PDT

Maybe Inflation and philately would be a nice theme for a future eusc meeting?

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-14-07 at 16:28:25 PDT

Welcome home BOB nice block! well done on your exhibit, and aren't stamp shows great!!

INFLATION: about 3 years ago I saw an interesting INFLATION story told philatelically at a show, if was Zimbabwe,(Rhodesia). their currency is in a real mess (as is the whole country), and this exhibitor had shown covers over the last 10 years or so illustrating the cost of posting a letter! Heartbreaking to see that happen to a once wealthy and prosperous country.

Linda

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-14-07 at 16:25:42 PDT

Ted… What the creation of the Fed did was centralize control of the money supply. Prior to that it was rather willy-nilly, with the result that panics were a regular feature of economic life. Subsequent to the last great panic of 1907, and at the instigation of the man who brought in under control (J P Morgan) the Federal Reserve was established several years later. Pegging money to gold or other precious metals would mean tying the entire banking system to the whipsaws of the price of whatever commodity is chosen. The Fed does a pretty good job of controlling the money supply, and has only improved over the last few decades. My father’s favorite economic complaint was against “the printing presses in Washington” but in fact the economy is sustained by an interlocking equilibrium that has really nothing to do with “printing money”. The real complaint is about deficit spending, which has been with us off and on for most of the country’s history, and most of the history of the world in fact. It is the money cycle that is important, i.e. how it moves through an economy and creates jobs, opportunities, wealth etc. that is important. Money flowing is good—money stagnant is bad. (Money flowing too good is one thing that ultimately causes it to go stagnant.)

Another sacred cow of the fiscal worry-warts is the trade deficit. The US has been running a trade deficit of large to enormous proportions since the 1960s, and in light of the fact that we have recently enjoyed the longest sustained economic growth in the history of the world, I would suggest that such worries are misplaced. In fact, if the economy would have grown any faster the Fed would have put the brakes on; if it had stagnated the Fed would have loosened things up to get it going again. I simply fail to see how the trade deficit has a discernible impact on how the economy is performing, and there are many well established economists that agree with this conclusion.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 16:18:10 PDT

rclwa: Wow! What a story.

I used to often hear of people actually taking a wheelbarrow full of currency to go shopping with. I do not know whether, this is a legend or not, but would not surprise me if it were true.TedL.

PS: What a lovely Block of 4 of the 20Fr.!

Posted by rclwa ( 970

) on Aug-14-07 at 16:12:33 PDT

Hi all! Back home and at the library. Missed 5 days of the board but most is here, only first day scrolled off. Much enjoyed traveling to Portland, taking in the show, and meeting dear old friends in person for the first time. I got by all 11,000+ pages of exhibits (some at a brisk walk, alas), visited many dealers tables, and came away from the auction with this lot
http://www.harmerschau.com/cgi-bin/viewlot.pl?site=2&sale=73&lot=555
for my bridge collection!

Ted L -- The best story I heard of the inflation that answers your question is the find of a cover and enclosure, from a bank. The letter inside explained that the bank could no longer process the depositor's 27,000 mark account, which may well have been a life savings accumulated over many years or even decades. To compensate him for closing the account, a 1 million mark banknote was enclosed! The entire missive was mailed with a 1 billion mark stamp!

Bob in WA

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 15:56:33 PDT

Jaywild: I often wonder what effect, on our economy, was the decision to go off the Gold Standard in 1934?

Same applies later to us not using Silver to back our Currency. All we have backing our currency mostly is our reputation.

I am not a student of Economics, but I do believe that when no precious metals at all back up our currency, the temptation to print too much currency is too great. Ted L

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 15:51:50 PDT

Jaywild: Yes, it is hard to believe that prior, to our first minted coins in 1793,the most widely held currency was Spanish in origin.

Many of the Colonies minted their own coins but they were not issued in large enough quanites to satisfy the demand.

The State issued paper money, as well as the Continental Currency,and they were accepted for a while but soon became devalued. This was the source of the famous saying: "It aint worth a Continental Dollar"

Just prior to the Fed. Govt issuing its first coinage in 1793 there was a small amount of silver coins,I believe both half dimes and dimes, that were made from silver donated to the Fed. Govt. by Mrs.Washington. If I remember correctly, these 1792 dated coins were made from smelted pieces of silverware, owned by the wealthy Washington family.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-14-07 at 14:56:50 PDT

jaywild I think you are right about the present situation with the economy.

But it looks like central banks are ready to cover up whatever turns up beneath those stones, if the recent cash infusions are any indication.

As to question of whether there will be any sympathy from on financial high for all those ill-starred mortgage holders, I would have to say "No."

But the 20:1 hedge funders will be bailed out so that they can gamble anew while dancing in their suits.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-14-07 at 14:50:07 PDT

"the problem was not really solved until the Federal Reserve system was created in 1913"

The current huge creations of fiat money are ample proof that the problem still has not been solved.

But don't mind me.

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-14-07 at 14:47:31 PDT

NOIP… I think I posted two or three helpful posts over the last couple days, so to maintain my historic ratio unhelpful, opinionated posts from me are long overdue.

☺

The liquidity crisis is one thing, but there are other ripples that neither the Fed not the EC banks can do anything about. No amount of capital infusion can reverse the troubles that have been created by the inflation then rapid deflation of housing prices. Not only are vast hordes of Americans now stuck with mortgages far exceeding the worth of the houses they were written against, they now find themselves on the receiving end of enormous boosts in property taxes and, if they were unwise enough to opt for a variable rate loan, whopping increases in mortgage payments. Some people will simply walk away from the debt, and this is what propels the “liquidity crisis”. But other folks will be able to ride out the storm, and the money that will go to these increased costs—a vast amount—will not go out into the economy as discretionary spending, which is the lifeblood of economic good health.

