Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Thanks, Mel
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There is the SG Collect British Stamps (a just the basics catalogue).
Jacques (jlav)
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"the Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 -"
The catalog was been stopped at 1970 several years ago.
If you're collecting British Commonwealth, and only need the numbers and information, I'd recommend that catalog. There is some very good information in it that you may want as your collection grows. You will only need to buy it once.
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The Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970 is the catalogue you really want.
It is really good. And the 1970 stopping point ("pre-decimal" era for Great Britain) is also excellent.
However, if you are only into Great Britain stamps, then I suggest Great Britain Concise Catalogue which, despite it's name, is a "Comprehensive" catalogue. Collect British Stamps is actually a Simplified catalogue (varieties, both perforation and watermark, are conveniently skipped) and not worth the price. The Concise catalogue is more expensive, but has lot more detail.
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I would also recommend the SG GB Concise catalogue.
However, Collect British Stamps is still useful. It does include both watermark and perforation details but not shades, paper types, booklets & booklet panes etc.
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Unless I win the lottery,
I have about reached the limits in my US collection, and since I have just come into a very large WW collection, I thought I would venture onto the DARK SIDE. I have already found out, (through Roy's excellent article on the Penny Reds), that there were 4 misplaced Reds in the Great Britain Album. 
I do not plan to go into as much depth in the WW collection as I have in my US collection, but at the same time, I want to make sure proper ID us made. I have decided that I will purchase a Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970.
Thank everyone for your input, it is greatly appreciated. And if anyone has one for sale, 
contact me through the SOR message system.
Mel
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Hi Mel:
If you are here in the states and your dealer uses Stanley Gibbons, save your money for stamps, and just switch dealers, period. I would not buy from a US dealer who is so inflexible as to make me need to buy an expensive catalog just to buy from them. That's just plain stupid, not you, but the dealer. If they really want to sell they should be willing to give SG & Scott numbers. That is called good customer service.
I notice in your profile, that you state that you are not very computer savvy. I hope you don't mind, my snooping around in there. Have someone who is computer savvy, show you how to search Google, for on-line computer tutorials. And this really applies to everyone else on here too. We all sometimes are not sure how to do something. These computer tutorials are often free, and all that is required of you is to be able to read. Also print out the text of these tutorials, so when you are trying to do something new you have the info right there, handy in front of you. You can also put several tutorials in a small binder that you keep near your computer work station.
A while back, I noticed that my hard drive was getting really bloated whenever I did intensive image editing of large stamp scans for my on-line sales. So I googled that as a question, "why does editing large images load up a hard drive?". I found a page that explained how windows loads up a folder called "temp" inside of the "Windows" folder. I then learned that you can delete any files that are in the "temp" folder. I'm fairly computer literate, but didn't know this.
The only thing I find Stanley Gibbons really useful for is the King George V color varieties that Scott doesn't mention. My catalog is SG 1978, which is perfectly good for identifying varieties. If I want to buy British stamps, I just use Scott.
Happy colleting
Ken Tall Pines
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Ken,
Thanks for the information. The closest stamp dealer to me is over 150 miles away, so I have to depend on the computer to find items that I am looking for. I know that I can contact dealers here in the US and as you suggest, use Scott numbers. I am not that eager to jump into WW collecting so I use various sites on the web. I am slowly working my way to using specific dealers and I am sure they will use Scott numbers. Many of the stamps I am currently looking for in the Great Britain area are from countries outside the US and most, if not all use the SG numbering system, so it is difficult to determine if the item I am looking at is the item I want. Does that make sense? I guess that I am lucky in the sense that I really don't have to Google computer applications. One of my daughters who lives near me is an IT Tech and has her degree in Computer Science. So you can guess what I do when I get stumped. US stamps are my main area and have been for the past 15 years. I am not a novice collector, but I am no means an expert in any area. I appreciate your suggestions, as I need all the help I can get while venturing into the unknown world of WW collecting.
Mel
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"If you are here in the states and your dealer uses Stanley Gibbons, save your money for stamps, and just switch dealers, period. I would not buy from a US dealer who is so inflexible as to make me need to buy an expensive catalog just to buy from them. That's just plain stupid, not you, but the dealer. If they really want to sell they should be willing to give SG & Scott numbers. That is called good customer service."
Unfortunately, the Scott catalogues do not really do any justice to the earlier British Commonwealth stamps. Scott conveniently skips color varieties; watermark oddities (inverted, sideways, etc.) are many times skipped or provided with some footnote, with no pricing guide. Another point to note is that the entire "classical" Commonwealth period is available in one volume (costs under USD 110 on Book Depository) and is way more convenient and cheaper than handling six volumes of Scott.
The fact remains that Scott is a great catalogue for United States stamps. For the rest of the world, it is an average catalogue at best (don't get me wrong, I use Scott a lot because I can find the latest editions in my local library). Unfortunately, the Commonwealth market is pretty global (in fact, on eBay, it is much more common to find non-American traders peddling Commonwealth stamps), and the Stanley Gibbons' resources are a standard there. As much as Stanley Gibbons might be expensive in the US, Scott is outright unavailable in the rest of the world.
