eBay chatboard archive: Mar-03-08 to Mar-09-08 week

Posted by thebriguy1   ( 64 ) on Mar-09-08 at 21:26:07 PDT   Listings
Pssst, Anne, plating litho stones leads to insanity, and in men, male pattern baldness too.

Deny it exists, collect cancels instead. ;o)

To the EuSC officers I suggest you put links to the chat archives in visable places. With the aid of the Google search feature, there is good likelyhood ANY philatelic thing or concept which exists,..has been dabbled in here at one time or another.

With that I bid you all a good night.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, todays EBay scan of the day
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-09-08 at 21:06:24 PDT   Listings
I made a terrible discovery today while working on Egyptian album pages. Each of the values of the first issue comes in 10 types (9 for the 1 pi), plus overprint, perforation, and watermark varieties. Compared to this,the second issue was going to be a piece of cake--only 4 types for each value, plus all the rest. BUT---some of the values were reprinted using several different lithographic stones, each of which can be distinguished.

That sound you hear is me screaming. . . .

Good night to all and to all sweet dreams of the EUSC, obsessive-compulsive collectors, and the start of another work week. Anne
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1487 ) on Mar-09-08 at 20:16:14 PDT   Listings
And the EUSC also was involved in re-organizing the “tree” for stamp categories.
Also, we developed and maintain the “Yellow boxes.”
Generally whenever there is a good cause for the hobby we're there helping.
Jim L.

member
Posted by dbenson   ( 8919 ) on Mar-09-08 at 19:18:40 PDT   Listings
Jay, not surprised you hadn't heard of it, most Australians haven't heard of it either as it is a Melbourne thing and virtually ignored by the rest of Australia,

David B.
Posted by due2cents   ( 26 ) on Mar-09-08 at 18:59:16 PDT   Listings
Thanks very much
lluehhhb

Found what i was looking for
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-09-08 at 18:47:20 PDT   Listings
Lindy… I had to look MOOMBA up since I’ve never heard of it before.

There was an Antipodean clue in the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle—“Aussie’s place of higher learning”, answer U N I.

This week’s Sat. puzzle wasn’t so hard. Last Saturday’s was the toughest puzzle I think I have ever done.

Jim
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-09-08 at 18:12:12 PDT   Listings
NOIP
Yes I agree with Anne, infla-alec,stamps12345, Malolo and anyone else that said there has been a wealth of knowledge supplied by the members of this chat board and a good many are EUSC members.
Did not mean to stir things up, just wanted to refresh our memory that the Club has done a lot of good through the years.
Now I'll head back up to the balcony where I've been most nights on a regular basis, just haven't had much to say, but do enjoy checking the board daily.
Posted by lluehhhb   ( 350 ) on Mar-09-08 at 17:48:39 PDT   Listings
Pro

The archives are here, up to december 2nd.

I've been too lazy to update the last 3 months. I had planned to keep just the present year and the other years zipped in a file. I promise to complete that this week.
Posted by djs127   ( 654 ) on Mar-09-08 at 17:26:25 PDT   Listings
I just added my latest Ebay purchases to
http://mycollectibles.kaboodle.com/djs127/stamps.html?v=LIST
How many others here use Kaboodle?
David Snyder
Posted by due2cents   ( 26 ) on Mar-09-08 at 17:00:43 PDT   Listings
Area archives available for ths board
if so where might i see end of November 07 to middle dec 08

thanks

hey Sneeky
Posted by 220man   ( 171 ) on Mar-09-08 at 16:19:47 PDT   Listings
Back in the early days of this chat board members sent a lot of stamps and other gear to an elementary school teacher who was trying to get a stamp club off the ground. A little thing, maybe, but that's what keeps the hobby up and running.

Phil
Posted by vonbag   ( 208 ) on Mar-09-08 at 16:00:33 PDT   Listings
Hello Duncan,
I hereby bid my apologies to you.
I am just such a stupid a. hole, sometimes!

All the best,
Paolo Bagaglia
Posted by knuden   ( 2416 ) on Mar-09-08 at 15:09:13 PDT   Listings
infla-alec - We have this place. :O)

K.E  I'm a catalog King, Expert and Philatelist - whoopee!!


Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-09-08 at 15:02:53 PDT   Listings
Bookmark
sunny holiday Monday morning here in Melbourne, where we are celebrating the MOOMBA Festival (lets get together and have fun) and the International Water Skiing Championships.
To keep it philatelic, the MOOMBA Festival in years past always issued a special postmark, alas, I don't have any to show!
Bjorn the buyer of that Aussie lot is a well known First Day Cover collector.

Linda
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:56:17 PDT   Listings
ROGER Your too kind in your posting .........Here let me add that as a result of the excellent work done by the people here .The E-BAY people invited the APS in to continue the work started here but the APS website doesn't mention any of that and makes it look like they did the work and cleaned up the place.........
Posted by infla-alec   ( 592 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:55:52 PDT   Listings
Eusc I know some here see no point in the club existing and I agree it isn't perfect. But in many ways that is because of ebay's strict control of what can be posted here. Paul's comments below are also very true and we have no way of knowing when people post wether they are Eusc members or not without looking up the membership list.

The point is one day I know ebay in it's infinate wisdom will close down this board as we know it and steps should be considered now to have somewhere where we can all go when that day arrives.

Understandable in some ways I can see why ebay take such an ttitude but my personal opinion is that a Forum as such, run and moderated by EUSC itself would be a far better place. A Forum would if set up properly I feel have many advantages over the current ebay chat board we are all using at present. A place which many take for granted.


There exists in Germany one very well run site I know of which like most clubs does rely on the regulars to make it a success. But that can be said for every Philatelic Society or club. Too many simply join thinking what can this club do for me? Not what can I put back into the hobby ?

At least as Anne rightly pointed out under the auspices of the EUSC we have all seen and discussed many interesting aspects of philately. That's not to say I hasten to add that non Eusc members haven't contributed also.

Oh for those interested the cover content of my own collection is now complete. Still getting help with layout ideas etc so it will be a long time yet before it is completely up to date. Next step will be to add the basic stamp information and then have it duplicated into German.
Must admit though I was pleased since going online to have been able to help quite a few people with their questions. Appears even some of the German Nationals have some difficulty understanding how some rates were calculated.

I'll be away next week in München so hope to be able to add a new item or two when I get back. I'll have internet access at my friends house so should be able to keep one eye on what's happening here whilst I'm away.

OPD 1923
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:49:43 PDT   Listings
Ah yes, the "eBay is only a venue/you can't tell anything from a scan days." How could I forget?

Roger I have no idea how you and Sheryll turned up on my search. But considering how disreputable both of you are in eBay eyes, I suppose it was inevitable.

Anne
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:46:55 PDT   Listings
NO ------THAT IS NOT ENOUGH There is a lot more .....

This site can help you I.D. any stamp better than any other site because the base of collectors here is greater.This site also doesn't charge or cost you anything to use it .

This site can put up the picture of over 250,000 different stamps many times in just a few hours of a request .Nobody has a better site with that ability .

This site has a bigger reference libarary of information that is given free .

This site can tell you if its worth senting a stamp for a certificate ,that can save money .

This site has more experience sellers than any other site ,if you have questions

This site can give you free advice on setting up a exhibit .

This site can give a honest answer to were to go for a appraisal

This site has many who can do translations especially with philatelic terms .

This site can answer more questions about philately than any other site .

This site is 24/7 with people willing to help .

Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:15:16 PDT   Listings
I too remember the days of EUSC charity auctions before eBay clamped down on such things. Charity auctions can still done, but the hoops that eBay makes you go through can be prohibitive.

What else has EUSC done? Well, we've seen an awful lot of interesting material posted and discussed under EUSC auspices. Isn't that enough?

Anne
Posted by malolo   ( 883 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:12:51 PDT   Listings
Anne -

I think you must have found us under topic of "ogling". )'>)
From the proceeds of that single exhibit frame both of us could retire and get serious about our own collecting areas! BTW - How did we end up in a search for "Egyptian forgeries"? Must be all Sheryll's doing.

What has this club done in the past?
I think a major accomplishment was to stimulate discussion of forgeries on eBay. This Board was a forum for those interested in exposing fraud in the Stamps Category. eBay eventually discovered it was not possible to shut the door on "experts" and concerned collectors, who were disgusted with all the fakes being sold on eBay. One of the eventual outcomes was the creation of a partnership between eBay and the APS in creating a Stamps Watch Committee to review "tainted" auctions. If this Board had not been in existence I doubt anything would have ever occurred.

To those of you who weren't here 5-8 years ago, eBay opened a Stamp Discussion Board as part of the Collectables categories. It lasted a couple of months because the collectors posting (mostly members from this Board) were anathema to eBay. eBay didn't want to see anything written or discussed about fraudulent auctions on its site. Eventually a couple of regulars from this Board were able to provide to a national TV news outlet proof of fraud on eBay. That was the start of eBay's recognition that it had to address the issue. Plus, of course, a lawsuit by Tiffany & Co.

Believe it or not members of this Club, via this Board, have had a major influence on the direction eBay took when it was only calling itself a venue.
http://laplaza.org./~1covers/survey.htm
or here:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000127715&start=0
click on any link for discussion of stamps.
Here's a typical response by an eBay employee during those chats of yesteryear:
"Duplicate posts are being removed. Also posts that are antagonistic or off the very specific workshop topic JRwinsom has prepared are being removed."
eBay was not accepting any responsibility whatsoever for any "bad" auctions. Where are we now? We don't even know who we are bidding against!@!

Roger
Swiss Razor Cancels
Posted by infla-alec   ( 592 ) on Mar-09-08 at 14:02:26 PDT   Listings
Sneeky Yes several members and of course non Eusc have donated to the disabled Vets charity and that is something I have had the pleasure of doing before now.
Ebay though does make it impossible to openly state Eusc members run auctions for that particular charity. So we simply do what we can when we can.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-09-08 at 13:37:49 PDT   Listings
Sneeky… For the person who complained about the EUSC and asked what it had ever done, charity is a very dirty word, even though he has been on the receiving end of quite a bit himself.

Nice to see you back on a regular basis again!

Jim
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-09-08 at 13:07:51 PDT   Listings
Knuden
Did you leave some bananas up here for me.
Couldn't help but notice the comment last week about "What has the EUSClub ever done", guess the memories of some are are pretty short, as the Club (Members) have raised several thousand dollars over the years for some very worth while charities. Many of the Members have opened up their hearts and pocketbooks to support these charities auctions as well as puting up items for sale for these charities.
The sitting President at the time of these auctions has helped suggest them as well as the club & President have promoted them.
There are a number here that still mail stamps and funds to help support one of my favorite causes, Stamps For Disabled Veterans, is this not also a club function??
Granted not all the charity auctions show up under the club features, history, but the Club (members) have support them.
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-09-08 at 12:54:46 PDT   Listings
Hi Knuden
Hows things going for you??
Posted by knuden   ( 2416 ) on Mar-09-08 at 12:07:58 PDT   Listings
sneeky37 - Hello Jake. I hope you and your family enjoy life. :O)

K.E  I'm a catalog King, Expert and Philatelist - whoopee!!


Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1487 ) on Mar-09-08 at 11:53:59 PDT   Listings

Jim L.

member
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-09-08 at 11:53:35 PDT   Listings
A VERY GOOD DAY TO ALL!!
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-09-08 at 11:23:57 PDT   Listings
Afternoon/evening/morning from a drier, sprung-ahead NJ. We lost power for about 12 hours last night, along with many thousands of other people. But we bravely soldiered on--my husband brought in dinner from a local restaurant that still had power (along with half the township, he said). I finished listening to a book on my portable CD player. Ah, the hardship of it all.

Roger: You and Sheryl need to be more careful about the Google company you keep. See my earlier post.

Anne
Posted by bjornmu   ( 998 ) on Mar-09-08 at 11:04:55 PDT   Listings
NOIP: I could have saved myself the trouble of asking here for confirmation of the date of issue of this Aussie stamp, bidding went way beyond what I had planned to bid...
Posted by spain_1850   ( 369 ) on Mar-09-08 at 08:58:34 PDT   Listings
Bill, Jim - Thanks for the welcome back!

It looks like I may have the problem whipped. My mom says she has an "older" computer I can have. It has XP on it. Now I just have to go get it and transfer everything I need off of this one. Sounds like fun!
Posted by malolo   ( 882 ) on Mar-09-08 at 03:22:49 PDT   Listings
Aloha -
Well I'm a happy camper here in Hawaii. With the time change I'll be coming home one hour earlier at 10:45pm instead of the current 11:45pm. So I go to work an hour earlier, that has never been as difficult as working the last dreary hour every night.

)'>) Almost time to turn the clocks. Oops I forgot, we don't do that. )'>)

Roger
Posted by bjornmu   ( 998 ) on Mar-09-08 at 01:54:58 PST   Listings
Ehem, not everybody in the northern hemisphere "spring forward", we Europeans don't do it until the 30th.

So for the next three weeks, we'll have to remember to add 8, not 9, hours to the eBay ending times. For those of us who prefer manual sniping. :-)

OTOH, some of my collegues in California will be happy to move the weekly phone meeting with us from 7AM to 8AM Tuesday mornings. :-)
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-08-08 at 21:59:33 PST   Listings
Time change, yep that sucks forthe very short term.
I am now counting down the minutes to my sweeties 50th birthday. She's not really thinking that's fun. Now with the time change she will be an hour older before she knows what hit her.
Ain't life Krewl.................
whoops, timess up.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-08-08 at 21:40:01 PST   Listings
Jeff S… Thanks.

Jim
Posted by stamphick!   ( 338 ) on Mar-08-08 at 20:07:40 PST   Listings
10th...Only Oahu, it will be a very short trip. I have personal business so it's not a holiday. Frankly, I'd rather not go.
Posted by 19thcentpostal   ( 245 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:58:54 PST   Listings
stamphick! Are you bragging or complaining!?! I'm jealous, which island(s) are you visiting?
Lynn
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:52:51 PST   Listings

errors hopefully corrected

Matt - oh, I agree, it is a very complex area, and I don't know if it is a matter of being not well explained, or being something at is not easily explainable.

Here is a publication that fits into the transient 2nd class structure, PROGRESS Official Publication of the State Association of Master Plumbers...postage paid with a 2c Defense magazine weighing 2.7 oz, dated 1942, thus at the 1c per 2 oz rate.

I need to spend some time with Tony and these things at the next show we are together at.

Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:50:03 PST   Listings

Matt - oh, I agree, it is a very complex area, and I don't know if it is a matter of being not well explained, or being something at is not easily explainable.

Here is a publication that fits into the transient 2nd class structure, PROGRESS Official Publication of the State Association of Master Plumbers...postage paid with a 2c Defense magazine weighing 2.7 oz, dated 1942, thus at the 1c per 2 oz rate.

I need to spend some time with Tony and these things at the next show we are together at.

Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:40:08 PST   Listings
Jeff,

The 2nd Class rates by the pound are not very well explained in B&W.

Matt in Arizona
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:30:49 PST   Listings

Here is a puzzler, a real magazine, U.S.A. THE MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN AFFAIRS, 128 pages + covers, weight is 4.8 oz but franked with a solo 2c prexie precancel. Magazine cover date is April 1952.

There is a faint handstamp RECEIVED MAR 24 1952 on the front cover.

It weighs 4.8 oz.

Inside cover states ...published monthly by the National Association of Manufacturers, ...address... Re-entry as second class matter at the Post Office, Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3 1879 pending (I don't know the meaning of this statement)

Advertising content is non-existent

If this is transient 2nd class prior to the rate increase from 1c per 2 oz to 2c per 2 oz, then it is still short paid for the remaining .8 oz.

AND I have a second copy of the magazine dated August 1952 weighing 5.3 oz with the same 2c franking.

Totally perplexing to me.

Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:19:08 PST   Listings
Jim,

re: Tucson

Unless it qualified for a 1¢ rate at same Post Office (Tucson to Tucson).

Matt in Arizona
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 19:07:58 PST   Listings

Jay-Jim - my guess is 3rd class bulk, interesting that they used a permit number (re the precancel I guess) instead of the usual PL&R endorsement. I like it. But it certainly in my mind didn't qualify for a 2nd class periodical.

Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:54:46 PST   Listings
Matt… I defer to the hysterical one…



On a similar note, this is definitely a flyer published by the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. Was it sent 2nd class? I think so, but will defer again if need be…

Jim
Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:34:36 PST   Listings
Jeff,

re: Appleton, Wisconsin

OK, thanks.

Matt in Arizona
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:26:44 PST   Listings

Matt - common 1-cent third class bulk, nothing to do with second class.

Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:19:39 PST   Listings
Jim,

re: Appleton, Wisconsin

I saw that and it just added to the confusion:

1) What defines a newspaper? This looks like one with headlines and all but is just an advertising flyer. But it may have qualified in the eyes of the Appleton Postmaster as a newspaper in order to qualify for the 1¢ rate.

2) "Letter Carrier delivery at origin PO" ?? If the precancel stamp is Appleton, that would make it the origin post office, but this delivery is for Menasha.

Matt in Arizona
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:12:18 PST   Listings
A VERY GO wink OD EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:11:32 PST   Listings
Matt in AZ… Check also second class periodicals, B/W page 97.