In short, in my view the jury is still out on the effects of the recent temblors in the lending and housing markets. I frankly don’t know how things will eventually turn out, but I have a very strong sense that the more stones this crisis turns over, the more unsavory things will be crawling out from under them.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-14-07 at 14:31:41 PDT

Ted L… Another little known fact is that runaway inflation has frequently been used by the unscrupulous to get out from under debt. It was a common practice in the early United States, where banks in the hinterland would issue paper notes, then as soon as they ran into trouble they would flood the market with more notes, so that redeeming them required only a cent or two on the dollar. This practice was one of the arguments in favor of the Bank of the United States, which Andrew Jackson destroyed (correctly in my opinion, because of the stranglehold it maintained on all classes but the very rich), and the problem was not really solved until the Federal Reserve system was created in 1913 (?) and the US finally went off the gold standard in the 1930s.

It is worth noting that in early to mid-nineteenth century America the Spanish dollar was probably the most trusted coin of the realm. (Anytime you see a marking such as “18¾” as a rate on a piece of mail, it is derived from the Spanish silver dollar.) Well into the nineteenth century land transactions were regularly recorded in English pounds, shillings and pence rather than the US dollar. It was only after the Civil War, which for all its misery also brought for the first time in history a tremendously booming economy to the United States, did the US dollar become the exclusive currency throughout the country.

Jim

Posted by stamphick! ( 338

) on Aug-14-07 at 14:12:02 PDT

postalviews...The infusion of capital last week is a little different than the one in 2001. Rather than buying US Treasuries the Fed bought MBS"s (Mortgage Backed Securities). I don't know for sure but I don't think they've everdone anything like that before.

Posted by infla-alec ( 561

)

on Aug-14-07 at 14:08:38 PDT

Tom I'm very pleased that we have had an open and very interesting discussion here on an aspect of philately. Differing view points yes but not one bad post in sight.Now if only it could be like that all the time here.

Rainer Not sure if someone from Germany has been in touch with you regarding some information on one of your collecting areas, Zemvosto ? At least I think it was you who collected that area but no sign of it on your "me" page. Apologies if I have directed someone to you by mistake.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-14-07 at 13:47:01 PDT

alec Thank you for the clarifications and for the interesting discussion. And thanks to knuden also for his helpful comments. I can see your respective rationales on the official cover and they seem quite reasonable.

As to the money/credit/banking situation, it seems to me that the $350 billion or so created last week by the plunge protection teams (PPT) of various central banks should create another boom as it did after the last such infusion of similar size on Sept. 19, 2001.

However, I fear it remains to be seen if it will work again, because it will make the dollar even more dilute and cheaper, and may hasten the dollar's steady slide over the slippery slope.

The $60 billion created by the Fed over the past week represents, if US population is 300 million, $2000 for every man, woman and child.

Question is whether the billions will trickle down or just be used up on saving the behinds of the suit-and-tie crowd as exemplified by the jaywild mortgage quote ad cited far below.

Yeah, I'd be dancing too if they handed me $60 billion to cover up all my mistakes and wild, suit-and-tie West End partying. Or was that Orange County, CA? FLA? Can't remember ....

Posted by malolo ( 848

)

on Aug-14-07 at 13:28:56 PDT

Pro -
The sheets make it easy to see the problems the printers had getting the stamp images onto a plate that was just a little too small. The Swiss printers had a similar problem with the later Strubels, that's why 4 margins are so rare. Also check out the GB embossed issues of the 1850's, some of the images actually overlap since they were "stamped" individually onto the paper.

I forgot to say thanks to Paolo for the card. Thanks.

Roger

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-14-07 at 13:24:30 PDT

Hope all you Sellers are ready for Free listings tomorrow
I love Free Listing days
all that junk I have not seen for a while shows up again
But at least with the way search has been lately I won't find them all.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-14-07 at 12:48:21 PDT

Roger
I agree with you on the fact that they ARE all the same stamp, and my stamp mentor convinced me of that a few months ago.
Remember to "Duck and Cover" if the storm gets bad.
and please do not forget to post the link when you update your Razors.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 12:21:40 PDT

Jaywild: Thanks for your excellent response to my question about hyper-inflation.

I doubt whether, we in the US will ever see it, but its not impossible.

Hyper-inflation should probably teach us to diversify.

Guess my late Grandmother's old saying of: "Don't put all of your eggs into in one basket" is good advice! Ted L.

.

Posted by due2cents ( 26

) on Aug-14-07 at 12:16:07 PDT

Thanks Jimbo
I was thinking it was a 9C rate doubled for the penalty
rate not 8c + the 10c handling fee.
Thanks again .
I liked it because it was DLO marked.
I have many that were just forwarded as Due
Many that were just Held for the Postage

Posted by jimbo ( 403

)

on Aug-14-07 at 12:03:54 PDT

Pro,
I neglected to mention that the 1 oz. first class letter rate at the time was 10¢ which is why the handstamp mad4e up for regular first class letters said the postage due was 20¢. It then had to be overwritten 18¢ to make it fit a postcard.

Sheryll, Excuse my spelling, please. Sometimes I am not as careful as I should be. (Really, more often than I like to admit - even more so than my wife is aware of! ;-) )

jimbo

Posted by jimbo ( 403

)

on Aug-14-07 at 11:55:27 PDT

Pro,
The postal rate should have been 8¢ (18¢ due minus 10¢ ;enalty). Fortunately, this ties the period down pretty well. 8¢ postal card rate was only in effect from March 2, 1974, to September 14, 1975. (At least that's what B & W says on page 109.)

Roger,
Glad to see you're back in time for a little blow from the southeast. Congratulation on your GOLD! You've proved that diligence and research are rewarded. You've done a remarkable job of developing an exhibit.