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"Scott is outright unavailable in the rest of the world."
That is correct. I have never seen it in any stampshop or library over here (in the Netherlands that is). I think as far as international catalogues are concerned the marketshare in the Netherlands is 80% Michel, 10% Yvert (mostly older collectors and libraries, because back in the 80s it was the choice catalogue, before everybody switched to Michel) and 9% SG (the British Commonwealth collectors). 1% uses other catalogues including Scott. I have used all of them, including Scott and as has been said already Scott is just not that good when it comes to identifying varieties, watermarks, perforations etc.
As a matter of fact, I find the Michel North America volume a lot better and easier to use than Scott. It has the information that Scott only lists in its specialized catalogue...
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03:47:30pm
I'll not repeat what Jan or our Philatelist friend wrote, but they are far more aware of the need to use, or at least have access to Gibbons, Facit, Michel, NVPH and Yvert than most US collectors who appear wed to the not so comprehensive Scott world wide catalog set.
The more specialized one becomes the more interesting other specialized catalogs become and Scott's cumbersome set's obvious omissions become more glaring.
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Does anyone know if the Stanley Gibbons (Part 7) Germany catalogue 9th edition is in colour? I don't know the date when the 9th edition appeared.
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Hi Strider,
Yes the 9th Edition is in colour. It's dated 2011.
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I see the 12th Edition is scheduled for the 2nd quarter this year.
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this house offers SG/SC numbering ...
https://www.stampsforsale.co.uk/
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Thanks, Nigel, for the info on SG Germany 9th edition. I've been thinking about getting a Germany catalogue for a while, and one has just appeared on eBay at a very good price. So armed with this knowledge, I've snapped it up. I just hope it isn't full of heavy notes and ticks etc.
Since I became interested in engraved stamps, I've slowly acquired copies of all the SG European cats, except for the Balkans. But SOR approval buys have already given me a headstart with the German engravers.
Cheers - Neville
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Approvals
I have just started collecting Great Britain stamps from 1840 to about 1970. I have the Scott catalogues and use Scott numbers for my albums. However, when looking to purchase stamps a great number of dealers use the Stanley Gibbons numbering system. So, I figured I had better just get an SG catalogue. I have noticed that there are basically two different types of catalogues that I believe would work for me, but do not know what the difference is. They are the Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 - (different dates)and Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue. I only need the basic information, particularly the SG numbering system. Suggestions from SOR members would be appreciated.
Thanks, Mel
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06:08:58pm
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
There is the SG Collect British Stamps (a just the basics catalogue).
Jacques (jlav)
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re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
"the Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 -"
The catalog was been stopped at 1970 several years ago.
If you're collecting British Commonwealth, and only need the numbers and information, I'd recommend that catalog. There is some very good information in it that you may want as your collection grows. You will only need to buy it once.
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09:00:25pm
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
The Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970 is the catalogue you really want.
It is really good. And the 1970 stopping point ("pre-decimal" era for Great Britain) is also excellent.
However, if you are only into Great Britain stamps, then I suggest Great Britain Concise Catalogue which, despite it's name, is a "Comprehensive" catalogue. Collect British Stamps is actually a Simplified catalogue (varieties, both perforation and watermark, are conveniently skipped) and not worth the price. The Concise catalogue is more expensive, but has lot more detail.
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re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
I would also recommend the SG GB Concise catalogue.
However, Collect British Stamps is still useful. It does include both watermark and perforation details but not shades, paper types, booklets & booklet panes etc.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Unless I win the lottery, I have about reached the limits in my US collection, and since I have just come into a very large WW collection, I thought I would venture onto the DARK SIDE. I have already found out, (through Roy's excellent article on the Penny Reds), that there were 4 misplaced Reds in the Great Britain Album. I do not plan to go into as much depth in the WW collection as I have in my US collection, but at the same time, I want to make sure proper ID us made. I have decided that I will purchase a Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970.
Thank everyone for your input, it is greatly appreciated. And if anyone has one for sale, contact me through the SOR message system.
Mel
Login to Like
this post
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Hi Mel:
If you are here in the states and your dealer uses Stanley Gibbons, save your money for stamps, and just switch dealers, period. I would not buy from a US dealer who is so inflexible as to make me need to buy an expensive catalog just to buy from them. That's just plain stupid, not you, but the dealer. If they really want to sell they should be willing to give SG & Scott numbers. That is called good customer service.
I notice in your profile, that you state that you are not very computer savvy. I hope you don't mind, my snooping around in there. Have someone who is computer savvy, show you how to search Google, for on-line computer tutorials. And this really applies to everyone else on here too. We all sometimes are not sure how to do something. These computer tutorials are often free, and all that is required of you is to be able to read. Also print out the text of these tutorials, so when you are trying to do something new you have the info right there, handy in front of you. You can also put several tutorials in a small binder that you keep near your computer work station.
