About the first page of Surinam: is there a story behind the stamp at the very bottom from 1892? It seems very different from all the others. Is it a postage stamp or something else?
Thanks for posting all these over the last months (?year) - very interesting. Hope you enjoy your new computer!
The 1892 issue is a locally produced provisional postage stamp.
Stamps were normally printed in the Netherlands but it could take over a month to get supplies of stamps from there. In 1892, Surinam ran short of 2½ cent stamps. They overprinted one value, but these sold out in 5 days (stamp speculators even then), so they produced this issue locally.
This happened on two other occasions and some people (cynically) suspect that it might have been done on purpose.
Jan
Jan, I always thought that stamp looked out of place also. Sorry but I do not know why.
Got the new computer pretty much finished with transferring all the programs and files and bookmarks. I think it is just in time as my old computer is barely running now. Hopefully this one should last a long time. All the components are very recent and rated 5 stars.
Super fast as it opens webpages files and programs in the blink of an eye. All I have left is to find my copy of Photoshop which is the program I use most.
For today the Portuguese colony of Angra which is part of the Azores.
Shown are the only two pages.
Today the British colony of Barbados.
Shown is the first page an few later ones.
Thanks Jan for the explanation
Today French Cameroons. My collection is complete except for one stamp on the first page.
This is a real bummer because the stamp catalogs for $25,000 and I will never be able to complete the country.
Shown are the first, third, fourth, fifth and a nice airmail page.
What set of circumstances came together to make the 10 c value such a scarce item?
"What set of circumstances came together to make the 10 c value such a scarce item?"
SG lists the 10c with "Congo Francaise Gabon" as SG 5 and the 10c with "Afrique Equatoriale Gabon" as an error, SG 5a, i.e. an overprint on the wrong stamp.
This would fit with the high catalogue price.
Today a British colony in the East Indies; Labuan. The first page is quite pricey and sparse so I'm showing the 2nd, 3rd and fifth page.
For today, one of the most popular countries to collect; Japan. Shown are the first page and a few other favorites of mine.
For today the first 4 pages of Slovakia.
Today the British possession of Heligoland. Reprints of these are much more numerous than the originals. What I have are about 50-50 original and reprints.
Today Eastern Silesia. Part of Austria before WWI it was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia after the war. Stamps are Polish and Czech with SO overprints.
Shown are the only three pages.
For today the British colony islands of Fiji.
Showning 3 selected pages.
Today the South American country of Paraguay.
Shown are the first three pages and an airmail page.
I wasn't aware that Paraguay issued Zep airmails!
Thanks for posting them, Mitch.
Randy
Randy, Not only did they produce Zeppelin stamps, I believe they made more than any other country with a total of 23. Including Germany, Russia, Brazil and Argentina but excluding any modern wall paper.
Mitch,
I wasn't aware of that - thanks.
Are there any extremes in catalog value for the Paraguay zepps?
(Don't have my catalogs handy right now)
Randy
Randy, They are all affordable, ranging from $2.25-$24.00. I've sold many of them at 40% of cat and they go quickly.
Showing the Italian possession of Libia today. The first two pages plus another later regular issue page and the first semi postal page are shown.
For today something you will likely never see. In 1992 I bought 8 sets of the Columbian reprints. I wanted a couple sets cancelled on Columbus day but October 12, 1992 fell on a Sunday and all of the post offices were closed. I drove into Kansas City to the main P.O. and found a guy behind a closed window sorting mail. I was able to get his attention and he agreed to let me use his CDS cancellor and so I was able to cancel 2 sets on the correct date for the sets. I imagine there are some others who were also able to get some sets on this date but I have never seen any.
Today another French Colony with many a beautiful stamp; French Guinea. Shown are the first four pages.
Today another country that I have not spent much time on; Somoa. However I'm working on New Zealand and Australia so I'll be searching most of the Islands in the area including Samoa. The first set is heavily counterfeited, as most of the ones I have are. They're space fillers but I rather doubt many of them will ever get replaced.
Shown are the first three pages.
Philb, Yes I agree, they're real beauties. There are a lot of great Italian colony sets, most of them back of book. Unfortunately they're rather hard to come by and usually somewhat pricey.