Jim
Posted by stamphick!   ( 338 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:08:11 PST   Listings
Very inconvenient time for the time change. I will be in Hawai'i next week and the jet lag will be an hour worse than it should be.
Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 18:01:42 PST   Listings
USA Postal History rate question...

This arrived today

It is a complete newspaper-style flyer, advertising Wichmann Furniture Co., Appleton and Neenah, Wisconsin. It is 4 pages and weights about 1¼ ounces. Advertising mainly for thermostats and stoves (free coal with each purchase!)

There is no date anywhere but the stamp (Scott 632) was issued in 1927. Above the precanceled stamp is Sec 562 P.L &R. which went into effect 1932. So most likely this usage dates from mid 1932 until 1938 or so when the next definitive set was issued.

The address is 'Rural Route Box Holder, Menasha, Wis.". Assuming the flyers were placed into the mail in Appleton for rural delivery, and assuming the flyer's weight was under two ounces, does the 1¢ pay the 3rd Class Bulk Quantity rate in effect 01 Jan 1928 - 31 Dec 1948?

Any other rates that may have applied here?

T I A,

Matt in Arizona
Posted by keleofa   ( 3790 ) on Mar-08-08 at 17:58:22 PST   Listings
Jim (Jaywild)

I talk to my folks in New Jersey a lot, but twice a year my father calls to ask "What time is it there?!" He knows that Arizona doesn't comply with Daylight Savings Time, but tomorrow, like clockwork, he ask for the time in Arizona.

I was reading in the Wall Street Journal that re-setting clocks twice a year is no longer energy efficient due to the way we use electricity today as opposed to the household use decades ago.

I am working on a question on rates... please stand by....

Matt in Arizona
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-08-08 at 17:52:48 PST   Listings
NOIP… Yipes—Daylight Saving Time changeover happens tonight. Spring forward, everybody [except Roger in HI and Matt in AZ]!!

Jim
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-08-08 at 16:41:05 PST   Listings

Jim L.

member
Posted by billsey   ( 891 ) on Mar-08-08 at 15:34:46 PST   Listings
Ditto to the other welcomes Spain... Try AVG as a replacement for the McAfee, they still support ME.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-08-08 at 14:55:54 PST   Listings
Intersting what turned up on a google image searh of "Egyptian stamps forgeries"
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-08-08 at 14:42:34 PST   Listings
spain 1850… Nice to see you back! It’s been a very long while.

Jim
Posted by spain_1850   ( 367 ) on Mar-08-08 at 13:24:04 PST   Listings
Hiya Anne, and thanks for the welcome back!
Yep, the old warhorse is still chugging along. Haven't really had much problems with it until recently when I found I couldn't even update my McAfee anymore.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-08-08 at 12:03:41 PST   Listings
afternoon/evening/morning from a wet and dreary NJ.

spain: Your Windows ME still works?????? Ah, fond memories of the Blue Screen of Death. Welcome back the the land of the stamping.

Anne

Posted by de66   ( 1215 ) on Mar-08-08 at 11:50:28 PST   Listings
Tea Lady only supplies good old fashioned 'dog biscuits' [not an insult] if you’re not sure ask IO.

D1
Posted by greenwave4u   ( 85 ) on Mar-08-08 at 11:09:38 PST   Listings
I will second D1 for tea lady as long as Belgium buns provided:-)
Mict That's an obscure topic.....can we expand that to include rare postmarks?
Peter
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:59:32 PST   Listings
D1,

do you supply the Tim Tams & Iced Vo Vo's,

David B.
Posted by de66   ( 1215 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:43:22 PST   Listings
As is tradition I would like to nominate D1 for the position of Tea Lady
Posted by spain_1850   ( 367 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:33:02 PST   Listings
Well, so much for that! :o(

It looks like before I can get an updated Scott's on CD, I'll first have to get an updated computer! It appears my ancient Windows Millenium won't work on it. Or I'll have to just have to find an actual book.
Posted by spain_1850   ( 367 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:28:38 PST   Listings
dragon - Thanks! I'll give it a looksee!
Posted by dragonstamps   ( 498 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:26:41 PST   Listings
Spain: A 2007 Scott classic on CD ends in 6 hrs.
It's #310028774389.
Posted by spain_1850   ( 367 ) on Mar-08-08 at 10:16:05 PST   Listings
Hello everybody! Long time since I've been here. In a nutshell, I had some personal things going on (some good, some bad) that I had to deal with. I put my stamps away for a while and now I am trying to get back into it. Still collecting Spain classics.

I do have a couple ???'s though. Do they still make the Scott Classic Specialized cat? Do they have it on CD? What are these things going for nowadays.

The reason I'm asking is that I am getting some stamps on approval and the pricing is a % of current Scott's, but it's up to me to look them up. My problem is that my "current" Scott cat. is from 1999, and I have my local library beat by 10 years.
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-08-08 at 09:23:10 PST   Listings
E U S C

Ebay Users Stamp Club

Reminder



Next week is EUSC election time. As it stands we have nominees lluehhhb and Manhattanconcepts for President. Unfortunately I cannot find in the records where Manhattanconcepts is a member.
I would ask her to clarify this before the meeting takes place.

The following board members have agreed to stay on in their present positions:

Bill Seymour (eBay ID: billsey) Executive Assistant.

Peter Gorton (eBay ID: greenwave4u) Media Relations Officer

Matthew Liebson (eBay ID: paperhistory) APS Representative


There are no other nominees for these positions. If anyone would like to nominate someone else for any of the positions please do it this weekend.

The topic for next weekends meeting will be obscure places and stamps.

This would be issueing entities that most people have never heard of and stamps from any country that are seldom seen or not listed in some catalogs.



Happy Stampin,

Mitchell aka Antonius Ra

President EUSC





Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-08-08 at 08:15:07 PST   Listings
Sorry for the bold...
Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-08-08 at 08:02:22 PST   Listings
lluhhhb, was my pleasure. I still remember the LP where all instruments with serial numbers etc.. where mentioned. I listen to this LP at least ones a year when I am back home in Germany. Of course, on vinyl on my turntable..., bought 1 1/2 years ago on ebay...
Image: http://www.musicdirect.com/products/images.php?i=-1&p=32928&h=73850
Test:
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73850
Posted by lluehhhb   ( 349 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:55:25 PST   Listings
Rainer

Thank you for posting the Sky link in youtube.

I had buried them in my memory until now!
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:46:51 PST   Listings
Paul, bet on cold, very cold years to come.
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:44:30 PST   Listings
85719,

P.S. I am glad you don't like me. It confirms my self-esteem.
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:39:59 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all


Jim L.

member
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:38:23 PST   Listings
85719,

1) Before giving advice to others, learn at least to spell user names correctly.

2) U think I can safely ignore any advice from people with feedback less than 10. They are almost certainly trolling avatars.
Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:24:51 PST   Listings
Over the last days I have mounted my Overland Mail Baghdad-Haifa covers and noted numerous new earliest/latest know dates, differences in handstamps and imprinted envelopes compared to what is listed in the handbook. Guess it is about time to contact the author of the book…
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:21:13 PST   Listings
85719------WERE ALL FRIENDS HERE ,I WOULD HATE TO SEE ANYBODY LEAVE .
Posted by 85719   ( 2 ) on Mar-08-08 at 07:08:38 PST   Listings
Afert:
“On this board, habitual frequenters tend to be somewhat provocative and sadistic, and engage in absurd showing off, some sort of "competition in erudition," which makes them unreasonably touchy or, on the opposite, eager to suck up to each other with saccharine, exaggerated kudos. Not a healthy, productive atmosphere, IMO. For some of you, may be it is a good time to find another kind of entertainment, and stop wasting your lives here.”
You have described yourself perfectly. Nobody else flies into childish rages and throws insults around like you do. Please follow the advice in your last sentence.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:34:15 PST   Listings
ALEX and DRAGONSTAMPS The day I start worrying about stamps and $$$$ is the day I quit. It is to relax and have quite time .

Hey if I wanted money I would sell Wheat Futures at these levels and wait for the Southern Hemisphere harvest numbers to come out and planting intentsion to be published by the USDA.

Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:21:45 PST   Listings
Re: Abkhazia

Here you can find one of the funniest Abkhazian souvenir sheets, and some edifying information about Abkhazia and its peculiarities:

http://www.feht.com/reviews/starr.html
Posted by dragonstamps   ( 498 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:19:59 PST   Listings
Paul: Yeah, you could spend a lifetime on those issues.
So, if you want to collect the world, there has to be a point where you say "enough". Agreed.

Postal: That crease gives it some character. I wonder if the hinge is hiding some more character?
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:15:59 PST   Listings
Paul,

I also collect the world but I keep a specialized catalog of every country (except New Zealand, which I'll buy soon), just in case I find something. There is a big price difference between a constant listed variety, plate fault, or just a freak stamp. No matter how colorfully you chose to call freak stamps, they don't bring you $$$.

David,

I didn't say you accused me of anything, it was a figure of speech.

If liberty means anything, it is the right to tell others what they don't want to hear.

Allow me a general observation, not directed at anyone in particular.

On this board, habitual frequenters tend to be somewhat provocative and sadistic, and engage in absurd showing off, some sort of "competition in erudition," which makes them unreasonably touchy or, on the opposite, eager to suck up to each other with saccharine, exaggerated kudos. Not a healthy, productive atmosphere, IMO. For some of you, may be it is a good time to find another kind of entertainment, and stop wasting your lives here.
Posted by jsbmsma   ( 8650 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:08:52 PST   Listings
Good morning from upstate New York - 25 more lots listed last night and just getting ready to start some more for tonights selection. Surprising what you find after boxing it up 20 years ago. Have a great STAMPING day.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-08-08 at 06:08:51 PST   Listings
NEW COUNTRY Paul will expand his collection and by-past any other philatelist in history with more different countries or stamp issueing bodies in history in his collection. {WHAT A DISTINCTION}.

Last Friday the ABKHAZIA region of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia has appealed to the world community to recognize it as independent from Georgia.So next week will make up a page as a reference point before the stamps are issued .

Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-08-08 at 05:57:02 PST   Listings
DRAGONSTAMPS and ALEX As a worldwide collector ,I try not to get too deep into any country .If something is found in the material I buy then it will get written up and space made for it .But to take any subject and start purchasing indiviual items to complete it ,the answer is no . I have a few Chinese reference material but none of them is complete or go into some of the things I've found but do enjoy finding unusal items and putting them on a album page next to a normal copy.

The subject of knowning if everything I find is a catalog variety would require a unbelievable reference library or a unlimited source of hundreds of those stamps especially blocks and large pieces to plate the varieties .

paul

Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-08-08 at 05:39:19 PST   Listings

That's what this hobby needs, specialized training as a hinge removal specialist.

Lets see, saucer, water, put water in saucer, put stamp in water in saucer. Wait for hinge to separate. Dang!! I think I gottit! (Unless of course you have one of them old hinges that defy removal, then bring in the C4.)

Might also need an unmentioned corner crease spotting specialist.

Posted by dragonstamps   ( 498 ) on Mar-08-08 at 04:56:37 PST   Listings
Paul: There are six types of paper on those Pacheng stamps.
Paper was in short supply so only 2 types are from China, 4 imported. If you want the details on the types, just ask.
I don't know if you want to get that detailed in your sort.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-08-08 at 00:10:46 PST   Listings
Alex, I never accused you, I accused my friends relations, she has mentioned it many times and I think it may have been very prevalent in the Russian Quarter of Shanghai,

David B.
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 23:36:25 PST   Listings
Paul,

Are those printing faults that you find on Chinese stamps listed in any catalogs as varieties? Or are they just one-time faults? For example, is your "Cut through Ear" stamp listed as a constant variety?
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 23:27:26 PST   Listings
David,

Antisemitism is, probably, the last thing I could be accused of. (It is curious to note, though, how antisemitic are modern European leftists; indeed, antisemitism seems to be the favorite way of letting the steam out in Europe, irrespective of political denomination.) Though I have no particular sympathy toward rabbis -- no more than toward any priests of any religion or ideology.

Your stamps are fine, I'll leave positive feedback, if that's of any importance.
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-07-08 at 23:04:44 PST   Listings
abt1950
That Pete Seeger show was good, CCMouse and I watched it last week end on our local PBS station
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-07-08 at 23:04:41 PST   Listings
Alex,

thanks for your complete answer, it is most interesting,

I was surprised when I first heard my friend make the comment and the way it was said but I knew that she once mentioned something about her relations being very anti-semitic and were angry at my friend as her husband is Jewish but I didn't know they were also anti Russo-Germanic. She presumed that as your surname was not Russian and had a German sound to it then it was German.

David B.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-07-08 at 23:00:57 PST   Listings
Lindy, Thanks. Sounds like you've got a fun week planned.

Our local PBS station is having their semi-annual begathon. Great music--the same vintage Bob Dylan concert that Duncan was listening too and a special on Pete Seeger. Perfect music for flyspecking.

In case anyone is wondering what I've been working on, here's an image of the basic set taken from a larger online exhibit. Trying to type these is like interpreting a Rorschach. But, except for the forgery pages, they're all done.

Good night to all and to all sweet dreams of philatelic Rorschachs, meeting new/old friends, and Chinese surcharges (almost as much fun as Egyptian stamps). Anne
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 22:54:16 PST   Listings
a-fat… You are so easy to twit…



Jim
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 22:10:54 PST   Listings
Gooffalo Jim,

I get much more than 18¢ per word for urgent and highly sophisticated translation.

As to the font size, you are the only visitor of this board always using a larger than normal font size. (I wonder, what exactly does it compensate?)

I am just experimenting with various HTML features, some of which may be useful. Any objections?
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 22:06:17 PST   Listings
Jaywild made a statement questioning my professional abilities and the quality of my translations.

He apparently doesn't know that English>Russian and Russian>English translators are paid by the source language word count (in other language pairs different rules may apply). Therefore, "cramming" more words than necessary into the translated text doesn't bring any financial rewards.

Inability to read or write long sentences doesn't speak in favor of one's educational level. Unfamiliarity with wider English vocabulary is not and advantage, either.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 21:53:17 PST   Listings
a-fat… Do you get 18¢ a word when you use that gigantic font?



Jim
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 21:50:52 PST   Listings
Just checking, which HTML codes work around here
Just checking, which HTML codes work around here
Just checking, which HTML codes work around here
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 21:45:01 PST   Listings
"shaw"="show"
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 21:40:15 PST   Listings
About that Rio Linda thing...

I neither watch TV nor listen to radio, but in the 1990s a friend of mine used to send me VHS tapes with Limbaugh's TV shows, which he liked. So I watched some of them, and picked up some of the jargon.

I think Rush is a talented talk shaw host, and a clever man. Negative (critical) part of his political philosophy (so to speak) is OK. Positive part, especially catering to the religious audience, is primitive and false.

I stopped watching those tapes, and asked my friend not to send them to me any more, when I heard Rush saying the following words: "I do not subscribe to the theory of evolution."

As much as I liked some of Limbaugh's anti-government, almost libertarian cracks, this moronic declaration was too much for me. An influential person who pretends, for the sake of popularity, that he doesn't understand a scientific theory proven every day by thousands of facts and experiments with reproducible results, should not be, and is not, an important role player in modern society. Such a person is on the fringe, deep down in the landfill of history.

Which doesn't make those in Rio Linda any smarter, of course.
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-07-08 at 20:48:09 PST   Listings


RE: Post Office services.
I stopped at post offices to get the American Scientist stamps for unofficial first day covers. The Post Office has this nation wide first day policy now, right? The two larger Post Offices did not have the stamps, but the four, extremely small Post Offices I stopped at did have them. In one I bought two sheets, which was 2/3rds of their total supply. At the other three extremely small Post Offices they also received a total of three sheets each. In each of the four small offices the Postmasters were extremely helpful and one’s I’d love to do business with any day.
When I say extremely small, the four small Post Offices had about 100 P.O. boxes total, and they don’t have walking delivery routes.
Jim L.

member

Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-07-08 at 20:33:21 PST   Listings
JayJim funny you should mention it, yes! Monday is a holiday here, and as I'm pretty busy all week this week, I did put in 3 or 4 hours there today to catch up my work.

This week I get to meet a chat friend from another eBay board. We have been chatting for 8 years, and she's going to be in Australia for a week. I'm meeting her at her friends house, and we will drive down along the Bay to Geelong to meet up with another eBay chat friend and have lunch. Unfortunately, as I'm the (only)designated driver, only 1 glass of wine with my lunch, but I'm sure it will be a fun day. (Thursday).
L.

Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 20:23:02 PST   Listings
Lindy… Hi girl. Off to the rag-and-bone today?

Jim
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-07-08 at 20:13:26 PST   Listings
POSTALHYSTERIA Thanks for the heads up on the Provincial surcharges booklet ,I did put in a bid . That booklet could be helpful with the 1971 K.C.YU catalog that I have been using on the surcharges ,Scott's catalog is close to worthless to i.d. the surcharges .
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 19:45:38 PST   Listings
Jaywild,

Envy and hatred are not beautiful things.
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-07-08 at 19:03:04 PST   Listings
A VERY GOOD EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:56:27 PST   Listings
NOIP… Oh my—a-fat addresses his comments to “Rio Linda” yet claims he doesn’t listen to Rush Limbaugh. (For the curious, here is the connection between the two.)

Perhaps the 15¢ is why he crams his sentences with forty words when three will do. Must think he’s still on the clock!