Sherryl and Bill S.,
Congratulations to you as well. It is nice to know that we do have accomplished philatelists posting here despite some opinions to the contrary. I hope your judges' comments were as helpful as Roger's seem to have been. Sherryl, thank you, too, for the nice pictures. As Anne said, it is always nice to have a picture in your mind of the people we talk to here.

jimbo

jimbo

Posted by malolo ( 848

)

on Aug-14-07 at 11:24:06 PDT

BTW -
I have all my pages scanned, it will take time to make changes in my template for uploading to the server. I scanned larger this time since so many viewers use 1024x860, or something or other, to view the internet. The images should be larger and clearer, but I have to make all the thumbnails and changes to the titles. Give me a few days, or more. There's a hurricane heading this way, though it's no match for all the hot air emminating from Kona.

Roger

Posted by malolo ( 848

)

on Aug-14-07 at 10:59:55 PDT

Aloha -

I don't know where to start!

Thanks to everyone for their accolades, but mostly to Sheryll who went to the effort of taking and posting the pictures! Sheryll and I had a wonderful time viewing the exhibits together making assorted comments, agreeing or disagreeing with judge's decisions. For two first time "Goldies" it was a little disconcerting to realize the judges had placed us into the same category as those with the most complex exhibits imaginable. I received great comments from my judge and will be adjusting accordingly. The comments had merit and only became obvious when viewing the whole exhibit together in the 8 frames.

Thanks also to Bill S and his Oregon volunteer friends for hosting a great event. The location, facilities, and helpfulness of everyone was great. Bill received a Silver for his New Zealand paper exhibit. I wish I had his information when I started accumulating NZ many years ago. One reason for ending that endeavor was the lack of detail on how to truely identify the different papers. The judges were unable to see the paper differences without magnification in the exhibit, the major criticism. When Bill images his paper examples and remounts his exhibit to include pictures of the paper, my prediction is a significant jump in award level. He has great material and it will be a useful resource on the web, if he chooses to take it that far. I loook forward to seeing the exhibit next year. );>)

BTW -
There were many topical and display exhibits, my favorite being and exhibit based on an 1890 Portland Hotel dinner menu. The menu was on the second page and was for a full course dinner. The exhibit, through philatelic examples, brought to life the menu showing the ingredients that would have been used to create the menu. Fascinating concept and executed first class.

It seems the most difficult exhibits to show are those where the exhibitor has chosen a single stamp and then exhibits all the different permutations of usages, etc. When one stands back to view the exhibit, they have a tendency to look very repetitive. Just my opinion. (Of course, one could say the same of my cancels!)

If you ever have the chance to see the Bill Gross US pages, do so. They put into perspective hoe the plates were made, and why the stamps appear overlapped, etc. It also makes me wonder why each stamp on those early plates gets its own catalogue number when it is obvious on seeing the sheets that they are all the same stamp, just poorly produced. I can't imagine why a US collector feels it necessary to have one from each plate position to fell his collection is complete. The logic would require one to have many more plates complete of the other issues, but that isn't necessary.

All for now,
Roger (the tall one)

PS: Paolo - If you want to look taller in a photo always stand just a little closer to the camera AND STAND IN TIP-TOE, when everyone else is saying "cheese". That's what I do! LOL

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-14-07 at 10:36:52 PDT

stamps12345My statement regarding GMI had nothing to do with you. It was simply my observation but you gerenally tend to make things personal... puzzeled and upset? Really now!

Riff Lornton (who BTW, has gone unrecognized by the movie buffs here.)

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-14-07 at 10:05:03 PDT

Hi Knud-Erik,
Nice additions to your collection.
Although I don't know regarding the scarcity of the 5 lire 'solo' on newspaper. I will try to gather some info. at that regard.

Sicily ornamental (aka 'horse shoe') cancel: here is that item I mentioned yesterday evening. I selected one of the details on top.

Paolo

Posted by jimbo ( 403

)

on Aug-14-07 at 09:12:12 PDT

Matt H.,
Am I correct in suspecting that you had something to do with that excellent survey article on Irish Stamps? It sounds like a good example for articles on the stamps of most countries.

NOIP,
I had an e-mail from the editor of the Knoxville (TN) Philatelic Society's Monthly newsletter. It is available through this web site: http://www.stampclubs.com/news/news-knoxville.htm. Check it out there is a lot of interesting material available about stamp clubs who are members of the Southeastern Federation of Stamp Clubs.

jimbo

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-14-07 at 08:50:42 PDT

Ted L… The point you brought up illustrates why cash is such a dangerous holding in uncertain economic times. All those who had large savings in German banks in 1920 (or pension funds or coupon bonds) saw the value evaporate completely in a very short time. Same is true of Russia after the collapse of communism. Savings accounts built up over years and years became worthless overnight. Everyone who was living on a decent pension, including the heroic veterans of World War II, soon found the monthly amount was barely enough to buy matches with. Sad but true.

Even worse is that sometimes when a currency is in freefall the government closes the banks or legally restricts withdrawals to a small amount every month. This happened in Argentina when their economy imploded several years ago.

While runaway inflation in the US is quite a remote possibility, cash is not where big money flees when there is a scent of danger on the financial breezes. For a recent example, some astute hedge fund managers foresaw the collapse of the sub-prime lending market and bought positions by which they could profit immensely. (If you had bought masses of cheap “puts” on any of the mortgage financing firms that recently went belly up you could have made untold millions overnight.) In the midst of the current hedge fund mess, some of them have reaped 300% profit on the year, and all in the last few weeks. If the managers of these funds had seen what was coming and put all their money into cash instead their return would have been utterly miserable.

Jim

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-14-07 at 08:12:02 PDT

Inflation In 1920's Germany: I have always wondered how people in Germany,and several other countries,kept up with the most current currency rate.