For today another French colony; Togo. It is fairly easy to complete with many nice sets.
Shown is the first page and a couple more early regular issue pages and a nice airmail page.
Nice range of Togo!
I particularly like the 1947 air stamps - I'd not seen these before.
Nigel, Thanks, I like the airmail set as well, They are a larger format and appear as water colors. I don't think they are all that scarce but finding might not be that easy.
For today the Portuguese colony of Congo. Not to exciting as all of the stamps are regular issues of Portugal with Congo inscribed and some with overprints.
Mitch,
You mentioned counterfeits in the Samoa post. How do you deal with them? The Scott catalog mentions in some cases (e.g., Persia), that 90% of some sets are counterfeit. It hardly seems reasonable to get certs for what amount to lower valued or even common stamps. Have you developed the experience to identify fakes? Do you mark them in your albums in any way?
Thanks! Great posts as always.
-Steve
Mitch,
Among all the splendor of the stamps you are showing, I just noticed the Fiji stamps 1891/2 with the VR Royal Cypher -- very cool indeed. Interesting to see the cypher as the main design element! And of course Victoria did not need a numeral between the V and the R. The one and only Vicky, long did she reign.
Eric
Steve, The Samoa counterfeits are fairly easy to distinguish between the originals. Yes I do note the stamps in my collection that are fakes. Persia is a different story. They are not as easy to tell apart, because of this I do not take early Iran very seriously. Fakes are usually mint and very fresh. Although there are fake postmarks I think there is a better chance of a stamp that looks like it's been around the block and has a convincing looking postmark to be legitimate. I find the majority of fakes to be easily identifiable but there are always exceptions to the rule.
Eric, those Fiji stamps seem to be unique. I can't recall seeing that design on any other
British Commenwealth stamps and one has to wonder why.
For today the British Colony of Nova Scotia. The stamps that are not in mounts are catalog cut-outs, just for reference. They are quite expensive and rather doubt I will ever get any of them. The stamps on the second page are some of my favorite designs of all the Queen Victoria stamps.
For today, what I consider the most difficult European country to collect; Spain. There are a great many stamps and many of them are quite expensive. One of the only ways to get many of them is with bar or punch cancels, which are remainders. On top of that there are many rather convincing forgeries. Most of my European countries are 98-99% complete but I would be happy to get close to 95% with Spain. Along with Great Britain it is the last Euro that I am concentrating on.
Shown are the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th pages of regular issues and the first page of airmails.
Mitch, that green 1870 400m Duke de la Torre might be the original "socked on the nose" cancel!
-Steve
More like punched on the nose.
I see the common thread of several Spain sets that are impossible to find in centered condition. That appears to be the search of a lifetime of collecting.
Today another one of my British colonies that needs a lot of work; Gold Coast.
Shown are the first page an a couple more later ones.
Today the colorful French Colony of Senegal. There are a couple earlier overprinted sets than shown on my my first page. They are mostly quite expensive and I've chosen not to collect them at least for no.
Shown are my first three pages and the first page of postage dues.
The country of the day is Portuguese Guinea. Because of all the similar but different overprinted stamps, searching for stamps I need is rather difficult leaving this collection pretty weak.
Shown are the first page and a few later ones.
For today the Dutch colony of Curacao.
Shown are the 1st and secoud page of regulars and an airmail page.
Hey Mitch, always glad to see your posts. This may be a dumb question but were those stamps on the last page of Curacao designed by the same folks that did the British Commonwealth stamps of the same era. They just look strikingly similar with the design elements, lay out and bi color design.
Ernie
I think you are correct. If I am not mistaken, those stamps were printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. Other Curacao stamps of that period were printed at the American Bank Note Co. and are also recognizable as such.
For today Vietnam. The stamps of Vietnam were preceded by French Indo China.
Shown are the first 3 pages
The country of the day is Ireland. The first few issues were KGV definitives from Great Britain.
Shown are the first page and a couple later ones.
The showing for today is the Portuguese colony of Funchal. It is part of the Madeira island change in the Atlantic Ocean, NW of Africa.