So if anyone wants translations peppered with “jolly good” and “I dare say” (not to mention egregious misspellings) here’s your guy.



Jim
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:34:13 PST   Listings
P.S. - for those in Rio Linda:

I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh or to any other talk radio.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:33:19 PST   Listings
Saturday afternoon Bookmark


Lovely to see you chatting again Anne !
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:30:16 PST   Listings
iomoon and 85719,

If you didn't notice, I was answering David's question.

If you don't care about something, or aren't interested in the topic, nobody forces you to read and, most of all, to make idle-headed comments.

If I remember correctly, iomoon thinks that Patrick Henry's is the "outdated political philophy of the 1930s." Breathtaking analysis, I dare say. No wonder he is not "interested" in what he cannot grasp at the elementary school level.

85719,

Typos are inevitable on this board, which doesn't allow editing. I am completely aware about the spelling of "waive," since I translate legal documents all day long.

The most striking difference between my English and yours is that I get 15 cents per word, and you get nothing but impotent irritation.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:25:01 PST   Listings
Ah, Friday night at the funhouse.


briguy: Not that I know anything about Confederate stamps or anything, but that looks like one funny cance.

Me, I'm going blind working on Egyptian stamps. The first issue has multiple types which are distinguished from each other only by minute little ink skips and blobs, many of which are in the outer frame lines and therefore vanished when the stamps were perfed. It gets grisly.


Anne

Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-07-08 at 18:20:36 PST   Listings
NO BREAK HERE ------Still working on China and will be for a few days. Here is a neat find CUT THRU EAR .

Off to the big box office supply store ,got one of those $10.00 off cards in the mail today if you spent $10.00 so will buy a binder for the China collection and a few extra binders .My outlook is different than other collectors rather spent the money on stamps and not the pages or binders .....paul

Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:41:56 PST   Listings
afeht
Some of us care about neither politics nor religion, nor even our ancestry.
I'm a first generation immigrant and a google search of my last name will reveal only me with perhaps my wife and daughter as a few extra hits.
I really don't care about people's intellectual abilities, which seem to be a bug-bear in your case, only their ability to write in flawless English and their passion for collecting stamps and to communicate that passion.

I usually neglect to criticize posts from people with "big fingers" who manage to hit two keys at once. Though can come down on those who repeat the same misspelling several times.

Give it a break.
Posted by stamphick!   ( 338 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:27:31 PST   Listings
85719...I don't think I'd refer to Robert A. Heinlein with just the generic phrase "science fiction writer."
Posted by infla-alec   ( 590 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:15:46 PST   Listings
Oops sorry Try Down to the Marrow
Posted by thebriguy1   ( 64 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:14:21 PST   Listings
Nothing like a "used" stamp, with full original gum! AND lets not forget the museum quality "cancel". LOL! Guarenteed to hold its value as a worthless scrap of paper through countless economic turmoils - Invest NOW!

Hey, it was in Grandpa's album so it HAS to be real, right?

I wonder if they can get that on a cert? Providence - Grandpa.
Posted by infla-alec   ( 590 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:14:05 PST   Listings
Totally non Philatelic
Apologies in advance but reading this book review simply jumped out at me and made me go read the blog of the author and order myself a copy of < a href=http://www.bryantparkpress.com/DownToTheMarrow.html> Down to the Marrow .
Posted by 85719   ( 2 ) on Mar-07-08 at 17:06:20 PST   Listings
Afeht -- With all due respect, we already know everything about you. Your politics (Rush Limbaugh) your philosophy (science fiction writers) your temperament (you don’t really need to ask on this one) and your English (“wave” is not the same word as “waive”.)
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 16:58:29 PST   Listings
stjohnstamps,

I don't watch TV, so, naturally, I wouldn't know that most of the TV channels in the U.S. are dedicated to Russian immigration and former Soviet Union issues, if that's what you deem "political." Thank you for pointing out this amazing fact.

(Judging by the intellectual level of the admirers of your attempted humor, you might as well think that Everly Brothers are "political.")
Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 16:52:50 PST   Listings
briguy… Thanks. I shall keep the item however as a curio. From other examples of Stephens’ signature when he signed using his initials, I believe it is in his hand. Here is the item completely unfolded. At some point someone refolded it so that the original dirty edges did not show. That’s why it looked so pristine in my earlier image (here). Elberton GA is less than fifty miles from Stephens’s plantation just outside Crawfordville, so given the unreliability of the Confederate Post in many rural areas the item might have simply been carried and delivered by hand, possibly even by a slave. Just speculation though.

Jim
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 16:43:33 PST   Listings
David,

Just received your Palestinian stamps, incidentally.

As it happens, my last name is a result of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service improvisation. Originally our family name was Fet, just three letters.

It is of Persian Jewish origin, the grandfather of my grandfather, a Jewish merchant from Mashhad in Iran, had to escape to Russian "porto franco" on the Black Sea, Odessa, because he took a Muslim Persian girl as his wife, and this was a capital offense calling for immediate execution. They lived happily in Odessa, and thus my father's line began.

When I was receiving my first temporary U. S. residential permit (a white thick piece of paper they give you before a standard green card is issued), my last name was spelled "FELT" in capital letters. Naturally, I didn't like that. I told them this was an error, and asked if the letter "L" could be removed. "No," they said, "that's how it's going to be for the next five years, until you get your citizenship, at which point you can change it."

The INS worker who was talking to me was a tall black man, and I felt that he had a sense of humor - his face was naturally disposed for laughter. So, I asked him if, instead of removing "L" altogether, he could draw little feet and a vertical dash to it, making it an "H." As I expected, he laughed and agreed to do so. My son went to kindergarten and school under "Feht" name, and when the time came to get the U.S. citizenship, a few years later, I decided not to change anything, since my son was already used to this name. Also, frankly, I sort of liked the idea of "burning the bridges" behind me, and starting a new line.

As to my ethnic background, it's so bloody mixed that I am usually lost explaining it. Suffice it to say that my mother is of Russian/Polish/German descent, and my father is of Jewish/Persian descent. The only pure German among my ancestors was one of my grand-grandfathers on the mother's side, a general manager of the St, Petersburg tobacco factory (still largest in Russia). His daughter, half German, half Russian, became my grandmother; she ended up in Siberia during the WWII but not in any "enforced" way -- she and her husband, as well as my grandparents on father's side, were simply escaping from the war zone. My parents met in Tomsk university in Siberia, which during the war was serving as a substitute to Moscow and St. Petersburg universities. My mother's father and brother died in 1943 at Kursk, during the bloodiest battle in human history that stopped German advance.

I grew up in purely Russian culture, and spoke Russian only until coming to America, though my father, a polyglot, had so many books in various languages that I kind of learned reading French, German, Italian and English by myself.

So, I suppose, your Russian Orthodox friend might as well "snicker derisively" at herself. Making hasty judgments about people one doesn't know well is an attribute of a very narrow mind.

Posted by jaywild   ( 1058 ) on Mar-07-08 at 16:43:08 PST   Listings
stjohnstamps… Ha! That was the funniest remark all week!!



Jim
Posted by stjohnstamps   ( 885 ) on Mar-07-08 at 16:26:40 PST   Listings
I'm so glad I can get politcal discussions here, there is so little of it on tv.
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-07-08 at 15:55:10 PST   Listings
Buying stamps the old fashioned way.

At the PO

Even if it takes 3 weeks.

You can see why postal authorities who actually care about their income, go out of their way to satisfy the customer.

Mailing from St. Helena PO on St. Valentine's day
Posted by philaweb   ( 361 ) on Mar-07-08 at 15:30:26 PST   Listings
stamps12345 Expulsion of Germans after World War II
Posted by philaweb   ( 361 ) on Mar-07-08 at 15:19:11 PST   Listings
stamps12345 Not necessarily.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-07-08 at 14:41:21 PST   Listings
ALEX The Germans who were sent to Siberia were from the Kaliningard Oblast .
Posted by philaweb   ( 361 ) on Mar-07-08 at 12:55:09 PST   Listings
To quote Afeht: "...very disappointed in Russia and the support its people give to the government that my father never called anything other than "a bunch of SOB's".

Exactly what did he expect?
The only reasonable thing to expect after 70 years of communist happiness is balderdash on all levels.

Posted by thebriguy1   ( 64 ) on Mar-07-08 at 12:16:17 PST   Listings
Jaywild I arrived a little late, but nomad basically pegged it. Stephens didn't have free franking priveileges in the confederacy. In the CSA, only postal officials attending to official PO business did. You got the status of Stephens contribution to confederacy right too. He was a sickly man who spent the better part of the war at his home answering a HUGE flow of correspondence from most anyone who wrote him. For collectors this was wondeful, for a large amount of it has surived, Unlike the Davis'd correspondence (he ordered that burned as he evacuated Richmond near the end).

Another alternative to what that note is, is exactly that, a notation. Stephens had the habit of putting breif notes on the covers/letters he got. "Man looking for appointment" "person wanting exemption from tax bill", etc. In a nutshell, going from what you have, likely no way to conclusively link providence of the item to his V/P of the rebellion days. Sorry.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-07-08 at 11:51:19 PST   Listings
Alex,

just a personal question, it is up to you if you wish to answer it or not,

Last week I was speaking to a Russian friend of mine (Russian Orthodox originally from Shanghai of which there many in Sydney) and I mentioned your surname and she snickered derisively " Siberian German ".

I remember some years ago when I went by Ferry from Yokohama to Nahodkha and onto Khabarovsk and stayed overnight there in a large hotel and the lady in charge of the floor was speaking German to all of the other workers. I was speaking to her and she mentioned that Germans were sent to Siberia during the war to get them away from the border areas but didn't say whether it was WWI or the Great Patriotic War as they call WWII.

David B.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-07-08 at 11:37:36 PST   Listings
Afternoon/evening/morning from an overcast NJ

David: Thanks. I can't tell which came first, the overprint or the cancel, but I suspect it was the latter. The overprint looks more like one I'm pretty sure is fake than one that's been experitzed as genuine. But hope springs eternal. I value the second opinion. This one's going back.

I started out collecting Luxembourg and Egypt with equal fervor. Over the years, I've become a lot more comfortable with Egypt, even though I can't read the Arabic. The major literatue is in English and relatively easy to acquire. the literature on Luxembourg is less easy to find and the best is in German or French. I can handle the French, but the German is difficult.
Posted by scottpel3   ( 875 ) on Mar-07-08 at 10:01:20 PST   Listings
afeht:
Russia's loss is our gain.
Belated welcome!
Scott
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3937 ) on Mar-07-08 at 09:55:55 PST   Listings

Perhaps of interest to Paul?

Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-07-08 at 07:36:14 PST   Listings
afeht... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XUbYWSScRo
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 06:55:27 PST   Listings
Paul,

Hereby I wave any and all objections to people talking to their God (gods, Universal Spirit, force majeure, crystal ball, etc., as the case may be) in the morning, at night, at the Temple Wall, swimming in the pool or while eating deep-fried calamari and drinking Chateau d'Yquem, provided that their sanative conversations with the Jealous Sky aren't imposing any financial or legal obligations on me or any members of my family.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-07-08 at 06:45:34 PST   Listings
NOIP------This mornings addition to my China collection,before going to work . BROKEN FRAME in overprint
Posted by jsbmsma   ( 8650 ) on Mar-07-08 at 06:15:22 PST   Listings
Good Morning from upstate NY - love the rock & roll music I grew up on in the 1960s...Havent collected much in the last 20 years...Yesterday I began to list a box I ran across in the attic - remember the days when "the fun is in the hunt"...One mans trash is anothers treasure!
Happy Collecting
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-07-08 at 05:52:26 PST   Listings
ALEX GOD is doing fine ,we talk each day and this morning it was a normal conversation .He keeps telling me to straighten out and behave myself.

paul

Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-07-08 at 05:07:51 PST   Listings
afeht, their music reflected the time it was written. I agree, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote some good Music and Tocatta is one of my favorite. But Music is like food..., one eats dog and he likes it, other prefer frog legs, other burgers or Pizza...
BTW. Tocatta, played by the band SKY is also very nice..
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 04:39:57 PST   Listings
22028, re: Everly Brothers

I U-tubed some of their most successful numbers. How to put it politely? Their music is very, very simple.

Me, I get a kick from Art of the Fugue and Parsifal (and only in best performances, mind you, which are hard to find). But the best thing for the nerves is to play a dozen or two preludes and fugues from Well-Tempered Clavier or almost any other Bach.

There's muzak, there's music, there's Music, and there's Johann Sebastian Bach. He is the beginning and the end. Above him would be only God, if God would happen to exist, which is extremely improbable.

Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-07-08 at 03:37:46 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all


Jim L.

member
Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-07-08 at 03:26:42 PST   Listings
Alex aka afeht
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Everly_Brothers
Posted by theottawamike   ( 190 ) on Mar-07-08 at 01:04:27 PST   Listings
For afeht, courtesy of the Everly Brothers:

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I´m-a gonna try
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress, hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love goodbye

Ahh, they just don't write 'em like that anymore.
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-07-08 at 00:34:40 PST   Listings
Duncan,

I wish I knew, who on Earth are Everly Brothers? My knowledge of American pop culture is limited.

My father, a mathematician, stubbornly refused to leave the USSR, saying that he wanted to see with his own eyes how it all would end up. I talked to him almost every week on the phone during the last twenty years. He died last July, very disappointed in Russia and the support its people give to the government that my father never called anything other than "a bunch of SOBs."

Most of my friends from Siberia are either dead bodies in the dusty mountain valleys of Afghanistan, or left Russia for North America and Western Europe after 1991. Some had very colorful carriers. One of them (no names!) has become a profesional document forger. He can make you a U.S. passport, an Abu Dhabi driver's license, or a health insurance card that would get you admission in Shanghai hospital -- in a few hours. Fortunately, this talented individual is not interested in stamps.

I guess, other than several musicians in Moscow, with whom I record my songs, several small-time stamp dealers and philatelists, and maybe several classmates from the school, practically nobody close is waiting for me in Russia. Even Russian translators I work with all moved to Western countries.

Thanks to the uncontrollable thievishness and stupidity of the current dictators in that oil-and-gas banana republic that was Russia, all brains drained from the former USSR -- millions of people after 1991. The effect is already noticeable: this year third-world countries started to return recently ordered Russian weaponry and military planes, which ain't work any more. New Russia has no good engineers, no scientists, not even programmers: everybody who was anybody, left.

I think there is a poetic justice in this. So much better for the rest of the world: educated Russian-born specialists are highly valued in every industry, and Russian women are beautiful.

Yeah, I know, we are kind of too straight for you foxy ambiguous Anglo-Saxons, in all senses of the word. Well, get used to it. Russians have come.
Posted by duncan_doenitz   ( 136 ) on Mar-06-08 at 23:40:29 PST   Listings
Afeht, my story is completely different, except that I too sold my stamp collection. But being young, single, and on my own, I invested the profits wisely in beer, cars, girls and music.

I still have an acoustic guitar from those days - with that and a buddy who knew the words to 200 songs, we really didn't spend much for beer. We'd grab our guitars and head for the country bars for jam sessions and free booze.

That's not that much different than the priorities of some of the kids you mentioned earlier. But we worked hard at our day jobs, and my musical buddy went on to establish a very successful advertising agency (we took our art training together too).

Some of the old childhood buddies became stamp collectors, and I have always been a coin collector, and returned to stamps gradually beginning in about 1978. That was just in time for the huge spike in stamp values, but just like you now, I couldn't see the real value in the insane prices, and avoided the temptation to jump aboard, opting instead to start building a mint US collection of common stamps at, generally, less than face value.

No regrets. I never was a huge Bob Dylan fan, but when Carol returned from a church meeting one recent evening, she found me and Dylan reliving a '60's moment - he was on TV (PBS), of course, and I had that old acoustic. And guess what? The next TV show featured the Everly Brothers.

On a perhaps less cheery (and maybe not musical) note, afeht, I can't help but wonder - do you have any contact now with people you left behind in Russia?

-Dunc
Posted by 22028   ( 1691 ) on Mar-06-08 at 23:15:51 PST   Listings
Alex (afeht), thanks for quoting an article from a German magazine here...
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-06-08 at 22:52:52 PST   Listings
Alex,

in most countries centering only comes into play if all other aspects of the condition of the stamp are perfect and centering then adds onto to the grading of the item. if there are any faults whatsoever, such as paper thins, slight nicks, short perfs., whatever it wouldn't matter how the centering was, whether 100% aligned or way off then it doesn't count.

The idea of grading by a 3rd. party is a good idea as long as the 3rd. parties use a similar method of grading and is not used just for the centralisation (whatever) of a normally common item which is difficult to find with perfect centering which caters only for a small niche of collectors who want absolute centered items,

David B.
Posted by afeht   ( 1277 ) on Mar-06-08 at 22:01:19 PST   Listings
Duncan, re: grading

Believe ir not, I've never heard about "centering" before I came to the U.S. in 1986.

Back in Russia stamp collectors were much poorer, and just having a stamp of a particular number was quite enough. Of course, people would prefer to collect nice-looking stamps but if perforation holes didn't touch design, the stamp was considered "normal," and that's it. Much more attention was paid to thins and creases, which Russians and Germans don't tolerate at all.