How much to take shopping with you? How many stamps to put on this letter or Parcel?

What if someone had say 100,000 Marks, in the bank, just before Inflation began? Would he have received enough interest on that amount to keep up with the inflation, as by the end of the inflation in'23, 100,000 Marks bought very little? Ted L.

Posted by matthew1999 ( 155

)

on Aug-14-07 at 07:58:03 PDT

Hi everybody,

Check out the main article on (English-language) Wikipedia today.

Mh

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-14-07 at 06:53:33 PDT

PROCHUTE Relax ----were slipping from discussing a auction house to a personel attck ,lets not go there ....try to stay on subject

Posted by infla-alec ( 561

)

on Aug-14-07 at 06:42:31 PDT

Tom I respect your views but I fear you may have misread some parts of my earlier posts .

I don't own or want to buy the cover in question.

My own speciality is the provisional emergency overprinted postal history only. The sheer range of inflation from 1919-1923 is too vast for me to afford to collect examples of everything I like. I decided years ago to specialize in one very small area. One not much has been written about and so an area that does occasionaly lead to bargains and rarities being found.

I have managed to make an edited zoom scan of the part cancel and I believe it could be Lichterfeld another sub district of Berlin. Inter departmental official local mail would be my guess. I have to agree with Knuden that the cover is a reused one as was first stated I believe by Richard W. Rate wise I have as yet to hear back as to what the exact amount of franking applied is.
To say anyone buying that item would be buying a, "pig in a poke" is a bit strong unless you happen to be a German inflation collector yourself and know more about that area than I or other specialist collectors. I agree in appearance terms it is not very pleasing but with such a rarity I have no doubt the specialist collectors of such mass frankings and inflation in general would be delighted to own such an item if it ever becomes available on the open market.
I'm not saying I am an expert on everything concerning infla ,far from it, and I don't want this to become any kind of argumentative discussion.So I won't be commenting furher here on that particular cover unless I get to know the exact franking or wether the owner decides to send it in for a certificate. If I am wrong about anything I have stated then I will be the first to say so here.

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-14-07 at 06:31:35 PDT

stamps12345 Now I understand why some folks here say "go back and read what was written". Your response to my post regarding GMI is totally out of context & I see you are quite confused as to what goes on there.

stamps12345 The salting or manufacturing of lots is what many dealers want. These lots allow dealers TO MAKE MONEY since that is what dealers do and GMI simply does what the market bears.

stamps12345 However, as an accumulator/hoarder (you are not a collector nor a Jedi), you think that by having unlimited credit makes you something special, when in fact GMI loves your type of bidder. You are probably winning lots that the dealers can afford to pass up.

stamps12345 I never has a bad experience there. I just know of better auction houses to work with.

stamps12345 I ask you: Do you enjoy beating out those who make a living off of what you hoard?

stamps12345 If you are upset, take an ALKA SELTZER and stay away from thos spicy meatballs.

stamps12345 If you are puzzled, I believe that is your normal state of mind.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-14-07 at 06:22:46 PDT

MITCH Guess we will wait a few days to see how the Tannu Tuva lot realises

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-14-07 at 06:08:34 PDT

PROCHUTE Im puzzeled and upset about your remarkes about Gregg Manning auctions .First let me say that I know Gregg for 35 years and his firm gives me unlimited credit on my purchases in the past years .

The remarke you made about his material is totally without merit .In the many years that I have gone to his auctions the following firms have beaten me on bids on a regular basis and are people who I have had dinner with and gone out drinking with after viewing lots . These include Sandfayre of Great Britian ,OVERIJSSELSE POSTZEGELVEILING B.V. of the Netherlands .The big stamp dealers out of New York Bill Lang,Ed Younger and Gary Posner .

There are also Don Collevecho and James Rizzutto of Argentina ,two of the nices dealers to lose collections too. The following stamp auction firms are regular attenders also Dr. Bob of Chicago ,Bell-aire Stamp Auctions of Minneapolis ,Raritan Stamps of New Jersey ,Regency Auction of St. Louis , and John A. of Apfelbaum of Penn. all these companys have lost lots to me or won over my high bid .Sorry you may of had a bad experience but very few collectors have the financial ability to go and bid in their auctions .

Here's a story for all the readers --------A few years ago at the start of a Gregg Manning auction ,I usually set myself up with pad,paper ,auction catalog and two or three cans of Coke. This older fellow with a three day old beard and dressed in older clothes comes and sits down next to me at the same table ,my first reaction was he was trying to get one of my cans of Coke ,kind of a free loader who comes for the free food and drinks .

Well the auction is announced and the first lot was a vast U.S.lot which opens at $100,000 and this old fart bids and wins it at $120,000.As for me im sitting there not knowing what to do,kind of shocked and look at him and he smiles and says the lot contains some of the inverted PAM-AM's ,at that point I offered a can of soda and met the owner of New Hamshire Stamps .We talked and exchanged business cards the rest of the eveing ....paul

Posted by knuden ( 2304

)

on Aug-14-07 at 06:02:05 PDT

Hello Tom - Nice to hear from you. I hope all is well in your part of the world. :O)
I sincerely hope you will get a good price for the Danish covers. By the way - have you still the one from April 1851?? If so contact me via my "me". :O)

Paolo - Did you see the last "ITALIA AL LAVORO" lot I won? It's the third on top in this auction. I guess you don't see an item like this everyday. :O)

K.E

I'm a silly little man - whoopee!!