Shown are the only two pages of issued stamps.
For today the Baltic territory of Memel.
Shown are the 1st, 2nd and fourth page.
For today the Spanish dominion of Philippines. The Islands were ceded to the U.S. in 1898 after the Spanish American War. Shown is the first page and a few latter ones.
In 19it46 the Philippines attained full independence from the United States of America.
The Republic of the Philippines then started issuing it's own stamps. Shown are the first page of regular, semi-postals and airmail stamps.
Mitch, getting back to the Cameroun stamp you need. Scott 2017 has lowered the value to $21,500. You should be able to find it for around $17,500 now!
I received a small lot of several nice mid 1930's sets from Italy today. Within them was the 1937 Green Stradivarius (4th stamp second row)which was the last commemorative stamp I needed for Italy. It was only a $16.00 stamp but proved for me to be the hardest one to find. It's addition leaves me with only 6 overprinted difinitives to complete the regular issues of Italy up through 1980. Te second page shows one of my favorite sets that I was able to upgrade to all mint by adding a few from the lot.
Just plain beautiful.
dollhaus, Thanks, here is another beauty I received yesterday. It is Vatican, Scott #C17.
It is one of the scarcest stamps from The Vatican and is missing from most collections. With this addition it leaves me with only three stamps from the pricey 1934 Pope Pius XI set to complete my Vatican collection thru my cut-off date of 1980.
Could someone give me a recent Scott catalog value of this stamps. My post 1940 catalogs are not accessible right now. It's lightly hinged. I paid $42.50 for it and C16, which, if memory serves, was around 7.5% of cat
2017 Scott:
C16-17 unused hinged value = $440.00 (MNH value = $640.00)
Thanks Mike, was a bit less than I thought but still in the pocket.
For today some of my top favorites, U.S. Proofs. Proofs are the first images printed made from the newly completed plates. Since they have seen no wear and were very carefully printed the images are perfect in every detail. They were printed in limited quantities but contrary to what one might think they are most often valued mch less than the later printed stamps.
Shown are the issues through 1869.
For today the proofs of the next U.S issues called the Banknotes. The difference between them are with and without secret marks and color or shades. The 1870 issue was not issued with grills. In my mind, as handsome a set has never been issued.
Mitch,
I agree, very handsome. They are my favorite series especially with fancy cancels. Their size is a plus with fancy cancels because they have more area for the cancel. I still have a scan of you 7c Stanton with the keyhole cancel.
Vince
Despite my desire for used stamps that is an impressive attractive set of pages.
Here are some more off those handsome stamps. These official stamps were of the same format but with different borders and all of the stamps of a department were the same color.
Wow
Gorgeous!
Thanks guys but there is not much cause for drooling here, although they make a beautiful showing. The official proofs are actually quite cheap. Most catalog at $8 each while the highest, the $20 State department is $35.00. The complete set can be had for around $900. I got mine around 25 years ago when they were half the price. One thing to consider when bidding or buying is that proofs almost always sell for full catalog. The issued official stamps are generally cataloged at much much more than the proofs. They are also quite difficult to get nice copies of due to the typically poor centering and killer cancels. Today I'm showing my official stamps.
Thank you for posting all of these beautiful and unseen stamps. I have never been able to go to a stamp show, so this show fit right up my alley.
You have quite a collection. Unbelievable.
I've only been back on this site for a few days, but I'm already finding that I look forward to your posts, AntoniusRa. They are truly a treat to see.
Kajones and Alllen, Thanks much for the kind words. Although I've been collecting for the better part of 50 years, it was not until 15 yeas ago that I thought my collection good
enough to show on the internet. One of my favorite things to do is look at stamps and I'd imagined it was the same with other collectors. Whether it be used for just looking, reference or creating interest. I think it has accomplished these as well as many others things. On my daily posts I usually just show the first or better pages from a country but all the pages I have scanned are available for viewing at any time. You can see the collection at the following link Antonius-Ra.com
Time to start a new thread to help keep down load times.
I've shown right around 200 different countries or areas so far. It looks like their are about 80 left of the ones I show on my site. Most of these are minor countries or ones that are pretty weak, so there's not as much to be expected.