I had to sell all my stamps collected in Russia before leaving. Gorbachev's "mild" KGB told me to "disappear, or else"; "else" meant "special psychiatric treatment" for life (prison-like mental hospital for dissidents, where they make people mentally ill by feeding them drugs designed for this purpose -- couple of my friends ended up there).

We escaped with false ID papers and asked for the U.S. political asylum in the IRC office in Vienna). I didn't have anything really expensive in my collection back then, but still I got more than 500 rubles for it, about three average monthly salaries at that time.

At the border crossing point in Chop, where train would go into Czechoslovakia on its way to Austria, we were told that Soviet guards frisked everybody, and confiscated everything of value, especially Soviet money. After several years of persecution and ordeals, they were going to take away the last few rubles I possessed. Some people we were traveling with flushed their money down the toilet, just to avoid giving them up to the socialist paradise of thieves and grave worms. I didn't make my decision until the last moment, when we were boarding the train, at which time guards were searching every piece of clothing and luggage. Luggage was searched separately, and brought to the platform by a porter working for the railroad station. I slided my little bunch of Soviet money into the old porter's callous hand. You should have seen how this money silently disappeared in his sleeve! The old man understood what I was doing in a fraction of a second, and pulled a Houdini act right before the eyes of the guards! I hope he had a good drink that night.

I landed in JFK with one shirt, one pair of pants, one wife, one toddler son, and twenty bucks given to me by the International Rescue Committee, which also paid for plane tickets (later I paid everything back, and donated some extra money to this organization). First few years in the U.S. were very tough -- but, contrary to what stupid liars are saying, neither we nor many other Soviet refugees never took a penny from the U.S. government, and never abused or even used your welfare system. We were not beggars, we were proud, we worked like Dickens' characters -- I still do.

In 1991, I started to collect stamps again, and then, first time in my life, heard about this weird idea of "centering," which now degraded into "grading." I don't understand people who pay 10 times over catalog value to get a stamp that is a fraction of millimeter more "centered" than the next one. I think that having a sound stamp with clear margins on all sides should satisfy any reasonable collector, and that this "grading" fad will pass. Condition is important but there should be a sense of measure in everything.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8914 ) on Mar-06-08 at 21:48:30 PST   Listings
Anne,
the stamp is undoubtably genuine but the OFFICIEL overprint is doubtful and mainly hinges whether the cancel is over or under the overprint. I can't make whether it is or not but a good magnifier should be able to ascertain whether it is or not. The only handstamp I can recognise is Senf Brotehrs, Leipzig which would have been applied when they originbally sold it maybe in the 1890's and it may or may not have had an overprint at that time,

David B.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-06-08 at 21:43:27 PST   Listings
Good night to all and to all sweet dreams of literate (and semi-literate) philatelists, getting the html right, and solving the world's economic woes. Anne
Posted by duncan_doenitz   ( 136 ) on Mar-06-08 at 21:05:49 PST   Listings
Hiya Paolo, sorry for forgetting you on my short list. I apologize profusely. I also forgot sayasan, always a great contributor here. And Bjorn, Knud-Erik, briguy, Peter, Dave F, claghorn and Prometheus too... as I said, the list goes on and on.

Fishing season starts in a few weeks, and then I'll be "Dunkin" bait.

And afeht, thanks for the link to the site about oil speculation. That's a really well written and easily understood article, and a bit scary. Another bubble to worry about. The article does seem to treat the influence of China rather lightly though, when one looks at the long term probabilities.

However, the comparison that they make to the real-estate bubble, and now the influence of speculators driving the price of oil, shows the same pattern of investors pushing prices artificially high.

Could it be possible, the same characters with money to burn and no place to pile it all - are the same speculators to blame for 1) the real estate run-up, 2) the unwarranted rise in oil prices, and 3) the incredible prices paid for graded stamps?

I'm just saying...

Dunc

>{{{*>
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:54:38 PST   Listings
Jim L.
member
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:50:26 PST   Listings
jaywild: thanks for the kind words. I haven't been doing too much with my stamps lately. Staying off eBay has also been a self-imposed cost-cutting measure. But, things may be looking up, the stamp desk has been cleared, and there's a show in NY this weekend that I might make it Time to put together a want list...

nomad: I'm assuming as much, but am asking on the offchance that someone (David B????) might have additional input. Expertizer markes and the meaning of their positions are a foreign language to me. I spent some time on the site you linked to earlier (it's a marvel), but came up empty-handed.

Luxembourg officials are pricey and frequently forged. I think the stamp itself is probably ok (although the color is off in the scan), but am unsure of the overprint.

Anne
Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:38:13 PST   Listings
for abt1950...I think those are owners or experts marks on the reverse of your stamp.

Maybe a search here
http://www.filatelia.fi/experts/
might be useful.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:35:39 PST   Listings
nomad55 Wow, thanks! Perhaps it was privately delivered, since there are no postal markings front or back. It likely is still from this period, because of the poor quality paper and the fact that Stephens spent almost the entire War at home in Georgia.

Jim
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:32:36 PST   Listings
Roger I think he was trying to annoyme, but then got lost along the way



Anne... Nice to see you here. What can we do to make you less of a stranger?

Jim
Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:28:53 PST   Listings
jaywild..Stephens did not have free franking privileges in the Confederacy, neither did Davis.
Free Franks were limited to selected Confederate post office department officials.
The Dietz catalog lists them by name and by job title.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:20:55 PST   Listings
Front is here.
Posted by abt1950   ( 231 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:17:59 PST   Listings
Evening/morning/afternoon from a dark NJ.

Dunc Thanks for the kind words earluer. My ears must have been burning.

Does anyone care to offer an opinion on this http://hometown.aol.com/Abt1950/lux+04+front+600dpi.jpg>Luxembourg official, which is purported to be a Scott O4. The back, which is replete with various signatures (none of which I can make heads or tails of) is here.

Thanks, Anne
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:15:02 PST   Listings
jaywild -

Sucking up will get you nowhere, you must pump when discussing oil. LOL

Roger
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-06-08 at 19:02:16 PST   Listings
afeth Thanks for confirming my statements about oil speculation. I didnt think you would ever say anything that agreed with me.



Jim
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-06-08 at 18:41:16 PST   Listings
briguy This is a free-frank from Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy. Can this be dated from his time in that capacity? He also had free-frank privileges earlier (as well as later) as a member of the US Congress, but I doubt he could have sent anything from Washington without getting some sort of DC cancel. The previous owner thought it dated from 1863.

Jim
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-06-08 at 18:15:12 PST   Listings
Woohoo,

got my stamps ordered from the Tristan da Cunha post office today.
Mailed on February 14th.
And (Royal Mail take note), they used real stamps to mail it.

Too tired to post a link, it has been a long day.
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3929 ) on Mar-06-08 at 17:52:32 PST   Listings

Friend PAOLO - please consider posting more items. Just because you don't get a lot of replies doesn't mean there is no interest. It is a bit like a 4th of July fireworks show when you post, a lot of "oohs" and "ahhs"

Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-06-08 at 17:34:21 PST   Listings
A VERY GOOD EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-06-08 at 17:13:34 PST   Listings
Aloha Paolo -

You are the one writer here who requires that I reach for my dictionary to understand the occasional "big" words. Always right on, and makes me wonder where our English speaking world lost the ability to increase its collective vocabulary rather than dumb down the language. I always wonder why it is so interesting to read old time writing -it's the language. I undertand it and all the nuances used to describe situations. I'm currently reading a history of the Mayflower expedition (1620) to the US shores, and the author quotes from the original documents. Though they have religious flourishes, the words are woven together in a wonderful manner leaving no misunderstanding of the writer's intent. This old style of writing was carried through Patrick Obrian's books of British naval history circa 1800 showing language had not changed much during those 200 years. Now I doubt a high school graduatte could understand any of those writings as the current graduates vocabulary is woefully lacking.

Good Continuation,
Roger
PS: Please show your Swiss items, I'm interested. BTW - My newest version of DeCoppet is ready to mail off to Garfield-Perry next week, and I've had my exhibit accepted for ROPEX, Rochester, NY. in May. I'll be posting the new version next month after taking time to see the Tax Accountant. Still can'tf igure out how to reduce the pages from 128 to 96 which would allow showing in Switzerland.

Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-06-08 at 17:09:17 PST   Listings
stamps-4-ever Let me try to answer your question .First the rate to mail a cover from Hong Kong to San Francisco on that First Flight was $2.80 H.K. .The flight was what was called a Inbound Flight by PAA. The schedule is as follows -----Hong Kong to Manila April 29 ----Manila to Guam April30 ----Guam to Wake May 1 -----Wake to Midway May2-1 {dateline} ----Midway to Honolulu May 2 ----Honolulu to San Francisco May 3-4 .

I have the flight covers and can show you them tomorrow but give me 24 hrs. to get my covers .

Also remember it was the Hong Kong Clipper that flew into H.K. and out back to Manila .Then they picked up the China Clipper at Pan Am's Cavite base and that was the plane that came back to San Francisco .....paul

Posted by vonbag   ( 208 ) on Mar-06-08 at 16:07:30 PST   Listings
P.S.
for
Roger, Jeff and Tom,

You are the three chosen! (LOL)

My e-mail address is embedded in my page.

I, of course, keep on with Switzerland, my love, but I do not find this as a dignifying place to express the FRUITS of my continuated study.

Kind regards,
Paolo Bagaglia
Posted by vonbag   ( 208 ) on Mar-06-08 at 15:29:00 PST   Listings
Aloha Roger!

... (since writing few goes to deserve appraisal, according to Drunken Dnitz, who is abusing of this fake surname and should be ashamed of it not being of OUR convinction... he's better off fishing, in th USA, indeed).

Jeff(postalhysteria), Note taken! I will soon link to you all of the relevant articles about those rates.

Nice to see you posting Tom!
Best to you ... three!

Paolo Bagaglia
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-06-08 at 15:28:22 PST   Listings
For the benefit of homegrown oil futures experts in Rio Linda:

Quote from a recent article in German magazine Spiegel:

The same holds true for the big players, the banks, hedge funds and pension funds, which all trade by computer nowadays. Business on the NYMEX has exploded. The world consumes 86 million barrels of oil a day, but trading volume is 15 times as high. The difference represents bets on future price developments.

FROM THE MAGAZINE
Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
The traders' activities have generated sharp criticism, even in the US Congress, not exactly famous as an enemy of the oil industry. A congressional hearing in December went by the blunt title: "Speculation in the Crude Oil Market."

The upshot of all this trading is that speculators now hold up to 45 percent of all oil contracts -- three times as many as at the turn of the millennium. "Prices are being distorted," says Senator Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is investigating the speculative trading of oil futures. If supply and demand were the only factors, the price of oil would be at least $20 lower.


Full English text of this very interesting article, for those who cannot read German, is here: www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,druck-538412,00.html
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-06-08 at 15:26:59 PST   Listings
jsbmsma welcome to the Stamp Chat. Please feel free to share any philatelic gems you have with us. something old? something new? something unusual?

Linda
Posted by jsbmsma   ( 8648 ) on Mar-06-08 at 15:23:56 PST   Listings
NICE discussion about stamps - The word I think I was looking for is ESOTERICA but now days it matches up with face cream ???
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-06-08 at 13:32:19 PST   Listings
On another note -
On eof the new Wired magazine articels discusses the state of our educational system where entering freshmen are being trained for jobs and skills that haven't been invented yet. High tech careers are for those who can learn something new and and instantly adapt to the change. Remember all those video game players. There are a bunch of them sitting at consoles at secret Air Force installations in Nevada flying drones over Afghanistan and Iraq in real time photographing and bombing the enemy. Did you read about the Israeli bombing last week? The weapons are so accurate they can take out a moving car, little or no "collateral damage". The report stated that all cell phone usage stops when a drone is heard, as it's believed the drone homes in on specific cell phones which the enemy uses!

Roger
Waiting for the skies to get clear as we are presently experiencing pretty large lava flows exhausting SO2, which makes for muggy colored sky. Sort of like LA on a really good day. )'>)
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-06-08 at 13:20:42 PST   Listings
Aloha -
The Educational System: Two case studies.

My nephew and niece were both home schooled since my brother was/is so disenchanted with his own high school and college experiences. Both are great skiers having been raised in Taos. Both travelled the whole country while they were growing up with parents who sold jewelry at arts and crafts fairs. Their US history experieinces were from direct contact usually camping at national historic sites. The daughter started ballet a 3 years old and eventually danced in Chicago at one level below paid professional (she grew too tall for a career in dance). Most recently she is attending a very prestigious academic college in New York on scholarship studying International Relations. Her current "interest" is assisting an orphaned children's school in India, which the whole family visited last year for 6 weeks, and she will return again this summer. So, what's the problem? She is totally frustrated by the immaturity of her fellow students. As she describes the week - Wednesdays are for planning which parties to attend next weekend, Thursdays are for setting up a date, Friday first party, Saturday party for real, Sunday hangover sleep in, Monday same, Tuesdays are for recovery, Wednesday repeat the week. She is attempting to transfer to another college where the administrators takes education more seriously.
The son attended another prestigious Ivy League college on full scholarship (due to the poverty of my brother). He designed his own curriculum chosing to study bioethics, after discovering his interest in genetics (he was a summer intern at U of Chicago as a 16 year old) had been solved by computers during his freshman year. After graduating he went to Barcelona and taught English in return for learning Spanish. Went internet businessing, visited Thailand, returned to US, where he found himself with friends in New York. Now he's a shift manager at a fancy new French restaurant which was reviewed in New York Times. Works with French speaking clientle and employees, and everything is high end. He loves it. );>)

Neither attendedd the public educational system, and they appear to be headed into careers that could never have been predicted. Actually we still don't know what other changes they will make. I'm glad they have been taught to think and make independent choices. Maybe that is the limitation of traditional educational system, teaching thinking and independence.

Roger
Posted by dbenson   ( 8907 ) on Mar-06-08 at 12:50:18 PST   Listings
NOIP,

4th try, Level 12, 62,500,

there is no level 13,

David B.

Posted by duncan_doenitz   ( 136 ) on Mar-06-08 at 12:39:56 PST   Listings
Regarding education, yeah I guess I agree that some parts of the system do suck.

That's not new. In the 60's I dropped out because I wanted to learn about art, and the big rage in college was modern art. After the first year, where thankfully much of the basic knowledge was taught, I was "outta there". Learning how to make mobiles and making abstract sculptures out of balsa wood and colored tissue paper wasn't for me, and the curriculum wasn't flexible enough to allow me to select enough classes that really held my interest, although I did toy with the idea of abandoning the idea of graduating, and just taking classes I wanted. School was too rigid back then, at least for me. Maybe we've flip flopped into just the opposite situation today.

Anyway, junior high school art classes provided a lot more useful knowledge than the college courses did. The rest was on-the-job. Painting a 28 foot wide Cargill logo on a corrugated wall 230 feet high was not at all like the college experience, but it was definitely rewarding, especially when the paint job lasted and looked good from the time it was painted in 1975 until last year when the design was changed.

Schooling really nosedived when they took away the ability to fail. The teachers were not responsible for that, unless you consider that the liberal ideas may have been a product of some of the thinking that was going on in the schools.

However I'm impressed that it was really students, who were so wet behind the ears that they didn't know what they couldn't accomplish, that took on the establishment over the Viet Nam conflict. Same with civil rights. We should be learning from history, and we can learn a few things from idealistic kids too.

As to who is directing national policy, I think much of what we see today is a product of the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower anticipated and warned us about. So we wage war for money, power, profits and raw materials.

Families are really hurting from war, including mine. Everybody sacrifices, with new families split up to provide the troops, the National Guard is stretched to an unbelievable point (and they're not here in the US when they are needed), and meanwhile fat cats not only reap the profits of war and hide their money offshore, we give them tax breaks to boot.

Until Big Business is called upon to make sacrifices equal to those of the common man, it's not going to change. What they are actually doing is unpatriotic, a disservice to our country, and (to keep it philatelic) they hide behind a massive series of Flag stamps which suggest - wrongly - that opposition to the war equates with opposition to the flag and everything that is American.

At the VSC site, they recently asked what is the most repulsive US stamp. My answer is easy, it's the "Remember the Maine" stamp, which apparently most Americans are too uneducated to know, really represents a trumped-up excuse to wage war against Spain, in one last round of empire building. There is no reason to celebrate that period of Yellow Journalism, of lies in the media and the bogus claims that Spain was responsible for the explosion of the battleship Maine.

Our uneducated school kids and teachers didn't select that stamp, it was a purposeful piece of raw propaganda. And its only purpose, as far as I can see, was to once again rouse our population into a retaliatory mood so we could wage war, a knee jerk response to the rallying cry of "Remember the Maine". How pathetic.

History, folks. We need to do our homework.

-Dunc
Posted by 220man   ( 171 ) on Mar-06-08 at 12:07:09 PST   Listings
briguy: They don't call it the 'dismal science' for nothing!

Phil
Posted by thebriguy1   ( 64 ) on Mar-06-08 at 11:58:04 PST   Listings
GOOD GRIEF!!!

You people are uniformally depressed or something.
Every new day is an opportunity to do wondeful things.
Catch a fish,
leer at a pretty girl,
or chase the thrill of uncovering a new philatelic usage unknown to the world.