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-14-07 at 03:52:53 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-14-07 at 03:23:03 PDT

Hi Sheryll,
Very nice pictures!
(I didn't know that Roger was so tall... der alte! LOL)

Best,
Paolo

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-14-07 at 03:07:08 PDT

David B.,
Interesting discussion in that board.
I believe that the photo-zincographic printing method, which I learned it's easy to apply in order to reproduce single line and single colour products - such as a conventional cancel -, and which yields "anastatic" copies of an original by means of creating a metal cliché (mirror sighted image of the original product) almost ready to be inked for the fraudulent application, was also applied in this disgraceful (for philately) blum case. The ink can never be made to reproduce with fidelity the ink of the genuine, though. Besides, there are differences in the absorption of the ink by ungummed paper, or by paper on which the gum has decayed over the course of the centuries.
There are also nasty zincos of Italian area cancels, when the original cancel device was not available to the forger (e.g. see the case of original Lombardy-Venetia cancel devices which fell in the hands of a stamp dealer in Milan).

Paul
The purported fake cancels you show on the first line of your album page (also here) look much better IMO than the one proposed at auction on eBay, previously linked.
The most frequent victims of alien ink smearing (i.e. fake cancels) in this Issue of Sicily 1859 are the 1/2 grano plate II, the 5 grana plate II and the 50 grana (these last are represented in your page).

Hello Tom!

Greetings, Paolo

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-14-07 at 02:50:50 PDT

Hello Knud-Erik! I had stated that I see the cancel of the now-missing stamp as having been an abbreviated Lichtenberg receiving cancel of Dec. 17, not a Berlin-Lichtenberg postmark. The part that appears legible to me at lower left of that cancel appears to read LICHTEBPO with the final two letters having fallen on the now-missing stamp. But then again, the first digit of the date above does appear to be a 7 which would tend to strongly support the reuse theory.

The only way to find out is to lift the stamp blocks to see what is underneath. As well, all of the stamps on both sides should be lifted to see what, if anything, is underneath in terms of evidence for or against reuse or authenticity of stamp usage. A big mess to authenticate, but also no doubt a labor of love for the INFLA students.

The perf holes do show the roller obliterator tying the cover at right, so I suppose we can rule the precancel theory out, as pre-emptively confirmed by alec through his specialized study of INFLA details.

Still, even if cover itself has been reused in some way and deemed authentic, it will never be a world class item without having the postmark tying the stamp blocks to it.

I sold one of your Fire RBS covers on eBay that had a first printing. Great, except the stamp was not tied by the cancel, so I was really glad to get rid of that one for $49.99. It did have a very nice VF stamp so was worth the price, but such covers can be very hard to move due to doubts in the minds of buyers, such as whether seller took a faulty stamp and glued it to an old cover that was missing its stamp, etc. A lot of that type of nonsense goes on with older US postal history covers, and with CSA as well since many authentic CSA covers have stamps that are not tied by the postmaerk or cancel.

Having a clearly tied stamp on a postal history cover tends to eliminate 99% of all doubt as to authenticity.

BTW have done just fine with those Danish so far, having sold 7 of 29 in two runs through eBay. First run was slow as it turned out I had the Hamburg KDOPA priced way too high but second run I had them set right so one of those sold and everything else then did well also. The blue Getorff, the chocolate brown granular print Fire RBS cover, the cover to Sylt Island, and the rare Feltpost cover all went for good healthy prices, along with the untied Fire RBS First Printing cover mentioned above.

Those with good cancels and markings have done well, whereas those with good stamp usages have been a bit harder to move. Overall it's been nice having them here.

Posted by sheryll*net ( 91

)

on Aug-14-07 at 02:48:14 PDT

Here's a pic of the eUSC meeting held at APS StampShow on Saturday evening. As you can see, it was a formal affair (Roger assured me that an eUSC meeting was the only reason he'd put on a long-sleeved shirt and tie for). Besides Billsey, Roger and I, Clark (who occasionally posts as "cfrphoto") was able to get away from his dealer's booth to attend.

On the Sunday, Roger and I were able to attend Clark's eye-opening presentation on How to Spot Fakes adn Forgeries on the Internet.

D2 - I'll get back to you on the FIP judging in a day or so.

Paolo - Many thanks for your congratulations, and also for the lovely postcard which I picked up from the PO today.

S2

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-14-07 at 01:40:00 PDT

bulkcover,

try,

http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/2-visitor/quicklook/4_settle/settle3.html

David B.

Posted by bulkcover ( 3594

)

on Aug-14-07 at 00:39:42 PDT

Hi, anyone knows the postal rates of Taiwan?

Posted by knuden ( 2304

)

on Aug-14-07 at 00:07:38 PDT

Alec & postalviews - (Hi Tom - long time no see) :O)
I see this cover as a reused cover, as it looks like the cancel with the missing stamp isn't a Berlin-Lichtenberg cancel and it's beneath the stamps. I think too there is 125 200.000.000 M stamps, which will fit a rate as local letter 2. weightclass.
Let's see what it is, when you, Alec get the chance to have a close look at it. I hope we will get to see a better scan of it. :O)

K.E

I'm a silly little man - whoopee!!

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-13-07 at 23:32:34 PDT

alec The stamps at right and bottom of the Dienst cover ought to be lifted so as to determine what dates the box date stamps they are partially covering are. That might prove whether it has been reused or not.

Hello Paolo and a hearty congrats to all on their gold medals.

Posted by postalviews ( 4197

) on Aug-13-07 at 23:09:28 PDT

Alec Thank you for clearing up the roller/obliterator confusion. Yes, now I can see that it is a mute rubber roller obliterator. And thanks also to jaywild for his astute observation of possible precancel application.

What I see is this:

1. Cover mailed Dec. 9, 1923 from Charlottenberg, stamp at right missed by postmark handstamp, creating a so-called ‘skip’.
2. Violet box handstamp Dec. 10 Berlin–Lichtenberg at center.
3. Red-violet box handstamp Dec. 16, 1923 Berlin-Lichtenberg at top left.
4. Abbreviated Lichtenberg circular date receiving handstamp Dec. 17, 1923 at right tying ‘skip’ to cover, with stamp now missing.