I've been missing the last couple days as I've been building my new super fast computer.
Hopefully I can get it on the web in the next couple days.
The country for today is the Dutch colony of Suriname.
Shown are the first page and a couple other later ones,
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
About the first page of Surinam: is there a story behind the stamp at the very bottom from 1892? It seems very different from all the others. Is it a postage stamp or something else?
Thanks for posting all these over the last months (?year) - very interesting. Hope you enjoy your new computer!
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
The 1892 issue is a locally produced provisional postage stamp.
Stamps were normally printed in the Netherlands but it could take over a month to get supplies of stamps from there. In 1892, Surinam ran short of 2½ cent stamps. They overprinted one value, but these sold out in 5 days (stamp speculators even then), so they produced this issue locally.
This happened on two other occasions and some people (cynically) suspect that it might have been done on purpose.
Jan
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Jan, I always thought that stamp looked out of place also. Sorry but I do not know why.
Got the new computer pretty much finished with transferring all the programs and files and bookmarks. I think it is just in time as my old computer is barely running now. Hopefully this one should last a long time. All the components are very recent and rated 5 stars.
Super fast as it opens webpages files and programs in the blink of an eye. All I have left is to find my copy of Photoshop which is the program I use most.
For today the Portuguese colony of Angra which is part of the Azores.
Shown are the only two pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today the British colony of Barbados.
Shown is the first page an few later ones.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Thanks Jan for the explanation
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today French Cameroons. My collection is complete except for one stamp on the first page.
This is a real bummer because the stamp catalogs for $25,000 and I will never be able to complete the country.
Shown are the first, third, fourth, fifth and a nice airmail page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
What set of circumstances came together to make the 10 c value such a scarce item?
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
"What set of circumstances came together to make the 10 c value such a scarce item?"
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
SG lists the 10c with "Congo Francaise Gabon" as SG 5 and the 10c with "Afrique Equatoriale Gabon" as an error, SG 5a, i.e. an overprint on the wrong stamp.
This would fit with the high catalogue price.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today a British colony in the East Indies; Labuan. The first page is quite pricey and sparse so I'm showing the 2nd, 3rd and fifth page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today, one of the most popular countries to collect; Japan. Shown are the first page and a few other favorites of mine.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the first 4 pages of Slovakia.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today the British possession of Heligoland. Reprints of these are much more numerous than the originals. What I have are about 50-50 original and reprints.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today Eastern Silesia. Part of Austria before WWI it was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia after the war. Stamps are Polish and Czech with SO overprints.
Shown are the only three pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the British colony islands of Fiji.
Showning 3 selected pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today the South American country of Paraguay.
Shown are the first three pages and an airmail page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
I wasn't aware that Paraguay issued Zep airmails!
Thanks for posting them, Mitch.
Randy
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Randy, Not only did they produce Zeppelin stamps, I believe they made more than any other country with a total of 23. Including Germany, Russia, Brazil and Argentina but excluding any modern wall paper.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch,
I wasn't aware of that - thanks.
Are there any extremes in catalog value for the Paraguay zepps?
(Don't have my catalogs handy right now)
Randy
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Randy, They are all affordable, ranging from $2.25-$24.00. I've sold many of them at 40% of cat and they go quickly.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Showing the Italian possession of Libia today. The first two pages plus another later regular issue page and the first semi postal page are shown.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today something you will likely never see. In 1992 I bought 8 sets of the Columbian reprints. I wanted a couple sets cancelled on Columbus day but October 12, 1992 fell on a Sunday and all of the post offices were closed. I drove into Kansas City to the main P.O. and found a guy behind a closed window sorting mail. I was able to get his attention and he agreed to let me use his CDS cancellor and so I was able to cancel 2 sets on the correct date for the sets. I imagine there are some others who were also able to get some sets on this date but I have never seen any.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today another French Colony with many a beautiful stamp; French Guinea. Shown are the first four pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today another country that I have not spent much time on; Somoa. However I'm working on New Zealand and Australia so I'll be searching most of the Islands in the area including Samoa. The first set is heavily counterfeited, as most of the ones I have are. They're space fillers but I rather doubt many of them will ever get replaced.