Take a pill and alter this colletive negative funk.

and quit bumming me out.......man. :o(
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-06-08 at 11:25:37 PST   Listings
NOIP A few observations are in order.
1. First, mutual funds (and pension funds) are barred by law from trading in options or futures contracts.
2. The current depressed value of the dollar is not a bubble but is the direct result of the explosion of wealth in the U.S. stock markets of the 1990s. The first rule of economics is that when the price of anything soars, whats really happening is that the value of the currency dips.
3. When tech stocks deflated in 2001, the speculative money fled into housing, causing the same problem. Now it is oil and precious metals.
4. As to remarks about the Corporate Welfare State I couldnt agree more.
5. As flawed as the US education system is, it still offers sound, useful preparation for those who apply themselves. Case in point is Paul, who today informed us of his daughters achievements in bio-chemistry studies. She listened when her science teachers spoke, and profited from itPaul, alas, was daydreaming when the spelling words went up on the blackboard.


Jim
Posted by stamphick!   ( 338 ) on Mar-06-08 at 10:55:31 PST   Listings
duncan_doenitz...Afeht's statement probably doesn't apply to education in technical fields but it does to the classical liberal education or education in the humanities or social sciences. It is the folks that have that educational background that develop national policy.
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-06-08 at 10:55:23 PST   Listings
duncan, I am sure there are still many bright students, knowledgeable professors and exemplary teachers. Even in the Soviet Union there were some. World is not without good people.

However, if one looks at the majority of adolescents leaving highs schools and entering American work force, any enthusiasm disappears. With all those video games, TV, and Hollywood incessant propaganda of drugs and violence, scientific ignorance runs deep, it's so widespread that I can't find words to describe the feeling of imminent disaster overwhelming me when I overhear young people's conversations.

My son, who speaks three languages, can fix any computer in no time, and beats everybody I know (including me) in IQ tests, left the college after two years of mental torture, because he couldn't stand all those primitive lies professors required him to say and write, the callous subculture of beer, cars, sex and nothing else, prevailing on the campus. He had a nervous breakdown, because he couldn't find anybody to talk to about things that interest him -- physics, classical music, history, evolutionary biology. He thought American college would be about knowledge. No, as a rule it is not. It is about being able to demonstrate that you are ready to stoop to the level of your surroundings, and do and say whatever you're told to do and say, without questioning the prevailing prejudice. Young people who don't have any problem with all that -- yeah, they are doing all right.

Now he got a diploma "in absentia," learning alone at home, working in town, and only driving to the college to take exams. Even that made him cringe, because of the mandatory pinky green ideology inherent in the required curriculum.
Posted by duncan_doenitz   ( 136 ) on Mar-06-08 at 10:00:53 PST   Listings
Thanks for the compliment on writing skills, Paul!

But I really don't deserve it. We are lucky though, that so many really literate contributors meet here. The best in my mind is 1covers, who always manages to say a lot in a small post.

Also jaywild, postalviews, Lindy, Roger, Alec, and the list goes on and on. And yes, I'd include afeht in the list too.

Oh, which reminds me... one statement that I don't agree with:

"The total failure of American education is a direct result of American academia's ideological delusions; when teachers are completely out of touch with reality, what do you expect from their students?"

I've been impressed by the knowledge that graduates bring to their new jobs. Here's an example. My younger son, on his first week at a new job, completed a task in less than two days that had been a struggle for his predecessor for months, and it was due to the CAD skills he brought to the task. But that was several years ago.

Recently, in fact, I was wondering if he was staying sharp, improving his skills. Last week he and another employee spent a week out of town for additional schooling. I asked him after the first day how it was going. He was very disappointed, too much basic stuff that he already knew. However when he returned home, he was delighted to report that the educators were simply laying a good foundation for what was to follow, and each day the challenges became more difficult and he really learned a lot.

And my older son is an engineer making implantable devices for Medtronics, thanks to his schooling.

My wife was a teacher, she retired a little early due to ridiculous meddling in the system from above, but she and the other teachers have always been proud of their accomplishments, and she loves the accidental meetings with former students who tell her what a positive influence she has been in their lives.

About stocks, investments, and such...

Get rich quick schemes and a lack of effective oversight have ruined the system. The days of picking a good company like Winnebago, with the right product in the right place at the right time, seem to be gone.

We have to learn from history. The greed and failure of oversight that brought us the Savings & Loan fiasco has come back to haunt us again. Looking back, there is no reason that Saving & Loan institutions should've been allowed to become completely empty shells. Insolvent, sure. But where was the oversight that should've sounded the alert when a shaky S&L could only return 90c on the dollar, and limited the losses? Crooks who used the S&L's as their own personal piggy banks found themselves in a situation where, with the right political contributions, instead of going to jail, we the taxpayers made up their uninsured losses!

We let them get away with it, and now the banks are in trouble for essentially the same thing! That's just plain nuts.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, the real problem being that we've got "the best government that money can buy!". I expect the next big financial scandal to be the mismanagement of mutual funds, because many of us are way too far removed from our own money and how it is managed. Are we really so naive to think that the watchdogs are looking out for us?

A guy I worked with had all of his retirement eggs in the Enron basket. Some of my wife's Teachers Retirement Fund was in there, too.

I don't have the answers, but accountability has to factor in there somewhere.

Oh, one thing more. Paul, you just expressed something that I hadn't seen you write before - that when you said "go to cash" you really meant that an investor should maintain liquidity. That's what I always THOUGHT you meant. Usually when someone says "go to cash" that also translates into investments in such things as gold and silver, and in fact you mentioned silver in the past.

There's a web site somewhere (I Googled it but didn't save the link) that uses the 1980 measuring tools to map inflation. No fancy tricks, just eliminating all the changes slipped into the measurements by our government since then. They come up with about a 20% rate.

Oh, in my list of the literate among us, I left out one of our best teachere, io! And Anne, and... oh, and I left out David B too, because I really wanted to mention his knowledge of worldwide stamps...

Thanks!

-Dunc
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3929 ) on Mar-06-08 at 09:21:15 PST   Listings

big snow coming down now

Posted by jsbmsma   ( 8648 ) on Mar-06-08 at 08:47:46 PST   Listings
Looking for a word that means misc. paper items cancelled on the first day of issue - tyvm
Posted by stamps-4-ever   ( 146 ) on Mar-06-08 at 08:33:24 PST   Listings
On the Hong Kong First Flight covers of April 29, 1937, to Manila, Honolulu, San Francisco and Guam, what was the correct postage to each of these places. I have seen these covers and have these covers to these places where one cover to the same country is $1.85 then another it is almost $3.85, why such a difference in postage. I have also heard that not all these covers were flown on these special flights.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-06-08 at 06:08:22 PST   Listings
ALEX -----Should of included you as a good writer also .Education in the U.S. is a multi-layer system were some school districts are programed to move everybody ahead at a level adjusted to the needs of the community .
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:57:34 PST   Listings
WOW ----good reading interesting posting below

POSTALVIEW Liked your writting below ,wish I could post and express myself like you or DUNCAN .Im going to download your posting and fax it around to friends .

Not being able to express thoughts into writting leaves me with something like ,when the stock market was at its high last summer ,I was getting hit by a freight train all I could say was ------GO TO CASH,sell everthing and get into a cash position{that doesn't mean dollars in the pocket but cash liquid holdings }.Don't feel sorry for me ,My youngest daughter just aced her major BIO-CHEMISTRY exam out of over 200 seniors taking the exam ,as a honor the school offered a summer intership to work at one of the National top-secret labitories .She coming home tonight to go for the interview {proud Dad }.....off to fix the inferstructure of the U.S.{thats road repair for those of you that are better educated or foriegn }.....paul

Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:51:40 PST   Listings
srailkb, you are actually correct. The only complaint on my part is that some stamps sold by European dealers are way too pricey because of the current exchange rate. And spending time in Paris and London has become a more expensive proposition. But I can always wait for this bubble to burst.
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:46:20 PST   Listings
Well, well... postalviews certainly painted an appalling picture of the U.S., though I am sure nobody here would call him a "crying baby," because he performed all the important required rituals by giving a mandatory kick to president Bush, and praising a ridiculous Venezuelan dictatorship.

There is much truth, however, in what postalviews is saying. Terms "liberal" and "conservative" have lost their meaning, absolutely. And what is called "capitalism" these days is closer to "corporate socialism" than to any kind of free-market, merit-based society. And much of what he is saying about the lamentable state of mind of American youth is also true, though I wouldn't blame Mexican workers for American obesity and laziness: welfare based on taxation is obviously the main culprit. (It has been factually proven that NAFTA created much more jobs than destroyed -- the only significant accomplishment of the otherwise inane Clinton administration.)

As to "Wall Streeters" playing any useful role in economy or society, this is a complex question. They don't inspire much sympathy, that's for sure, and don't produce anything tangible right away. But the system of stock exchanges, investment funds, and futures contracts, despite many abuses inevitable among human beings, has worked much better than any centralized government planning or other ideologically controlled mechanism. The total failure of American education is a direct result of American academia's ideological delusions; when teachers are completely out of touch with reality, what do you expect from their students?

For the life of me, I cannot divine how "unemployment wages and taxes" (neither of which Bush administration abolished, unfortunately) would result in "decent, clean and properly functioning society." Also, "putting money back into circulation" by robbing selected Peter and feeding collective Paul has been exactly the cause of social ills so eloquently described by postalviews, as has been shown by several Nobel-prize winning economists.

Well, well... Maybe for some people it is a "depression." I wouldn't know, because my translation business has never been better -- American exporters are thriving. Thriving are also big and small oil companies, which makes me think that postalviews' oil engineering credentials are either insufficient, outdated, or non-existent. At least he seems not to be in any kind of financial trouble, because collecting stamps and postal history is not something people without discretionary income can really afford these days.

OK, this is an endless subject, and I, unlike kitchen talkers of this world, must work for living. Ciao for now.
Posted by srailkb   ( 3195 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:36:33 PST   Listings
afeht, I find complaints about exchange rates oddly amusing. Every country now has a purely "fiat" currency (backed by nothing, printed at will, intrinsically worthless.) The exchange rate is therefore a measure of relative worthlessness? LOL. Don't worry, if the pain of a "high Euro" becomes too great, they'll crank their printing presses up even higher. BTW, Ponzi schemes generally fail in spectacular fashion.
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:19:14 PST   Listings
"US Postal cards, mind" = US Postal cards, mint

That one got past the spell checker. :8^(
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1482 ) on Mar-06-08 at 05:18:04 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all


trabz
Welcome to the chat board
My primary collecting interest is Indiana Precancels. After that its Ireland, mint, used and postal history. Followed by US Postal cards, mind. Then Bureau Precancels. Then the 1971 British Mail Strike material. I also collect US used, Stained Glass Windows on stamps, Rush County Indiana postal history, world wide used Town and Type precancels from selected states and all kinds of stuff that I just happen to like. Ive also accumulated a small collection of Perfins.

I hope some of the other regular posters will let you know the areas they collect.

Jim L.

member
Posted by ebiz_cafe_x   ( 193 )   on Mar-06-08 at 04:59:08 PST   Listings
Humor to kickoff your day... "Horsing Around"

Brian and his two friends are hanging out at a bar. They're talking about life, sports and other guy things when the conversation finally gets around to to their marriages.

His first friend says: "I think my wife is having an affair with the electrician. The other day I came home and found wire cutters under our bed and they weren't mine."

His second friend says: "You know what? I think my wife is having an affair with the plummer the other day I found a wrench under the bed and it wasn't mine."

Brian, surprised by the candor of his friends, decides to come forth with his marital concerns: "I think my wife is having an affair with a horse."

Both his friends look at him, or course, with utter disbelief.

"No I'm serious. The other day I came home and found a jockey under our bed."
Posted by postalviews   ( 4397 ) on Mar-06-08 at 04:46:21 PST   Listings
BTW I am a true capitalist through and through in my whole present life, whereas those who work for companies are naught but Corporate Socialists being taken care of by their 'Corporate State'. So please, do not call me a Liberal, a Leftist, a Libertarian or any other rightwing propaganda buzzword term, because the sociopolitical spectrum is simply not one-dimensional as has been presented to America since TV began and before. Terms like 'Liberal' and 'Conservative' are absolutely meaningless to anyone with a real brain in their head.

'Conservative' today means "Use everything all up as fast as possible and expand forever." That is the opposite of what it should mean.

'Liberal' today means "Let's pass a bunch of nanny state laws and regulations of all types so we can control everyone." That is also the opposite of what it should mean.

The term 'Socialism' today actually means "democracy" (e.g. Venezuela) whereas the term 'Democracy' today actually means "tyranny, corruption and war crime" (e.g. Occupied Iraq).

And one last overarching terminology gripe: 'Postal History' does not mean "commercial covers" as some maleducated, overrated mail snobs seem to think. Postal History is EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE MAIL, including loose stamps, FDCs, philatelic items--EVERYTHING.

Time for me to go. Have a good thoughtful one, all.
Posted by postalviews   ( 4397 ) on Mar-06-08 at 04:24:23 PST   Listings
Lindy Thank you for your kind comment which has relieved my embarrassment!

Re: Weak Dollar and Stamp Trade

The vast sea of oil is not in the US, and that might be part of the problem. But there certainly is plenty of oil.

In my opinion, the US is in a depression, not a recession. When I went to check my land in Shelter Valley today, about 2/3 of all properties up there were for sale and the area was littered with foreclosures and abandoned properties. It was an ugly mess fit for The Grapes of Wrath. Also, figures don't lie, but government liars figure for political ends. In other words, I believe the numbers we get handed are largely phony. For example, US inflation figures omit food and fuel, which is absurd.

Then there are the several trillion dollars net in corporate tax cuts during the Bushco Regime that have gone from 'the people' to wealthy offshore and onshore corporations owned by the few who already have plenty. That, too, is absurd and entirely uncalled-for.

People in sluggish, socialist Western Europe seem to get handed the equivalent of about $20/hour plus free medical care for being unemployed. That puts a lot of street-level money back into the consumer economy. But here in USA, if one is out of work for a long time, they are largely out of luck unless they are a single mother with kids or some similar waiflike social urchin.

About 90% of the people I know here in Borrego do not work, but rather, purposely milk the system via SSI or other permanent entitlements for being lame and lazy, and about half of the better off ones I know here in USA largely live work-free off of investments based on long-past earnings, or through use of 'OPM' (see Wall Street for an acute example of mass worthlessness in action). None of the people in this paragraph actually produce a single tangible thing the world can use. They are all nothing but American Deadwood bleeding the whole world dry as fast as they can.

Housing has crashed in US but is just beginning to in UK and Western Europe, with Canada and Oz to follow. They will all be as broke as USA in another one to two years, and the currency balance will shift back to some degree. But no one will notice, because by then everyone will be screaming. And as we are seeing now, even the central banksters can't stop the bleeding, because no amount of money printing is going to grow an ear of wheat in and of itself, nor produce a drop of oil out of the ground. In both cases, some sort of employed production worker must do that, and the central banksters have yet to discover that reality-based fact. Wall Streeters, central banksters and their ilk are all 100% parasites and nothing more. The world would be much better off without any of them.

Stamp moral of my duly jaundiced opinions is: when dollar is weak, buy US and sell foreign. When dollar is strong, sell US and buy foreign. I have used this strategy to good effect both ways since the late 1980s.

I have been eating but one meal daily of tortillas and cheese for ten months now, and have a MSE in Petroleum Engineering from UT-Austin with honors plus professional field experience with Schlumberger, but have had not a single response to any of the resumes I've sent out over the past four months of trying for everything I can do, from Advanced Petrophysics on down to being Larry the Cable Guy. No jobs = no money = no economy = rotten currency.

Just my opinion as a 50 year old multiple property owner, multiple degree holder and multiple business owner. I used to be a multiple cat owner too, but the smart one left for the feral lifestyle. but I predict he will eventually return.

Any other points of view would be welcome and read with interest. This is just my view as an old stamp curmudgeon and habitually frustrated American citizen.

Oh, I forgot a couple more severe problems the US has:

1) The many billions of dollars illegally earned here and sent to Mexico each year, thus removed from circulation in the US economy.

2) Can you say "Meth", anyone? This nation's younger brains and teeth are rotting right out.

#2 happened because #1 happened, i.e. idle hands lead to evil thoughts, and idle young American hands are caused by their low level, self-development jobs being handed to illegal workers from Mexico. This is what I see all around me here in town on a daily basis. Every single day, everywhere I look.

But hey, my parents' generation of spoilt American scofflaw corporate welfare pigs thus saved $20 on that big yardwork job, so they can now buy more steak and sweet rolls at Costco or Walmart, and thereby get even more obese, more lazy, and even sicker in the head than they already are while watching corporate newsliars' propaganda.

This criminal activity they call Free Enterprise, but to them, unemployment wages and taxes for having a decent, clean and properly functioning society are both considered by them to be pure Communist evil.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-06-08 at 00:05:55 PST   Listings
Re: Weak Dollar and Stamp Trade

Weak dollar is certainly good for selling, it's the first time in a decade that I sold practically ALL my duplicates (mostly to foreign buyers). However, when I want stamps priced in euros, market is beginning to bite.

Where it all goes? When it will end?