My conclusions:

1. The cover has not been re-used.
2. There is no way to know what the denomination of the missing stamp is.
3. You are buying a pig in a poke.

Posted by stamps12345 ( 223

) on Aug-13-07 at 21:04:04 PDT

PAOLO Nice find of that forged cancel ,here is my copy of the same stamp .Its the last stamp on the top row. From Paul's collection .......paul

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-13-07 at 19:39:53 PDT

member

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-13-07 at 18:39:01 PDT

Linda

Giving the COL increase, $5 might be a good price for those British locals. Especially since they are GOLD!!

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-13-07 at 18:11:52 PDT

ioJim I can remember selling those Staffa locals as new issues. Don't think they would have been more than $2.50 a set back then. The Shop I worked in sold all the different British 'Locals' and 'Railways' ( Bluebell, Tallyn etc). We had a large client base for them, at least 25 or more sets of each were sold over the counter.
Oh those were the days, we would sell 200 - 300 sets of every GB issue, and over a 100 copies of the local monthly magazines. Today, I doubt a dealer would sell 20 sets of GB new issues a month, and certainly not more than 5 or 10 magazines.

Linda
showing her age!

$57 seems a bit ambitious!!!!

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-13-07 at 16:16:26 PDT

Paolo, there was a discussion on the OZSTAMPS board about " zinco's " being used to apply fake cancels.

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=873

Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:23 am

Most probably the same method of applying the cancel,

David B.

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-13-07 at 16:09:51 PDT

paolo… Good eye. Compared side-by-side the differences are even more striking.

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-13-07 at 15:50:56 PDT

NOIP… With the collapse of the housing market (and the kooky loan practices associated with it) I thought we’d seen the last of these idiotic ads. (The figure gyrates like a meth addict in the real ad—just the thing to make a sensible home buyer rush right out and get what he’d selling.) But, alas, no. At least they got rid of the stupid suckling pigs and dogs. I suppose I should be thankful…

☺

Jim

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-13-07 at 15:47:22 PDT

David B.,
Besides the fact the cancel is way too clean and a little too greasy IMO, so to excessively transmigrate through the paper, there is a major difference from the adopted types (that I know) towards the top: look at the two top serifs in the middle (right above OS of POSTA). In the genuine types these are not joined together.
At the moment my adobe program won't open, I have a clean example of one of these 'horse shoe' cancel devices which, for a rare occurrence, has been repeated on the white cover front (next to the adhesive which has been cancelled by the same mean -- ),
so for now look at the difference in that spot by means of this genuine looking impression (image has been elaborated) here.

Paolo

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-13-07 at 15:25:17 PDT

Paolo, that's a very tricky problem adding a fake cancel to a genuine damaged mint presumably no gum stamp. At 1st. glance the cancel looks OK but hasn't got the cleanness & depth of impression it should have, well picked as I doubt I would have been checking the cancel so much and would have presumed that as the stamp was genuine then no one in their right mind would have attempted to deface it with a fake cancel,

David B.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-13-07 at 15:02:37 PDT

For something different,
I wonder if the bidders really believed that this cancel is genuine. It is a forgery.
But the stamp is genuine, position 11 in the sheet of 100, left sheet margin and ivory head: it is defective for an oblique crease and a possible reparation/thin on bottom margin.
Paolo

Posted by lluehhhb ( 290

) on Aug-13-07 at 14:59:10 PDT

Alec

Thank you for the information. There are some half priced copies listed on ebay (some cover damage) and I think I'll bid on one.

PS: my name is Milenko (just one l)

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-13-07 at 14:45:42 PDT

David B.,
That was absolutely meant tongue in cheek (- joking -), of course.
I see I forgot to congratulate Sheryll and Roger on their gold medals!!!
Actually, I still have to catch up on the board, something else has been keeping me busy.

Best,
Paolo

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-13-07 at 14:24:05 PDT

Paolo,

tch, tch, tch,

" There is also something else much of it, like down there.
"

naughty, naughty,

David B.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-13-07 at 13:58:08 PDT

paperhistory: Thanks for the info on the APS. I did not realize how high the cost for each member is.

Hopefully, more new members will be added, so that the cost per member may be reduced some.

I need to go to see the new APS headquarters. I was not aware that they rented some of the space. That makes good business sense. Ted L.

Posted by vonbag ( 178

)

on Aug-13-07 at 13:56:30 PDT

Good day all!

Sorry for belated reply!

Hi Burt (Oggilby),
Thank you for your welcome back!
The weather in Holland is just fine at the moment. There are as many mosquitos as in Africa, though. There is also something else much of it, like down there.
At my place in Italy, which is on a lake, there are by far less Culex pipiens. It could either be because of the poison it is regularly sprayed, at dawn, or because of the introduction of a kind of insect which at larval stage feeds on mosquitos larvae. Needless to say, when you do something like you get something like a plague, an inflation of insects of that kind, a 'non blood sucking' type of it these last, though.

Hi Tom (postalviews) and Sheryll,
Thank for your kind notes. II hope all is fine with you.

Best,
Paolo

Posted by paperhistory ( 1989

)

on Aug-13-07 at 13:09:50 PDT

half of my family came over from Russian Poland (Gostynin and Bialystok) around 1920. I think my brother has the details.

APS dues increase.....actual cost to provide existing services to members is, as I understand it, close to $50. Increase is necessary to stop deficit spending, including the use of investment income for operating expenses instead of towards other projects. The jump is large but appears to be justified; the fact of the matter is that it's been a while since the last dues increase and dues have been kept artificially low for past years.