A while back, I noticed that my hard drive was getting really bloated whenever I did intensive image editing of large stamp scans for my on-line sales. So I googled that as a question, "why does editing large images load up a hard drive?". I found a page that explained how windows loads up a folder called "temp" inside of the "Windows" folder. I then learned that you can delete any files that are in the "temp" folder. I'm fairly computer literate, but didn't know this.
The only thing I find Stanley Gibbons really useful for is the King George V color varieties that Scott doesn't mention. My catalog is SG 1978, which is perfectly good for identifying varieties. If I want to buy British stamps, I just use Scott.
Happy colleting
Ken Tall Pines
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Approvals
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Ken,
Thanks for the information. The closest stamp dealer to me is over 150 miles away, so I have to depend on the computer to find items that I am looking for. I know that I can contact dealers here in the US and as you suggest, use Scott numbers. I am not that eager to jump into WW collecting so I use various sites on the web. I am slowly working my way to using specific dealers and I am sure they will use Scott numbers. Many of the stamps I am currently looking for in the Great Britain area are from countries outside the US and most, if not all use the SG numbering system, so it is difficult to determine if the item I am looking at is the item I want. Does that make sense? I guess that I am lucky in the sense that I really don't have to Google computer applications. One of my daughters who lives near me is an IT Tech and has her degree in Computer Science. So you can guess what I do when I get stumped. US stamps are my main area and have been for the past 15 years. I am not a novice collector, but I am no means an expert in any area. I appreciate your suggestions, as I need all the help I can get while venturing into the unknown world of WW collecting.
Mel
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this post
03:37:36pm
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
"If you are here in the states and your dealer uses Stanley Gibbons, save your money for stamps, and just switch dealers, period. I would not buy from a US dealer who is so inflexible as to make me need to buy an expensive catalog just to buy from them. That's just plain stupid, not you, but the dealer. If they really want to sell they should be willing to give SG & Scott numbers. That is called good customer service."
Unfortunately, the Scott catalogues do not really do any justice to the earlier British Commonwealth stamps. Scott conveniently skips color varieties; watermark oddities (inverted, sideways, etc.) are many times skipped or provided with some footnote, with no pricing guide. Another point to note is that the entire "classical" Commonwealth period is available in one volume (costs under USD 110 on Book Depository) and is way more convenient and cheaper than handling six volumes of Scott.
The fact remains that Scott is a great catalogue for United States stamps. For the rest of the world, it is an average catalogue at best (don't get me wrong, I use Scott a lot because I can find the latest editions in my local library). Unfortunately, the Commonwealth market is pretty global (in fact, on eBay, it is much more common to find non-American traders peddling Commonwealth stamps), and the Stanley Gibbons' resources are a standard there. As much as Stanley Gibbons might be expensive in the US, Scott is outright unavailable in the rest of the world.
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Auctions - Approvals
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
"Scott is outright unavailable in the rest of the world."
That is correct. I have never seen it in any stampshop or library over here (in the Netherlands that is). I think as far as international catalogues are concerned the marketshare in the Netherlands is 80% Michel, 10% Yvert (mostly older collectors and libraries, because back in the 80s it was the choice catalogue, before everybody switched to Michel) and 9% SG (the British Commonwealth collectors). 1% uses other catalogues including Scott. I have used all of them, including Scott and as has been said already Scott is just not that good when it comes to identifying varieties, watermarks, perforations etc.
As a matter of fact, I find the Michel North America volume a lot better and easier to use than Scott. It has the information that Scott only lists in its specialized catalogue...
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
29 Jul 2014
03:47:30pm
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
I'll not repeat what Jan or our Philatelist friend wrote, but they are far more aware of the need to use, or at least have access to Gibbons, Facit, Michel, NVPH and Yvert than most US collectors who appear wed to the not so comprehensive Scott world wide catalog set.
The more specialized one becomes the more interesting other specialized catalogs become and Scott's cumbersome set's obvious omissions become more glaring.
Login to Like
this post
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Does anyone know if the Stanley Gibbons (Part 7) Germany catalogue 9th edition is in colour? I don't know the date when the 9th edition appeared.
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this post
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Hi Strider,
Yes the 9th Edition is in colour. It's dated 2011.
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re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
I see the 12th Edition is scheduled for the 2nd quarter this year.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
this house offers SG/SC numbering ...
https://www.stampsforsale.co.uk/
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this post
re: Stanley Gibbons Catalogues
Thanks, Nigel, for the info on SG Germany 9th edition. I've been thinking about getting a Germany catalogue for a while, and one has just appeared on eBay at a very good price. So armed with this knowledge, I've snapped it up. I just hope it isn't full of heavy notes and ticks etc.
Since I became interested in engraved stamps, I've slowly acquired copies of all the SG European cats, except for the Balkans. But SOR approval buys have already given me a headstart with the German engravers.
Cheers - Neville
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