The whole currency exchange turmoil seems pretty artificial, since there is no real big recession in the U.S., and European economy is in its usual sluggish, socialist, trade-union-choked state. Mortgage loan usury crisis hit European banks as much as it hit American ones. Oil is pricey because two thirds of oil futures contracts are in the hands of pension funds and other speculators. There is an ocean of oil out there, and supply will exceed demand at least another 75 years.

In short, US$1.53 per euro has no rational, objective explanation, IMO. But I would welcome any arguments or alternative opinions on this subject.
Posted by knuden   ( 2415 ) on Mar-05-08 at 23:47:51 PST   Listings
Paperhistory & D2 - Thanks for the answer to my Indian Postal cover. :O)

K.E  I'm a catalog King, Expert and Philatelist - whoopee!!

Posted by putney32   ( 1872 ) on Mar-05-08 at 23:26:28 PST   Listings
Tom, its Lindy, Linda or Lyndel - I answer to all 3 :o)
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-05-08 at 23:25:47 PST   Listings
A***a -
I see the beginning of the end for many small sellers, especially those who selll "unique" items such as those found in the Stamps categories. I get the feeling that eBay is now competing with every other online retailer one might find using Google, ie.e seaching for printers or cheaper, older ink cartridges.

I don't see how any computer can determine my Buyer pattern, and if it can, I'll be f*****g amazed.

R***r
S***s R***r C*****s
Posted by postalviews   ( 4397 ) on Mar-05-08 at 23:17:15 PST   Listings
PS I apologize for giving your name incorrectly Lindy and will endeavour to get it right from now on.
Posted by postalviews   ( 4397 ) on Mar-05-08 at 23:15:39 PST   Listings
Hello Linda. Thank you very much for your kind response to my post! It proves once again how helpful and giving the Chat Board posters are as individuals and as a group.

On another note, am getting most of my winners from abroad these days as the ailing Yankee Sawbuck sinks.

Cheers! Tom
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-05-08 at 20:07:57 PST   Listings
postalviews guess you missed this eBay notice on the weekend.

Protecting buyer's identities as they bid on all auction-style listings
To protect the Community from this growing safety threat, we have made the decision to mask User IDs for bidders on all auction-style listings on eBay.com and Motors. This change will go into effect later this week. Even with all this history and need, we understand that masking User IDs on all auction-style listings is a significant change, and it this is not a step we are taking lightly. However, in light of today's environment - and the damage fake email offers pose to our members and to overall buyer trust in the marketplace – it's imperative we act now to make this change.

more details... here...
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803.shtml#2008-03-03092747

its on ALL lots.. 99c or $99 or $999 all lots, hidden bidder ID.

Linda
Posted by postalviews   ( 4397 ) on Mar-05-08 at 20:01:53 PST   Listings
Was up on my land in Shelter Valley today. There was no noise at all as usual, not even cars nor dogs. When I lived in coastal cities every single block always seemed to have some sort of noisy construction job going on every single day.

I note my cheap lots closing tonight do not show any bidders' userids, as if they were hot items receiving many bids. Have not checked to see if it is a program glitch or some dumb new policy. Explanatory heading at top of page seems to indicate that it is a glitch. Am not going to bother wastng my time reviewing all the site policies on this, as I have given eBay enough of my time for free on similarly stupid matters already.
Posted by redlion48   ( 2507 ) on Mar-05-08 at 17:43:20 PST   Listings
postalhysteria I totally agree with you regarding how fast settlements are handled these days. Sometimes in a matter of minutes. U remember the days of waiting for cash, money orders and checks (what's that)? Do folks still write checks?
Gotta love it!!
leonrougeraff
Posted by trabz_the_collector   ( 0 ) on Mar-05-08 at 17:05:49 PST   Listings
I am from Lebanon. I used to collect when I was kid.I stopped for a long period. now I am 25, suddenly I was re interested to go again in this hobby. I decided to collect German and French stamps(used one) since the mint r so costly and I cant afford it.
what about u guys?
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-05-08 at 17:00:44 PST   Listings
Damn it!

59,480 on level 12.
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1481 ) on Mar-05-08 at 17:00:09 PST   Listings

Greeting Trabz,

How about telling us a bit about yourself and what you collect?


Jim L.

member
Posted by trabz_the_collector   ( 0 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:48:34 PST   Listings
so to which country do u collect stamps for?
Posted by trabz_the_collector   ( 0 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:47:05 PST   Listings
thank u i will check itt
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:45:36 PST   Listings
trabz… Or even better, here.

Jim
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:43:53 PST   Listings
trabz… Here ya go…

Jim
Posted by trabz_the_collector   ( 0 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:29:44 PST   Listings
what does mean the red star or green one?
Posted by trabz_the_collector   ( 0 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:27:19 PST   Listings
helloo
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 16:26:54 PST   Listings
Roger… Ouch! Jackhammers can indeed be irritating, especially those giant ones mounted on backhoes. I think they should turn some of those loose in the War on Terror.



Many moons ago, when I worked in a steel mill, one of the jobs I was occasionally stuck with was “chipping out” ladles that needed to be relined. This meant climbing inside and using a jackhammer to remove the entire brick lining, which was anchored in place by molten steel which had seeped behind the bricks. The job took 8 hours, and my head always rang for days afterward.

Jim
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 15:03:58 PST   Listings
I finally made it to 12 (on my 4th try) and scored 556,170 -- like Jim, was less than a thousand points from the supposed "level 13" -- oh well. There are other games on that site as well -- flags, etc. I think it will be a good diversion for a long time. Now if only I could learn the Russian and Chinese cities....
Posted by 19thcentpostal   ( 244 ) on Mar-05-08 at 14:44:36 PST   Listings
Good Afternoon! Glad ya'll enjoyed the game. Sounds like everyone beat the socks off me, must be my crummy mouse. Lynn
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-05-08 at 14:24:51 PST   Listings
A VERY GOOD wink EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-05-08 at 13:56:13 PST   Listings
I just nearly got to level 13 if there is one, missed it by 500 points.

After I clicked on the wrong coast for Cairns, Australia I remembered it was close by to where Cook had landed on the east coast.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-05-08 at 13:41:46 PST   Listings
Bookmark
Posted by dragonstamps   ( 498 ) on Mar-05-08 at 13:32:47 PST   Listings
I can't find Australian cities or Russian empire locations.
Well, I'm guessing on most I should say, unless it's Moscow.
Europe is very easy to get within 100km.
But I don't think I hit closer than 20km.
I missed Boston by 200km, so that shows that the big countries should allow for a greater tolerance for distance error.

I had to quit trying to get to 12... It got frustrating!

Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 12:55:47 PST   Listings
I find that the game really likes Italy and Australia for some reason; at least in my sample of 3 games. Lots of things there. I certainly never had Mayotte, but I bet Io would do pretty well on that.
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-05-08 at 12:36:18 PST   Listings
This game is really interesting as many of the locations listed below were not on my set of cities.

jaywild -

You should live on the Big Island. Every, I mean every, construction job requires jack hammers to break up the lava so a house pad, road, driveway, etc can be built. All location are on a slope so all leveling must use jackhammers. Most are on teh rear end of backhoes, but there are also dedicated track machines that just crawl along a few feet at a time and go p- da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. all day long. On the really large jobs such as road constrtuction they bringin large crushers to create lava gravel of various sizes to make the road bed. The only time a grader is used is during the final stages immediately prior to paving. And talk about dust!@@!@##

Roger
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-05-08 at 12:14:07 PST   Listings
Got to 557,100,

IO, 10k. from Mayotte, 5k. from Venice,

David B.
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 12:08:18 PST   Listings
One thing that I've found humerous is that I've been farther off a lot of US destinations than foreign. I guess it's the big country phenomenon. For most of the little countries, you're pretty close wherever in the country you click. Less tolerance elsewhere!
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 12:02:20 PST   Listings
NOIP… They are rebuilding the supermarket over on Santa Monica Blvd., about a block and a half away, and for the last couple days they’ve had a pile-driver going all day. Now there’s a noise to quickly get tired of…

Jim
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 11:58:12 PST   Listings
NOIP… Ha—got to 557,213 over all, made it through level 12. Closest hit was 24 km (forgot the city now though) worst miss was some damned Norwegian island down in the Southern Ocean. I like the little insults the game gives you when you are wrong—e.g. “You know this is earth, right?”



Jim
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-05-08 at 11:53:16 PST   Listings
Got to level 12 on second attempt and ended up with 540,788.

Playing guess where Mauritius is exactly located isn't easy.
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 11:34:54 PST   Listings
Roger: good work. The closest I hit to anything was 14k. I agree that anything under 100k is as close as you can reasonably get even if you are dead on.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-05-08 at 11:33:01 PST   Listings
NOIP… Congrats to all who did so well on the geography game. I too muffed Australia questions, such as Christmas Island. Who knew it was way up there??? I had some vague notion that it was between Australian and New Zealand. Perhaps it was Norfolk Island I was thinking of.

I also got drowned in the Pacific. I got within 400 miles for Iwo Jima, not too bad, and my closest approach of all was 20 km for Zagreb Croatia, although in that region the countries are about 2 pixels wide…

Jim
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-05-08 at 11:05:29 PST   Listings
Aloha -
I agree the mouse cursor is not accurate enough. I figure 100km tolerance, so anything within 100km is spot on. Missed a few by large margins such as Nuney (or whatever in Australia) if you guess the wrong coast - whoopsey!
Anyway firsttime through 499,121, didn't get to level 12 since I only got 53,000+ at level11.

Fun for the stamp collector, more difficult to those of us who don't collect stamps from 1980 onwards.

Roger
Posted by 5partners   ( 2706 ) on Mar-05-08 at 10:48:12 PST   Listings
Postalhysteria - nice KY selection. Next time I see Louis Cohen I'll let him know someone is actually selling his book on eBay. I agree about eBay. Having been in the business since 1975, eBay is by far the cheapest and easiest way to sell stamps and covers. Beats the heck out of making price lists and running ads with the follow up mail orders. We have no complaints about the fees, and as about 2/3 of our stuff is going overseas PayPal is great.
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-05-08 at 10:18:17 PST   Listings
That game is fun.
However I couldn't get any closer than 65km to a location (not even London).
Made 50,492 on first try.
Next time maybe mouse will co-operate a little better.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-05-08 at 10:02:28 PST   Listings
Knuden & Paperhistory,

Yes, confirming it is Hyderabad,

David B.
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 09:45:34 PST   Listings
I played again. Ran my score to 487,135 but did worse on level 11 (does not help me when half of the final round are pacific islands that you can't even see on the map).

For those playing, I urge patience -- the time factor is worth much less than accuracy.
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-05-08 at 08:39:59 PST   Listings

NOIP

I Just filled some recent cover sales, they are going to FRANCE (2 diff), JAPAN, ROMANIA, SPAIN, CHILE, AUSTRALIA, PORTUGAL, ISRAEL, NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, and KENTUCKY.

All were paid for with Paypal, and all but JAPAN (sales over a couple of days) and KENTUCKY were paid for withing 24 hours, most within 12, and a couple paid prior to invoicing.

All covers were items I have carried to shows for 4 years.

In spite of their irritations, 3 cheers for eBay and PayPal

(am I about to burst into flames??)

Posted by gunnysgt77   ( 544 ) on Mar-05-08 at 07:18:56 PST   Listings
mini*lindy ....Thanks for the help... Gunny
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 06:07:23 PST   Listings
I gave the game one shot. I also couldn't get to level 12, because I had 51,200 on level 11 (you need 55,000). I had a total score of 470,007. I'm sure some of you world collectors out there can beat that -- I get pretty well lost in Russia and the "stans" and I will admit to some problems with Australian cities too.
Posted by paperhistory   ( 1995 ) on Mar-05-08 at 05:51:24 PST   Listings
knuden: probably Hyderabad.
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1481 ) on Mar-05-08 at 04:03:14 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all




Jim L.

member
Posted by knuden   ( 2415 ) on Mar-05-08 at 01:18:04 PST   Listings
Can anyone tell me which Indian State this Postal cover is from?

K.E  I'm a catalog King, Expert and Philatelist - whoopee!!

Posted by billsey   ( 891 ) on Mar-04-08 at 22:42:50 PST   Listings
And I couldn't advance to level 11 on my first try... I'll have to limber up my mousing arm a bit and try again someday. :-)
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-04-08 at 20:27:16 PST   Listings
Lynn… I got through 11 levels but couldn’t advance to level 12 because I only had 48,675 points.

That map is way too tiny to click on accurately!

Jim
Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-04-08 at 20:12:23 PST   Listings
peetah...unfortunately yes. Olympic collectors want these on full cover or card, not cut outs.
Berlin cancels are very common. Those from Kiel, where the nautical events were held, are more desirable.
The 3 pfennig Hindenburg (brown stamp) paid the equivalent of our third class printed matter rate.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-04-08 at 20:08:26 PST   Listings
gunny sgt. WATERMANS of Paris are makers of Ink and Fountain Pens. The back of that casing is advertising their Ideal Portable Pen ...

peetah. European Postal Congress is the event on your first 3 stamps.

Last night, Australia LOST the tri-nations series at Cricket, so no stamps for us! :(

Australia Post incresed all international mail rates this month, (Mar.3)and are introducing a new service REGISTERED INTERNATIONAL PARCEL POST, and REGISTERED INTERNATIONAL prepaid Padded Bags for Merchandise.

Unfortunately my local post office does not have any in stock yet!!

Linda
Posted by peetah   ( 523 ) on Mar-04-08 at 20:02:24 PST   Listings
Jeff - nomad I thought so. Yeah, not my best scans. Thanks. Saves me a listing. I do have another a von Hindenburg 3 pf(?) 1936 Olympic event cancel, but this one has perfed edges. Same assesment?
Posted by 19thcentpostal   ( 244 ) on Mar-04-08 at 20:01:50 PST   Listings
NOIP Familiar with 'Tripadvisor', they have a really cool geography game here. Warning, do not look at this unless you have a lot of spare time! Lynn
Posted by kesav.cssa   ( 0 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:51:18 PST   Listings
A VERY GOOD EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by kesav.cssa   ( 0 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:48:42 PST   Listings
Just remember, old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill every time!
Posted by sneeky37   ( 237 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:44:56 PST   Listings
A VERY GOOD EVENING TO ALL!!
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1481 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:29:18 PST   Listings

Jim L.
member
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:24:57 PST   Listings

peetah - the first 3 have text postkongress, Ditto nomad's value assessment. Jeff

Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-04-08 at 19:08:40 PST   Listings
peetah....event cancels are as good a description as any.
For example, the one on the right - - Tag der Briefmarke - - Stamp Day, honoring stamp collectors.
The three left stamps are cancelled in Vienna. The scan is way too light for me to read the inscription, but it may have something to do with the Spanish Riding Academy (the white stallions)
As cut outs, there really isn't much value.
Posted by peetah   ( 523 ) on Mar-04-08 at 18:42:35 PST   Listings
3rd Reich Would these be properly described as event cancels? Any value?
Posted by gunnysgt77   ( 544 ) on Mar-04-08 at 18:39:41 PST   Listings
postalhysteria ...Jeff, thanks. I did do some 'Google' on the company and found they made or handled sewing stuff. I'll continue looking. Hey...that's a great picture of the French Spidoleine, Huile pour Autos (Oil for Autos) encased item. Thanks again... Gunny
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 18:17:09 PST   Listings

gunny... - I did a quick google on encased postage and France and came up with several references, this one should give you a good overview. The stamp itself is quite common, but the encasing of it can run in the say, $40 and upwards range, if you can find a buyer. It is certainly a nice item. Perhps someone else here is more familiar with these. The early US are cataloged in the Scott US specialized postage stamp catalog. I am unable to locate my old volume of the French Ceres stamp catalog to see if it lists them. Try some internet looking, Jeff

Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-04-08 at 18:16:31 PST   Listings
IO,

Gibbons online,

http://www.stanleygibbons.com/priceguide/index.asp?page=results&country_id=92&keyword=&issue_year=1913&issue_year2=1934&sg_number=&sc_name=39&xFilter=1&pg=4

http://www.stanleygibbons.com/priceguide/index.asp?page=results&country_id=92&keyword=&issue_year=1913&issue_year2=1934&sg_number=&sc_name=39&xFilter=1&pg=5

http://www.stanleygibbons.com/priceguide/index.asp?page=results&country_id=92&issue_year=&issue_year2=&keyword=&sg_number=450-452&xFilter=1


David B.
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-04-08 at 17:40:35 PST   Listings
Brad

To get some idea of the disparity between SG and Scott when it comes to seahorses, these are the quoted values for mint stamps from each.