As to the Match Factory, my understanding is that there is now sufficient rental income on the property to cover the debt payments on the building. This may go back and forth a bit as new phases of construction proceed, but the biggest spending is, I think, done, and more rental income will be coming in the future.

I had a chance to at least drive around the site in July (I spent a night at a hotel in Milesburg, just up the road from Bellefonte, and we drove into town to take a peek). It really is a neat complex, and the park abutting the property is fabulous.

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-13-07 at 12:01:46 PDT

spelling errors on porpiose.

Posted by infla-alec ( 561

)

on Aug-13-07 at 12:01:32 PDT

Postalviews The Dienst cover is I have no doubt genuine. Though it isn't mine & I have only seen the scan it was offered to me as a % of the listed value in Michel Spezial which comes in at Euro 450. However the Spezial only lists cover prices for mixed frankings. For single and multiple frankings you need the Michel Briefe. Though even that does not take into account such things as destination, a special rate, and many other things only a specialist will know about.
For example the mass franking in December 1923, the sheet upper margins still being attached.They alone used come in at €1400 each and that is not even a price for being on cover.
The term roller cancel is perhaps misleading. I didn't mean to imply it was a roller applied by machine. Dienst mail was usually posted in bulk and obviously sometimes mail did escape the intial post office hand cancels. When such mail was spotted at the sorting office an emergency hand rolled obliterator was used to cancel unfranked stamps.Hard to tell from a scan only but a sort of greasy pencil was also sometimes used used to cancel unfranked mail. In German this is known as "Schmierstift entwertet" .Though not every cover had all the stamps cancelled even. Simple fact is just like today's mail things get missed.
I don't agree that the unclear cancel where it appears a stamp is missing is a Lichtenberg arrival cancel. The cover was posted on 9 Dec 23 from Charlottenburg. The unclear cancel has what I think is a clear figure "2". More than likely from a date in late November. Arrival cancels were not mandatory on inland mail unless it had a special service such as Registered, Express etc.That siad you can find mail with postal arrival cancels on ordinary mail also.
I stated before that I don't know yet exactly how many stamps are affixed to that cover. But hopefully the owner will be in touch with me again and I will ask him to count them. That should I hope be a corectly rated item and so help prove the cancel is from previous use.
As with anything concening postal history as I'm sure you well know there are numerous factors that have to be taken into account to determine a value and if something is indeed genuine. It's been interesting for me to see how others see things and the discussion has been fun.

Jaywild Jim I am pretty sure no German stamps of the inflation period were ever pre-cancelled.

Millenko (spelling ?) For the rates of Germany after 1923 you need the Michel Postgebühren Handbuch Deutschland. That gives many more rates than any of the stamp catalogues including the Briefe one. If you want to know if a certain item is correctly rated then please fell free to contact me. Or you woud be welcome to post in the Ebay.de Briefmarken Forum . Of course you can also post there in English. Someone will be able to help from there I am sure.

Posted by prochute ( 67

) on Aug-13-07 at 12:00:55 PDT

abt1950 Anne. I hope you never own any portion of this business... You know who this is. Just look at that fb. Sheeeeeeeesh. What's worse, return fb is always retaliatory thus makinf this venus a "safe" place.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=rwizzor&ftab=AllFeedback

Posted by dragonstamps ( 473

) on Aug-13-07 at 11:43:28 PDT

I guess it's hard to know what to believe, but I read somewhere that the APS is making a profit on that match factory building?

Posted by abt1950 ( 227

)

on Aug-13-07 at 11:37:43 PDT

Afternoon/evening/morning from a sunny NJ.

sheryll: Thanks for posting the pictures. Like everyone else, I appreciate being able to put faces to names.

CONGRATS TO SHERYLL, ROGER, AND BILLSEY ON THEIR MEDALS I am in awe of your collective philatelic knowledge, not to mention your collections.

Michel: glad, as always, to see you post.

A $10.00 increase in APS dues??? Are there at least provisions for those on fixed incomes? Also, when was the last dues increase?

Anne, proud owner of every bridge in Portland. My grandfather bought the first few after he came over from Luxembourg before WWI.

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-13-07 at 09:58:39 PDT

Iomoon: A $10 increase for APS dues? Wow! First time that I have heard about that. Are we still paying for that Pink Elephant Match Factory or what? Been a member for 26 years but this is kinda steep of an increase. But, that is just my opinion. Ted L.

Posted by mendelbrot ( 45

)

on Aug-13-07 at 09:52:30 PDT

Greetings to you all

Me

Posted by mendelbrot ( 45

)

on Aug-13-07 at 09:39:11 PDT

Greetings to you all

Me

Posted by mendelbrot ( 45

)

on Aug-13-07 at 09:25:09 PDT

Greetings to you all

Me
Me

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-13-07 at 08:58:20 PDT

What I consider to be joke o' the day!!

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-13-07 at 08:54:43 PDT

Somebody who really knows what they want!!!

Posted by iomoon ( 1054

)

on Aug-13-07 at 08:36:20 PDT

Good day all.

I don't remember seeing it mentioned yet, but are there no reactions to APS increasing annual fee by $10?

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-13-07 at 08:33:29 PDT

Jaywild: Thanks for the interersting story of your Grandfather.

I have temorarilly misplaced our family records so will give more details later.

Paternal Grandfather: Telesfor S.Radomski, born 1/1/91 in Russian Poland. Died 10/27/78. Was murdered by 3 young thugs. Came to US in June '06 with $3.50 assets.He arrived at the Port of Baltimore via: a German ship. Will look up it's name up later.I will tell you an interesting story about how he got his name later.

Maternal Grandmother: Martha Karmolinska , born 06/26/07, Gniezno, Russian Poland . Died 07/05/95 complications of old age.Also came on German ship to Port of Baltimore in 1909 at age of 2.