Shown are the first three pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Philb, Yes I agree, they're real beauties. There are a lot of great Italian colony sets, most of them back of book. Unfortunately they're rather hard to come by and usually somewhat pricey.
For today another French colony; Togo. It is fairly easy to complete with many nice sets.
Shown is the first page and a couple more early regular issue pages and a nice airmail page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Nice range of Togo!
I particularly like the 1947 air stamps - I'd not seen these before.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Nigel, Thanks, I like the airmail set as well, They are a larger format and appear as water colors. I don't think they are all that scarce but finding might not be that easy.
For today the Portuguese colony of Congo. Not to exciting as all of the stamps are regular issues of Portugal with Congo inscribed and some with overprints.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch,
You mentioned counterfeits in the Samoa post. How do you deal with them? The Scott catalog mentions in some cases (e.g., Persia), that 90% of some sets are counterfeit. It hardly seems reasonable to get certs for what amount to lower valued or even common stamps. Have you developed the experience to identify fakes? Do you mark them in your albums in any way?
Thanks! Great posts as always.
-Steve
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch,
Among all the splendor of the stamps you are showing, I just noticed the Fiji stamps 1891/2 with the VR Royal Cypher -- very cool indeed. Interesting to see the cypher as the main design element! And of course Victoria did not need a numeral between the V and the R. The one and only Vicky, long did she reign.
Eric
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Steve, The Samoa counterfeits are fairly easy to distinguish between the originals. Yes I do note the stamps in my collection that are fakes. Persia is a different story. They are not as easy to tell apart, because of this I do not take early Iran very seriously. Fakes are usually mint and very fresh. Although there are fake postmarks I think there is a better chance of a stamp that looks like it's been around the block and has a convincing looking postmark to be legitimate. I find the majority of fakes to be easily identifiable but there are always exceptions to the rule.
Eric, those Fiji stamps seem to be unique. I can't recall seeing that design on any other
British Commenwealth stamps and one has to wonder why.
For today the British Colony of Nova Scotia. The stamps that are not in mounts are catalog cut-outs, just for reference. They are quite expensive and rather doubt I will ever get any of them. The stamps on the second page are some of my favorite designs of all the Queen Victoria stamps.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today, what I consider the most difficult European country to collect; Spain. There are a great many stamps and many of them are quite expensive. One of the only ways to get many of them is with bar or punch cancels, which are remainders. On top of that there are many rather convincing forgeries. Most of my European countries are 98-99% complete but I would be happy to get close to 95% with Spain. Along with Great Britain it is the last Euro that I am concentrating on.
Shown are the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th pages of regular issues and the first page of airmails.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch, that green 1870 400m Duke de la Torre might be the original "socked on the nose" cancel!
-Steve
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
More like punched on the nose.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
I see the common thread of several Spain sets that are impossible to find in centered condition. That appears to be the search of a lifetime of collecting.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today another one of my British colonies that needs a lot of work; Gold Coast.
Shown are the first page an a couple more later ones.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Today the colorful French Colony of Senegal. There are a couple earlier overprinted sets than shown on my my first page. They are mostly quite expensive and I've chosen not to collect them at least for no.
Shown are my first three pages and the first page of postage dues.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
The country of the day is Portuguese Guinea. Because of all the similar but different overprinted stamps, searching for stamps I need is rather difficult leaving this collection pretty weak.
Shown are the first page and a few later ones.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the Dutch colony of Curacao.
Shown are the 1st and secoud page of regulars and an airmail page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Hey Mitch, always glad to see your posts. This may be a dumb question but were those stamps on the last page of Curacao designed by the same folks that did the British Commonwealth stamps of the same era. They just look strikingly similar with the design elements, lay out and bi color design.
Ernie
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
I think you are correct. If I am not mistaken, those stamps were printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. Other Curacao stamps of that period were printed at the American Bank Note Co. and are also recognizable as such.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today Vietnam. The stamps of Vietnam were preceded by French Indo China.
Shown are the first 3 pages
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
The country of the day is Ireland. The first few issues were KGV definitives from Great Britain.