Waterlow & Layton 1913 printing, Scott 2007

2/6 $275
5/- $375
10/- $625
£1 $2,100

De La Rue 1915 printing Scott 2007

2/6 $375
5/- $425
10/- $1,726

Bradbury Wilkinson 1919 retouch, Scott 2007

2/6 $115
5/- $290
10/- 425

Waterlow 1934 re-engraved, Scott 2007

2/6 $80
5/- $180
10/- $400
-------------------------------------
Waterlow 1913 Gibbons 1993

2/6 Deep sepia brown £95
2/6 Sepia brown £95
5/- Rose carmine £200
5/- Pale rose-carmine £200
5/- carmine-red £200
10/- Indigo blue £275
10/- Indigo £275
£1 Green £950
£1 Deep green £1,250
£1 Dull blue green £950

1915 De La Rue Gibbons 1993 prices

2/6 Deep yellow brown £125
2/6 yellow brown £125
2/6 pale yellow brown £140
2/6 bright yellow brown £140
2/6 cinnamon brown £750
2/6 grey brown £110
2/6 pale brown £110
2/6 pale brown worn plate £110
2/6 very deep brown £750
2/6 seal brown (sepia) £125
2/6 blackish brown £500
5/- rose carmine £200
5/- pale rose carmine £200
5/- carmine red £200
10/- blue £550
10/- deep blue £750
10/- deep blue worn plate £1,000
10/- deep intense bright blue £2,250
10/- bright "Cambridge" blue £2,750
10/- pale blue £550

Bradbury Wilkinson printings Gibbons 1993

2/6 olive brown £55
2/6 chocolate brown £70
2/6 reddish brown £75
2/6 pale brown £75
5/- rose carmine £125
5/- rose red £125
10/- dull blue £175
10/- dull steel blue £175
10/- steel blue £1,500

1934 Waterlow re-engraved Gibbons 1993 prices

2/6 chocolate brown £40
2/6 reddish brown £40
5/- bright rose red £85
10/- indigo £200
Posted by gunnysgt77   ( 544 ) on Mar-04-08 at 16:45:39 PST   Listings
postalhysteria .... Thanks for help. I had to get wife to do the pictures. Thanks to help from Buster44 she came up with this. This should work.(?)
http://www.geocities.com/leasweb/lesson3assignment.html
Posted by balkania05   ( 715 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:38:25 PST   Listings
And check this 2. Think lots of collectors ( Saudi Arabia stamps) should see this or have it on favorites.They explain and show how "good Guys" reproduce the stamps, the fake ones.
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/saudi/main_idx.htm
Posted by balkania05   ( 715 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:28:18 PST   Listings
Thank you very much Jim & David. I've founded, you right David is a bogus from Saudi Arabia but what's most interesting is this :

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/saudi/forgtri.htm

Check this please.Let me know what do you think. My violet stamp has the flow on the top of the triangle.So how this example show the flows only on adjacent pairs?
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:24:17 PST   Listings
Jay, I am not 100% sure if I am correct but I seem to remember it being mentioned somewhere in the dim dark past. The centre design has similarities to the early Saudi designs,

David B.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:22:59 PST   Listings
Io… Seen this?

Jim
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:16:42 PST   Listings
Bjorn… It was my understanding that $200 was the cutoff for hiding bidders’ IDs.

balkania... When I saw your mystery triangle stamps I first thought of one of the many issues created by former entities of the Russian Empire who found themselves more or less independent after the Revolution but before they were all consolidated into the USSR. However I defer to D2 on the subject.

Jim
Posted by thebriguy1   ( 64 ) on Mar-04-08 at 15:07:14 PST   Listings
OK, its completely non philatelic, other then the open speculation the OZ Post might offer up souvenir sheet of this soon (with holographic stamp would be quite spiffy), BUT at least I've learned the important lifes lesson to NOT snicker at the cricket players, who've been holding games at a city park near me. I've decided to stop picking on Aussies too!

YouTube is a wonderful leap forward for humanity. :o)

Warning - pseudo nakkie video!

Dangers of cricket
Posted by bjornmu   ( 997 ) on Mar-04-08 at 14:18:40 PST   Listings
Hmm, I thought all itemns over $100 would have anonymized bidders now, but not this one. BTW that high bidder has always had a * in his/her name, so I know it's real.
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 14:13:20 PST   Listings

Howdy Paolo - glad it got there safe and quick. What would be useful to me would be a list of domestic and international postal rates in effect during the duration of the Italy Workers issues of 1950, and 1955-1957. A friend and I have been acquiring these with no urgency. I did get a list from the APS APRL but the rates didn't correlate well with the actual items at hand. Jeff

Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-04-08 at 14:12:28 PST   Listings
Aloha Paolo -

I think the Post Office department fired the employee who was responsible for "holding" the mail. His job was to misplace bags, hold over weekends, chose the slowest routing, etc. I say this because yesterday, Monday, 3 March, I received an envelope mailed on Friday 11am, 29 February in Julich, Germany.
I didn't even pay for the item until this morning. Talk about feeling guilty! ):~(

A great seller from whom I've bought many nice items - silkeskinn.

Off to work on a glorious day, summer is here, but some residual snow visible on the high peaks. Surf's Up and the transpacific planes are flying late as usual making for overtime almost every night. )'>)

Roger
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:43:10 PST   Listings
Hey Mitchell,
Nice China pages!
Paolo
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:38:57 PST   Listings
I see there are no comments fot the postal object I linked,

Knu... ehm Paolo (LOL! ;-) --- as usual!!!)
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:33:15 PST   Listings
Umh! Errrrrr.: "SARE" = DARE!
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:32:02 PST   Listings
Howdy Jeff,
I received your sending today!
Sent from
"Fort Worth TX XXX
28 FEB 2008 PM 8T"
laser (?) printed slogan cancel:
"LET US SARE TO READ,
THINK, SPEAK AND WRITE."
John Adams, 1765...
on 90 cents airmail.

It only took five days from Texas to Soesterberg!



The adhesive stamp is gorgeous.
I will reply A.S.A.P.!

Many thanks for now!
Paolo

Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:22:03 PST   Listings
Balkania,

I am not 100% sure but I think they are a bogus issue attributed to Saudi Arabia in 1922,

David B.
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:15:41 PST   Listings
The Dutch seller just agreed to combine shipping, after three reminders. All well that ends well.

Don't know, though, how to wake up a seller in Uruguay. Maybe, FedEx him an alarm clock?
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 13:10:02 PST   Listings

I was not aware that Spain had submarines.

Posted by brad   ( 556 ) on Mar-04-08 at 12:06:53 PST   Listings
David B. --- thanks for the guidance!
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-04-08 at 12:05:10 PST   Listings
wrd3 and malolo,

I don't mind receiving lots without communication.

However, in one case I paid for two small "Buy it Now" lots a month ago, and the seller from Uruguay ("soplanuca") doesn't answer my questions (neither in English nor in Spanish) about these lots' whereabouts.

In the other case, I won 4 lots from the same seller in Netherlands, but he didn't make any provision for combined shipping, and I don't want to pay $12 for shipping of just a few, not very expensive stamps. However, this Dutch seller ("stamps4sale") did not answer to my three requests about combined shipping, and I don't know, what to do, frankly (frist time in 12+ years on eBay).
Posted by malolo   ( 881 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:54:24 PST   Listings
a***a -

There is no reason to even bother with the new bidder ID's which are supposed to allow one to identify different bidders. If we, the buyers, don't know the name of the competition based on this format of *****, names serve no purpose whatsoever. very auction might as well be shown with Bidder 1, Bidder, 2, Bidder 3, etc. Only eBay computers will know the names of each buyer. If we can't deduce the competition, there is no point in the computers creating tricky a*****e names.

Alex -
I have had a couple of recent sellers who must assume the eBay "You won on eBay!" email to buyers contains all the necessary information for us to pay. If they don't accept Paypal (the 8th Wonder of the World), then it is necessary for them to send out their mailing address or their electronic bank account information allowing us to make electronic deposits. When they don't send payment information, we are stymied.

Roger
Swiss Razor Cancels

Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:47:12 PST   Listings
brad,

There are 4 face values, 2s.6, 5s., 10s. & One Pound, as Alex said the One Pound is a difficult stamp and is worth a high percentage of catalogue value. All the printings of the 10s. are hard to find and command good prices especially is they are well centred and have a cds. however the 2s.6 & 5s. are relatively common stamps especially with heavy parcel or heavy oval registered cancels which are worth a small percentage of catalogue value, maybe 5%-10 at the most. The 2s.6 & 5s. with a nice light cds. or light oval registered cancel are worth 30%-40% of catalogue. There are some good re-entries (double transfers) and these should be looked for as well as some better shades,

David B.
Posted by wrd3   ( 104 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:37:53 PST   Listings
afeht in my recent purchases, from perhaps 5 different sellers, I had 3 with very good communication - prompt invoices, communication to let me know payment had been received and lots in the mail, and 2 with absolutely no communication ... no invoice, no communication at all. I paid via paypal, and have received both lots (the second one just yesterday). So in my limited recent experience it's clear some sellers definitely have communication challenges.

Bill D.
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:37:07 PST   Listings
Brad

Just look at the PR's for any of the major auction sales of British stamps.
Posted by brad   ( 556 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:07:22 PST   Listings
aheft and iomoon --- thanks.

Any place to turn for more reasonable pricing guidelines, or does it just come down to experience for each individual collector?
Posted by balkania05   ( 715 ) on Mar-04-08 at 11:06:17 PST   Listings
Hello e1,
Need again your help. Could't find this stamps in my catalogs. Can somebody tell me what country and year please? balkania05
[IMG]http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8788/45584794ar5.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/2405/64201858fw3.jpg[/IMG]
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-04-08 at 10:53:31 PST   Listings
Sellers seem not to send invoices, and not to answer reminders lately. It happened before, once in a while, but this is the first time I have a situation where three different sellers are stubbornly silent simultaneously. Anybody else notice this tendency?

brad, yes, GV Seahorses and many other things are way overpriced even in Scott, not to mention SG or Michel. I remember how one of the most prominent German collectors (a certified expert) told me that he divides Michel values by 30 (!) to arrive at reasonable price. I collect GB for 40 years, and I NEVER seen or heard about a used Seahorse stamp sold for anything close to even half of catalog (unless we are talking about green 1 pound Seahorse or never hinged mint ones, which MAY BE selling for half or even two thirds of catalog, if in perfect condition and well centered),
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-04-08 at 10:51:44 PST   Listings
Brad

Mint and used seahorses are two entirely different kettles of fish.
Because of their high face value, the seahorses were primarily used for parcels and registered mail.
As a consequence most of the used had really yeuky roller cancels which no one wants to collect except as spacefillers.

The mint stamps are highly collectable but often have problems with centering.
Additionally, Scott does not list anywhere near the number of color variations that you find in Gibbons so there is a potentially smaller audience for the more uncommon colors.
Add to which Gibbons is grossly overpriced for much GB pre-WW2 material.
Posted by 220man   ( 171 ) on Mar-04-08 at 10:49:14 PST   Listings
gunny: Just remember, old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill every time!
Phil
Posted by brad   ( 556 ) on Mar-04-08 at 10:38:34 PST   Listings
Soak-ability problems ... recent US issues have it ... anyone have reports from any other countries?
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 09:53:29 PST   Listings

Hi gunny - encased stamps were usually used as a type of coinage by merchants in time of tough economics. Also as an advertising medium in that it was good at face value at the store that issued it. Without more info on time frame of stamp issue, it will be hard to asses a value. Can you post a scan or clear digital image? I don't know if there is a catalog for french encased postage. There are catalogs for just about anything anymore. Have you tried a google search? Jeff

Posted by gunnysgt77   ( 544 ) on Mar-04-08 at 09:01:23 PST   Listings
Excuse please...Error on previous post ..Should say Watermen, not Waerman.... Must be this key board that causes this. Couldn't be age, right?
Posted by gunnysgt77   ( 544 ) on Mar-04-08 at 08:48:31 PST   Listings
Good Morning .... Can someone help me with any information on a encased 5 C. French stamp. The back reads Kirby Beard & Co Lo/ Porte-Plume/ Ideal/ Waerman/5 Rue Auber, Paris....Thanks in advance for any help...Gunny
Posted by brad   ( 556 ) on Mar-04-08 at 07:49:00 PST   Listings
Looking at GB Geo V "seahorse" issues - can someone please explain the catalog values to me?

I have repeatedly heard that SG is overpriced for a lot of things, but even compared to Scott, most of the lots I see here go way under the catalog values.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-04-08 at 05:36:51 PST   Listings
NOIP… Mitch’s China links—

this and
this

Jim
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-04-08 at 05:25:15 PST   Listings

NOIP - is it possible to get an actual eBay ID such as x****y?

I guess bidder searches already bookmarked by full name will still be searchable? (got to see what the competition is finding you know)

Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1481 ) on Mar-04-08 at 04:01:36 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all




Jim L.

member
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-03-08 at 21:51:11 PST   Listings
ANT -RANT. maybe you missed the first <
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 21:46:17 PST   Listings
Hmm...... that html works fine in my html editor but not on the board.
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 21:43:05 PST   Listings
NEW READERS AND COLLECTORS If you are scratchin your head not being able to figure out what were talking about.
HREF=http://solo18.abac.com/mward/collection/china48.jpg>this and HREF=http://solo18.abac.com/mward/collection/china48a.jpg>this page from my collection of 1948-49 China might help.
I don't collect all those rare overprint varieties just fill spaces. Really boring spaces for the most part here. When you get to the provinces in BOB it really gets wacky.

Hope this helps
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 20:58:19 PST   Listings
Here's one
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 20:48:27 PST   Listings
don't know why, but this just came to mind,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvs4bOMv5Xw

David B.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-03-08 at 20:27:04 PST   Listings
Kathmoon You can have that option on eBay chats if you so wish. Just subscribe to Happy Chat or Webtalk (you'll have to google for their exact address, eBay does not like it posted here).
If you chat on the boards with those programs you can elect to 'ignore' certain IDs, and then you only see a grey bar and not the text.

try it if some posters annoy you.

OK Paul, pretty page, now, can we see your first page of Stamps? in the album.

Linda
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 20:07:09 PST   Listings
wrd.,

sorry, I won't continue asking Paul to apologise as I know he won't.

David B.

p.s. Paul has the habit of changing my words, that is why I have to reply whenever that happens.
Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-03-08 at 19:46:22 PST   Listings
jaywild...I just sent off a quick email to a guy in Germany whose researching feldposts.
Wrote it both in English and German.

Gut feeling tells me its somewhere in occupied Poland.
I've been able to find out some info on the cover's recipient, his name is Albert H. Rieth. He later was awarded the Knights Cross in 1944.
Posted by wrd3   ( 104 ) on Mar-03-08 at 19:36:34 PST   Listings
dbenson nor would it be endless if you didn't pick on every little thing Paul posts and never let it go. Frankly neither of you behave as adults in this relationship (and yes, it is a relationship).

Bill D.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 19:18:39 PST   Listings
kath,

it wouldn't be endless if Paul apologises for calling someone a liar,

Just a simple apology is all that is needed,

David B.
Posted by kathmoon   ( 437 ) on Mar-03-08 at 18:49:20 PST   Listings
NOIP: Here is an idea for the new President. Maybe we could get Ebay to give us a "side-bar Chat" - similar to the old days when CBers contacted each other on the main channel and then went to another channel to have a prolonged conversation. This way we would not have to be subjected to the Paul-David B. Dialogues that, at times, seem endless.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 18:27:16 PST   Listings
Pul, again you are twisting my words, I never said you had no early China, I said that early China was 19th. Century, anyway thanks for showing a $2 stamp,

p.s. Lloyd is still waiting for an apology,

David B.
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-03-08 at 18:18:37 PST   Listings
nomad55… I saw your question, but unfortunately I don’t know. Go look up eBay seller krautinjapan, as I am almost certain he can help you.

Jim
Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-03-08 at 18:06:00 PST   Listings
Hmmmmm.....did I ask my question at the wrong time?

Like in the middle of a Chinese Urinary Olympiad?
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:58:06 PST   Listings
GEE ---DAVID B. ----I though you were going to apologise about your no early China remark ......but thats ok ,I'll drop it ....lol....

Here is my first page ,usually I don't use opening pages but found this in one of the file folders with a bunch of album pages.It was so colorful and appealing that im going to use it as a first page ....lol.... Paul's first page .......

Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:55:44 PST   Listings
Paul,

have you checked Ebay lately, plenty of 1894 Dowagers for sale,

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&catref=C12&saaff=afdefault&sacur=0&fcl=3&frpp=50&from=R10&saslop=1&fss=0&satitle=China+dowager&sacat=260%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32%26fsoo%3D2

David B.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:51:23 PST   Listings
Paul, thanks, I presume you have the other values as well,

Now it is time to apologise,

David B.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:39:31 PST   Listings
NOIP-----Here is another early imperial issue of CHINA . It is from the 1894 Dowager issue . This copy is from the first printing ,it can be told by two ways first the color is stronger and brighter and the color of the paper . The second issue which was printed in 1897 are more pale in color and on whiter paper.Also on mint copies the gum on the second printing is thin whiter gum.The second printing was intended only for surcharging in the new cents currency,only a small quanity without surcharges reached the public . DOWAGER ISSUE OF 1894 ....paul
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:37:49 PST   Listings
Paul, you said you have made 50 album pages of early China, just show page 1,

David B.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:31:32 PST   Listings
Paul, do both, apologise and show very early China.

I never said you didn't have any early China, I said that early China was 19th. Century and you said that early China means up to 1948. I know you have some early China, you showed two 1c. Red Revenues yesterday, do you want to show the better values, Large Dragons, Small Dragons, Dowagers and their overprints, the ICP issue and the various CIP issues,


David B.

Posted by nomad55   ( 963 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:21:07 PST   Listings
Another German question, if I may.