Both families moved directly to South Bend Indiana. This is where both my parents and I were born. TakeCare, Ted L.

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-13-07 at 08:03:15 PDT

tiktoktami… I have looked up all your stamps and the values are herewith—

Scott 147a, reddish brown, catalog value (CV) $20. If it had been the blackish brown variety it would have been worth $1400.
Scott 337, greenish gray. CV: mint $50, used $8500. You are lucky—these are very scarce used, and the cancel looks authentic to me.
Scott 773, CV $5000. Too bad there’s a tear at the top.
Scott 12A, CV $45
Scott 1435D, CV $350 if hinged, $1750 if MNH.
Scott 3455s, CV $10,000. The same stamp perf 11 would only be worth a few dollars, but yours is definitely perf 10. Only one sheet of those was ever perforated 10.

So my advice is to list all of your stamps together on eBay with an opening bid of $300,000. If someone bites, you’ve got it made!

☺

Jim

Posted by jaywild ( 967

)

on Aug-13-07 at 07:48:20 PDT

Ted L… My Polish grandfather, Wicenty Chojnowski (pronounced hoy-NOS-ski), emigrated from the Russian Empire. He lived in the southern part of what had once been Poland. He taught Polish in secret schools, an illegal activity since the Tsar had decreed that that only Russian be spoken throughout the empire. The Tsar’s police got my grandfather’s name, and were coming to arrest him and press him into the Russian Army, however he got wind of it and ran—literally ran—by night all the way up to the Baltic coast, where he stowed away on a ship bound for Holland. From there he embarked on the steamer Potsdam and emigrated to the U.S.. (The Potsdam was eventually sunk during World War II, raised after the war and cut up for scrap in 1947.)

Djadek (grandpa in Polish) met my grandmother in America (she emigrated the same year—her family had enough money to send one daughter to America, and she was chosen by means of a poignant family lottery) and they married in 1914. He worked furiously to provide for his family. He had been in this country a little over ten years when he had enough money saved to buy a house. When he died of a heart attack in 1965 an autopsy revealed that he’d had several previous heart attacks that he had kept to himself. No complaints from him about how hard life is, or about the cards he had been dealt. No bragging or boasting ever escaped his lips either.

Where did your family come from, the folks who stole that bridge????

☺

Jim

Posted by claghorn1p ( 412

)

on Aug-13-07 at 07:30:48 PDT

Forgery Identification Site

Billsey Here is a cool Duloz exhbit for your apprecciation.

Posted by claghorn1p ( 412

)

on Aug-13-07 at 07:29:44 PDT

Welcome to the eBay Stamps Chat Board!

It would be greatly appreciated if chat board participants
provide LINKS to pictures
rather than posting them directly to this board.
Here's how to post a LINK. Thanks.

Yellow Boxes

You're new to stamp trading?
You've acquired a stamp collection you want to sell on eBay?
Check out these links:

Chosen links will open in a new window

This is a community creation by eBay Stamp Board users. Thanks to all who contribute!
Click here for board code download.

06/28/07

Posted by postalhysteria ( 3750

)

on Aug-13-07 at 06:53:43 PDT

tiktoktami - I have identified and valued them accordingly.

catalogqueen-raff

Posted by jimbo ( 403

)

on Aug-13-07 at 05:20:26 PDT

Tiktoktami,
Alternatively, you might try describing the stamp. Perhaps someone will be able to recognize it. Country, denomination, color, subject, and any words are all helpful.

jimbo

Posted by jimbo ( 403

)

on Aug-13-07 at 05:03:45 PDT

Tiktoktami,
mini*lindy in her message 23:47:03 PDT after your first posting suggested: "Just post a LINK to a scan of the stamps and we will assist you."

To do this, you need to have scan, preferably, or photo of the items which you need help on. Scans with resolution at least 200 dots per inch help when trying to identify a stamp. You must upload the scan to a webhost - your ISP may provide this service free. Then you need to post a link here to the scan. Detailed instructions can be found in the link in the Yellow Boxes posted by claghorn1p at 19:34:09 PDT.

jimbo

Posted by tiktoktami ( 0 ) on Aug-13-07 at 04:50:12 PDT

Please help identify and vaule these stamps???

Posted by jim_lawler ( 1382

)

on Aug-13-07 at 03:37:27 PDT

Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all

Jim L.

member

Posted by dbenson ( 8477

)

on Aug-13-07 at 00:55:27 PDT

sheryll,

personally I think it is totally useless to get a single judge to evaluate a collection using FIP criteria as FIP judging is done by a team and single judges do not work the same way and the outcome may be entirely different. To charge for it is also wrong but that is just my opinion although advice should be given by FIP judges gratis if requested.
Do you know if the person who judged it had any real knowledge of the material,

David B.

Posted by mini*lindy ( 446

)

on Aug-13-07 at 00:37:04 PDT

poor Bob!!!

Posted by sheryll*net ( 91

)

on Aug-13-07 at 00:28:40 PDT

D2 - I got a few pointers at the frames, including some of the differences between Oz and US judging styles. Saw Geoff again, and he gives his regards to you.

At the end of the show I managed to hold a vegemite tasting session for Bob in WA. He likened it to bearing grease!

When I picked up my exhibit, I received my FIP critique (cost extra to have it judged at FIP level). At 79 points it would have received a Large Silver at a FIP show, and they want me to fill all the rarity holes......

Jeff - Thanks for asking about our exhibits. Mine was New Hebrides, and Roger's was De Coppet razor cancels (can't find a link to the 2007 exhibit), done in chronological order. Billsey's was a one-frame exhibit: New Zealand stamp papers from the reign of King George V.

S2

Posted by tlawrencestamps ( 1452

) on Aug-13-07 at 00:15:20 PDT