Shown are the first page and a couple later ones.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
The showing for today is the Portuguese colony of Funchal. It is part of the Madeira island change in the Atlantic Ocean, NW of Africa.
Shown are the only two pages of issued stamps.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the Baltic territory of Memel.
Shown are the 1st, 2nd and fourth page.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the Spanish dominion of Philippines. The Islands were ceded to the U.S. in 1898 after the Spanish American War. Shown is the first page and a few latter ones.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
In 19it46 the Philippines attained full independence from the United States of America.
The Republic of the Philippines then started issuing it's own stamps. Shown are the first page of regular, semi-postals and airmail stamps.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch, getting back to the Cameroun stamp you need. Scott 2017 has lowered the value to $21,500. You should be able to find it for around $17,500 now!
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
I received a small lot of several nice mid 1930's sets from Italy today. Within them was the 1937 Green Stradivarius (4th stamp second row)which was the last commemorative stamp I needed for Italy. It was only a $16.00 stamp but proved for me to be the hardest one to find. It's addition leaves me with only 6 overprinted difinitives to complete the regular issues of Italy up through 1980. Te second page shows one of my favorite sets that I was able to upgrade to all mint by adding a few from the lot.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Just plain beautiful.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
dollhaus, Thanks, here is another beauty I received yesterday. It is Vatican, Scott #C17.
It is one of the scarcest stamps from The Vatican and is missing from most collections. With this addition it leaves me with only three stamps from the pricey 1934 Pope Pius XI set to complete my Vatican collection thru my cut-off date of 1980.
Could someone give me a recent Scott catalog value of this stamps. My post 1940 catalogs are not accessible right now. It's lightly hinged. I paid $42.50 for it and C16, which, if memory serves, was around 7.5% of cat
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
2017 Scott:
C16-17 unused hinged value = $440.00 (MNH value = $640.00)
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Thanks Mike, was a bit less than I thought but still in the pocket.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today some of my top favorites, U.S. Proofs. Proofs are the first images printed made from the newly completed plates. Since they have seen no wear and were very carefully printed the images are perfect in every detail. They were printed in limited quantities but contrary to what one might think they are most often valued mch less than the later printed stamps.
Shown are the issues through 1869.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
For today the proofs of the next U.S issues called the Banknotes. The difference between them are with and without secret marks and color or shades. The 1870 issue was not issued with grills. In my mind, as handsome a set has never been issued.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Mitch,
I agree, very handsome. They are my favorite series especially with fancy cancels. Their size is a plus with fancy cancels because they have more area for the cancel. I still have a scan of you 7c Stanton with the keyhole cancel.
Vince
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Despite my desire for used stamps that is an impressive attractive set of pages.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Here are some more off those handsome stamps. These official stamps were of the same format but with different borders and all of the stamps of a department were the same color.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Thanks guys but there is not much cause for drooling here, although they make a beautiful showing. The official proofs are actually quite cheap. Most catalog at $8 each while the highest, the $20 State department is $35.00. The complete set can be had for around $900. I got mine around 25 years ago when they were half the price. One thing to consider when bidding or buying is that proofs almost always sell for full catalog. The issued official stamps are generally cataloged at much much more than the proofs. They are also quite difficult to get nice copies of due to the typically poor centering and killer cancels. Today I'm showing my official stamps.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Thank you for posting all of these beautiful and unseen stamps. I have never been able to go to a stamp show, so this show fit right up my alley.
You have quite a collection. Unbelievable.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
I've only been back on this site for a few days, but I'm already finding that I look forward to your posts, AntoniusRa. They are truly a treat to see.
re: A-Ra's Page of the Day Part X
Kajones and Alllen, Thanks much for the kind words. Although I've been collecting for the better part of 50 years, it was not until 15 yeas ago that I thought my collection good
enough to show on the internet. One of my favorite things to do is look at stamps and I'd imagined it was the same with other collectors. Whether it be used for just looking, reference or creating interest. I think it has accomplished these as well as many others things. On my daily posts I usually just show the first or better pages from a country but all the pages I have scanned are available for viewing at any time. You can see the collection at the following link Antonius-Ra.com