In January 1940, where was Feldpost 03485 located?
An army unit, as there's no letter prefix.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:14:16 PST   Listings
DAVID B. ---Let it go ,I would rather rather bring up more of the very early China that you said I didn't have .....so I'LL post more .
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:11:02 PST   Listings
Do we settle when we "meet"
LOL

Paolo ;-)
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:05:55 PST   Listings
Paul, no, don't try and wriggle out of it,

you stated,

" YEA and Im waiting for his explanation why he deleted the posting . "

That is a definite statement that he deleted it,

JUST APOLOGISE YOU WERE WRONG,

David B.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:04:44 PST   Listings
Jim, they started that on eBay Aussie in Feb. As a seller you get to see the ID, but you cannot check to see what other items that prospecive buyer is bidding on, I don't like that!.

Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:03:13 PST   Listings
DAVID B. ---Let it go,,,,, LLOYD and me will work it out when we meet .
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 17:01:15 PST   Listings
FIGMENTE What do you think ,would it be good to reciprocate the kind offer of WILLDERSPIN to put a link on their web site ....paul
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:59:27 PST   Listings
Paul, are you accusing Lloyd of deleting the post on purpose. A Yes or No or possibly a Maybe would be sufficient,

David B.
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:59:20 PST   Listings
I just acquired bought this folded letter (cheap) sent from Ferrara to Firenze, correspondene between French high rank militars during the Napoleonic occupation (first Kingdom of Italy, referred to in the text inside) dated 26 may 1808:
http://i29.tinypic.com/ofvq5c.jpg

page 1
http://i28.tinypic.com/vg5xld.jpg

page2
http://i32.tinypic.com/10coz6a.jpg

page3
http://i31.tinypic.com/2uf3ci0.jpg

Cheers,
Paolo
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:57:17 PST   Listings
NOIP------Why some people write catalog numbers on the back of stamps and especially when the I.D. is wrong it drives me nuts . Keep finding them on the China issues .
Posted by figmente   ( 917 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:56:53 PST   Listings
theswedishtiger doesn't seem to be on the yellow box page, am I just blind, or is there some other reason?
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:53:57 PST   Listings
DAVID B. ----YEA and Im waiting for his explanation why he deleted the posting .
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:51:20 PST   Listings
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.



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06/28/07


Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:48:34 PST   Listings
NOIP… I just got the official word from eBay that the new “y***z” format for displaying bidders on all auctions will be put in place here too. Implementation date? All they would say is “soon”.

Jim
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:44:35 PST   Listings
19thcentpostal--------I'll link a real SWA overprint of the same stamp so you can see that just by looking at the overprint it is easy to notice the differences .The originals are sharper lettering and yours are more rounder and lighter in appearance .The difference are real easy to notice .
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:40:57 PST   Listings
Paul,

I think Lloyd is waiting for an apology,

David B.
Posted by stamps12345   ( 225 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:38:19 PST   Listings
WILLDERSPIN THANK YOU for putting this chat room on the SWEDISHTIGER.COM site .It is a nice layout site and helpful to all.

Also someone here can reciprocate and add or give your site a better mention and a link in the yellow boxes.

Let me apologize for Mitch for both on the spelling of your name and his rude treatment at first .

But thanks for your help in expanding the rearch of this chat room ......paul

Posted by 19thcentpostal   ( 244 ) on Mar-03-08 at 16:38:08 PST   Listings
dbenson and infla-alec
Thank you both for your responses, I appreciate it.
Lynn
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-03-08 at 15:58:36 PST   Listings
NOIP… Wow—one mild tweak is good for an unending stream of enraged responses. Either I’m getting better or his condition is getting worse…



Jim
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-03-08 at 15:33:03 PST   Listings
Jeff

Here its not settling, just snow virga.
I thought at one point we might get a snowbow, since the sun was also out.

Did get this nice cover from the PO today.
Posted by postalhysteria   ( 3928 ) on Mar-03-08 at 14:51:32 PST   Listings

IO - snow started about 3pm today, we'll see how the trees that are budded already take it. It has been a serene view out the window listing covers today watching the snow. The countryside here has a Frederick Remington look to it.

Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 14:35:03 PST   Listings
Just noticed this on Virtual Stamp Chat re grading,

" The Philatelic Foundation Announces a

New Enhanced Grading System

The Philatelic Foundation in is pleased to announce that its experts are instituting an exciting new, enhanced grading system. Beginning in March, 2008 the PF will formally recognize stamps of “Exceptional Quality” with an “XQ” designation on its certificates.


The PF has developed this innovative approach because all stamps with the same grade are not identical. Consequently some outstanding stamps can now receive certificates that more accurately reflect their special status. This is especially appropriate for some outstanding classic and early 20th Century issues that do not fit comfortably into such standard grades as 85, 90 and 95, which the PF believes must be based primarily on a stamp’s centering and margins.


In the future the PF will add the letters XQ (“Exceptional Quality”) to the standard numerical grade of any stamp when it exhibits one or more of the following characteristics: better centering for the grade; more generous margins; exceptional color, freshness, impression; or, a light or specialized cancellation.



The PF’s professional staff, with over 100 years of combined experience in evaluating, describing and grading stamps, is confident that it can consistently and uniformly identify these outstanding stamps. This will usher in a new era of enhanced grading. "




David B.
Posted by sayasan   ( 750 ) on Mar-03-08 at 14:27:24 PST   Listings
Oh God. Here we go again ...
Posted by iomoon   ( 1063 ) on Mar-03-08 at 14:11:06 PST   Listings
Great pictures K-E.

We are having fickle weather.
Yesterday I was in the backyard BBQing steaks with the temperatures in the mid 70's F (23 C).
Today it is snowing.
Posted by mini*lindy   ( 586 ) on Mar-03-08 at 13:36:03 PST   Listings
obviously the movie interested some people enough to google it..

mmm interesting. I would have thought those with no interest would have just skipped the posting!

Knud thanks for the photos. Interesting vacation I'm sure.
We spent a few weeks vacation driving here in February and passed through PARKES in New South Wales, home to THE DISH, 64-metre Telescope used for Radio Astronomy.

Linda
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-03-08 at 13:24:30 PST   Listings

A typical review of "Michael Clayton" from Netflix (if you don't count ctudio-paid critics, of course):

"As the credits rolled, I thought, "Is that all there is? That's it?" I was expecting greatness. I was expecting one of the best movies of the year. I was expecting an unexpected plot or twist. What I got was a completely predictable, very slow, mish-mash of not much of nothing. I've seen this type of movie dozens of times, and this one does not stand out - very simple-minded, very plain, very little tension with a couple of meaningless subplots. This was a highly overhyped film."

Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-03-08 at 13:14:07 PST   Listings
Dear Richard,
you wrote:
"clarification: I'm politely declining Paolo's nomination.
plea: Don't anyone please ask again for a Russian translation ...
"

I am sorry, but I fully understand.

I agree with the rest. (period)

Kind regards,
Paolo Bagaglia

P.S. I am sure I had already mentioned it,
there was a Mr. Warren involved in Dutch philately, who made some important discoveries on the First 1852 Issue, back to 50 or more years ago... the oldest reference I have of the so-called Warren Spot on 10 c. "carmine" of plate VII - VIII is from 1957.


Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 13:13:45 PST   Listings
Bill D. Yes that was the reason. I have gone through them and have added quite a few. Completing the second page was the main reason for getting the one lot. I have also gone through what was left for you, I'll be sending them off shortly.
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 13:10:18 PST   Listings
Wilderspin Thank you for your kind offer to link the EUSC on your site. It is much appreciated.
Here is the link to the EUSC home page:
http://www.iusc.org/index.html

Mitchell
EUSC President
Posted by jaywild   ( 1057 ) on Mar-03-08 at 12:39:43 PST   Listings
infla-alec… That was a very nice 1 Dec 1923 cover you showed, yesterday or the day before.

We watched Michael Clayton last night. Pretty darn good movie, with first rate performances, and no gratuitous special effects. Normally I am not a big fan of thriller type films, but this one never left the realm of the possible, and the characters remained real personalities throughout, instead of good guy/bad guy cut-outs. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Jim
Posted by willderspin   ( 825 ) on Mar-03-08 at 12:18:55 PST   Listings
Antonius Ra

Forgive me, I have not heard of the EUSC or have any idea of its structure or organization. I was presuming that Stamp12345 was a person to ask, from the nature of his posting. Obviously by your upbraiding of me, I was wrong in my presumption.

I shall be updating theswedishtiger.com in the next few days and I shall provide a link. I ask whoever, is authorized to answer (I know not who), if they want a link to this page or does the EUSC have a special page of its own that it would like the link to go to?
Posted by infla-alec   ( 588 ) on Mar-03-08 at 12:18:09 PST   Listings
Lynn For virtually ever area of German philately there is an expertizer. A full list of who does what is available at the back of the German Michel Spezial catalogues.
Assuming you have material you want to be expertized I would first contact the relevant expertizer. Most have e-mail address's listed. Explain briefly what you have and ask for a guide as to the estimated costs. Also be sure to ask what payment methods they accept. Sometimes worth asking for an estimate of time required to carry out the work. Depending on who it is they may be busy expertizing material in bulk for some of the main line auction houses.

Many do speak English although I don't know off hand who does and who doesn'T. But assuming you have material to submit it is always best to enclose a photo copy / scan of the items you are submitting. Be sure to keep a copy for your own records.
It is probabaly best to send material by some sort of insured or registered mail.
Once the material has been expertized you will receive an invoice by post or e-mail. You make the payment as agreed and your goods are returned to you via registered or insured mail.

I say ask for a guide as to costs because these can vary. I don't know the exact costs for other areas but for example to have a single inflation stamp which is used expertized the cost will be €0,50. But if the stamp is known in a range of colours also then it will be an extra €0,50 to identify the colour also. The expertizer may sign the reverse of the stamp with his findings or not as the case may be if all is not well.

Bear in mind that there is usually also a minimum fee of around €10 per sending. So it is not unusual to send in several items all at one time.

If well known to an expertizer he /she may well offer you a discount.

Usually the more expensive items will receive a certificate, (Attest) and for these you pay extra. The max amount I believe that can be charged for any single item is 4% of catalogue value. But don't quote me on that.

The position of the signum also indicates wether a stamp is in perfect unmounted mint condition, hinged, used etc etc. Examples of this are illustrated in the Michel catalogue.

If you or anyone else wishes to have material expertized and needs help contacting someone please feel free to mail me. If ebay contact doen't work you can contact me via my web page below.

OPD 1923
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 12:10:01 PST   Listings
19th.C,

no, it would be a waste of time, effort & money to get them certified, they will come back with a negative result as soon as they put them under a lamp and see that the line of the cancel has been improved. If they had a SWA cancel there might be a chance but without it, forget it,

David B.
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 11:58:36 PST   Listings
D1,

I still have 100's of Queensland Tatt's covers, must check them when I get around to it.

David B.

Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-03-08 at 11:55:48 PST   Listings
No surprise: Sayasan's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire.

de66:

Thank you. They are asking something like US$125 for Paterson catalog. I amd very interested in classic NZ, and I will buy this catalog but I'll wait until the current "weak dollar" speculative bubble bursts (hopefully, this summer), to take advantage of more realistic currency exchange.
Posted by wrd3   ( 104 ) on Mar-03-08 at 10:52:30 PST   Listings
antonius-ra I wondered if the concern for transit time from Canada was because you were anxiously awaiting the Venezuelan lots you had won. Looks like they made it to you finally. Hopefully you will make a huge dent in your remaining Venezuela want list.

I don't know if I'd have had any additions to the topic of expertization, as to my knowledge, expertization isn't used (or at least not often) to verify perfin patterns. But I was enjoying the beautiful spring weather camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend, so couldn't participate.

Bill D.
Posted by de66   ( 1203 ) on Mar-03-08 at 10:30:45 PST   Listings
D2

Yes noticed that perfin covers are jumping in price, also noticed a couple of your 2d Qld covers [ex amiet] had the cracked cliche on which sold for pennies to Andrew, last auction price for one on cover went for $550.00

D1
Posted by de66   ( 1203 ) on Mar-03-08 at 10:28:15 PST   Listings
Alex

If you are into NZ then you need a copy of CP

D1
Posted by duncan_doenitz   ( 136 ) on Mar-03-08 at 09:56:37 PST   Listings
To knuden, nice photos - I'm on dial up, and don't open every link, but yours were a pleasant surprise. When the first picture opened, I heard myself go "Oooh!".

And 19thcentpostal, the frosty winter scene you posted a while back (now scrolled away) was a real beauty too!

Occasionally an unruly passenger will appear on our little online tour bus, too busy with his own agenda (hijacking the bus) to enjoy the ride, but you guys make it all worthwhile.

lluehhhb, thanks too to you for the great explanation of the Chilean stamps - well done.

-Dunc

"Please remain seated while the bus is in motion."
Posted by sayasan   ( 750 ) on Mar-03-08 at 09:34:54 PST   Listings
clarification: I'm politely declining Paolo's nomination.

plea: Don't anyone please ask again for a Russian translation ...

Posted by 19thcentpostal   ( 244 ) on Mar-03-08 at 09:27:01 PST   Listings
dbenson Re: SWA overprints. Thank you for your observations. Do you think I should persue a cert. for these? If so, from whom?
Hey Mitch!Glad you enjoyed them. PS, are you going to 'Bless' wilderspins' offer to advertise on theswedishtiger site?
Lynn
Posted by vonbag   ( 207 ) on Mar-03-08 at 08:54:32 PST   Listings
Alex,
The problem is that *he* jumps on my back with erroneous observations and unfounded accuses of misleiding and much else!!!
When he stops doing that, I will only stop *noticing* him!!!

--, Paolo Bagaglia
Posted by knuden   ( 2415 ) on Mar-03-08 at 08:39:49 PST   Listings
Alexander - Thanks again. :O)

iomoon - Jim. Here is some more pictures from Teide:
Picture 1.
Picture 2.
Picture 3.
Picture 4.

K.E  I'm a catalog King, Expert and Philatelist - whoopee!!

Posted by lluehhhb   ( 347 ) on Mar-03-08 at 07:02:23 PST   Listings
Bill again

I've just noticed that there is a box with the word "CENTENARIO" just below O'higgins portrait and above "MAIPO", that's missing in the cinderella. Of course it was added in the best forgeries.

I don't want to think in the amount of time needed to alter these labels...
Posted by lluehhhb   ( 347 ) on Mar-03-08 at 06:53:49 PST   Listings
Bill

Sure! I'll try to find a better image of the cinderella (none of the images I linked is mine. I can scan a copy of a real stamp so you can use it freely).

Let me add that the original stamp has the years 1818 and 1918 in the bottom corners. The cinderella doesn't have them, but the forgers added them if you see the images.
Posted by claghorn1p   ( 414 ) on Mar-03-08 at 06:33:34 PST   Listings
lluehhhb may I use your 1925 info on my site?
Posted by scottpel3   ( 875 ) on Mar-03-08 at 05:35:11 PST   Listings
craftyps
I appreciate the additional information.
Thank you,
Scott
Posted by jim_lawler   ( 1481 ) on Mar-03-08 at 03:34:00 PST   Listings
Greetings
and an Indiana "Good Morning"
to you all




Jim L.

member
Posted by afeht   ( 1276 ) on Mar-03-08 at 01:49:50 PST   Listings
de66, muchas gracias for a useful link.

As soon as I accumulate enough of Australian and NZ official perforations to bother with identification, I'll by the reference book. (Sometimes I think I am more addicted to browsing through catalogs than to stamps themselves.)

What do you think of Campbell-Paterson NZ catalogue? Is it worth what they are asking for it?
Posted by dbenson   ( 8901 ) on Mar-03-08 at 00:47:15 PST   Listings
D1,

there is always exceptions to every rule and I agree with you, most state perfins are much scarcer than ordinary stamps. I didn't say I considered them inferior, I only stated the facts, the majority of collectors consider them that way.

Have you been noticing the realisations for State perfins on covers,

David B.
Posted by de66   ( 1203 ) on Mar-03-08 at 00:13:36 PST   Listings
D2

Perfins are not inferior in this house give me a good perfin anyday over a plain old stamp. The only thing that beats a perfin is a damn good pen cancel.

D1
Posted by de66   ( 1203 ) on Mar-03-08 at 00:09:17 PST   Listings
Alex

OS perfin catalogue is available via my web site link to the Perfin Club of New Zealand and Australia.

Here is the direct link which will show you a picture of the book:

http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/dave1/perfin/perfin-club-new-zealand-australia.html

D1
Posted by antonius-ra   ( 674 ) on Mar-03-08 at 00:02:46 PST   Listings
EUSC Official annoucement!


With all the authority vested within me I do hereby declare this meeting closed, finite' capout (sp)!

Again, thanks for all the contributions
concerning "grading" (just kiddin I can only assume no one cares).
Thanks to Bill C. for his lonely contributions regarding expertizing.
I would also like to thank those whom corrected me regarding the math as to computing the amount of leap year dates available and likely. Actually I am not super stupid and did reconcile the amount of flak I might get on stating some loose numbers regarding the frequency of Feb 29th cancels. Note, I did not count 1840.

I would like to thank Jimbo for his showing of three Feb 29th cancelled covers. Nice job Jim, twas the highlight of the meeting for me. Where and why did you aquire them? Seems like a collecting area that most people do not consider.

Here are a couple, on topic links, that may prove helpful:
http://www.filatelia.fi/experts/experts.html
http://www.filatelia.fi/experts/namesa.html