Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Stamp Collector

Royal Mail have once again reminded customers to ‘use up or swap out’ their non-barcoded definitive stamps, whilst re-confirming that customers have until 31 July to use up their old non-barcoded definitive stamps following the introduction of a six-month grace period. The change of deadline from 31 January to the end of July means that customers can use old-style stamps as normal until 31 July when non-barcoded stamps will no longer be valid and liable to a surcharge. The stamp team at Royal Mail are also keen to remind customers that even after the new 31 July deadline, they can still swap non-barcoded stamps for barcoded stamps through Royal Mail’s Swap Out scheme. The Swap Out scheme opened on 31 March 2022, and there is currently no end date as…

Croatia Post have issued a special miniature sheet to celebrate the national football team’s performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the semi-finals of the tournament and eventually came third. The sheet is made up of three stamps, each with a value of €1.14, which together show a photograph of the full squad. The philatelic honour follows a similar stamp issued following the team’s performance in the 2018 World Cup, when they reached the final. Post offices, including Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, have issued their first stamps featuring the cypher of King Charles III, as the new ‘Carolean stamp era’ begins in earnest. Guernsey was the first post office to issue a set of stamps replacing the effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II with…

EXPLORING STAMPS Graham Beck is the person behind the philatelist’s favourite YouTube channel, ‘Exploring Stamps’. Belying the idea that stamp collecting is a hobby for fogeys who prefer collating stamps in paper albums in real life to engaging with the virtual world, from his base in New Jersey Graham uses his video content to create short, highly engaging videos that display all the aspects of why he believes collecting stamps really is, as he puts it, ‘the King of Hobbies’. Graham first got into stamps when he was a child in South Africa. ‘My friend, Jerrit, introduced me to his stamp collection when I was eight years old,’ he remembers. ‘Together we would go to the local stamp shop and spend our pocket money on new issues at the time.…

Jersey Post is celebrating the Chinese Year of the Rabbit with its first stamp to feature the cypher of King Charles lll. The rabbit on the stamp is a symbol of health and longevity. The new King’s cypher, in the top left hand corner of the stamps, is the Sovereign’s monogram, consisting of his initials C (for Charles) and R (for Rex, the Latin for ‘king’) and a representation of the crown. The Year of the Rabbit issue, consisting of a single stamp and a miniature sheet, is the eighth part of Jersey Post’s series celebrating the Lunar New Year. Each set in the series has been illustrated by Beijing designer Wang Huming, the Deputy Chief Designer of the Postage Stamp Printing Bureau of China Post. The designs for each…

• First class: Steve Harris performing in Vancouver, June 2010• First class: Bruce Dickinson performing at Hammersmith Odeon, London, may 1983• First class: Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Steve Harris performing in Pamplona, September 1988• First class: Nicko McBrain performing in Quito, March 2009• £1.85: Dave Murray. Bruce Dickinson and Janick Gers performing in Rio de Janeiro, January 2001• £1.85: Adrian Smith and Steve Harris performing in Helsinki, May 2018• £1.85: Iron Maiden performing at Twickenham Stadium, London, July 2008• £1.85: Bruce Dickinson swordfighting with Eddie, Birmingham, August 2018 The merch (philatelic-style) • Miniature sheet: A celebration of Eddie through the ages, with four special ‘Eddie’ stamps: ‘Iron Maiden’ Eddie (1st); The ‘Trooper’ Eddie (1st); ‘Aces high’ Eddie (£1.85) and ‘Senjitsu’ Eddie (£1.85)• Stamp pack• Stamp sheet pack• Presentation pack•…

1 Name the design, denomination and issue year of France’s first postage stamp. 2 What is illustrated in the vignette on this stamp? (Figure 1) 3 In which years were forgeries of this stamp used in London? (Figure 2) 4 In which year was Denmark’s iconic Wavy-Line-and-Numeral stamp introduced? (Figure 3) 5 What was the date of this famous battle, and what was it so important to France? (Figure 4) 6 What is the name of this craft, and what type of vessel is it? (Figure 5) 7 Why, in 1813, did the Post Office introduce an additional ½d charge on letters sent to and from Scotland, and carried in wheeled vehicles? 8 What were adsons? 9 Which country issued the first official air stamps, and when were the stamps initially used? 10 Why were arrows printed…

With Red Nose Day on 17 March shining the spotlight firmly on funny folk turning themselves inside out to raise a laugh for charity, let’s doff our comedy titfers in their direction by way of looking at stamps featuring people who make us split our sides for a living. A brilliant place to start is the Royal Mail 2015 commemorative Comedy Greats ten-stamp set, which was fittingly released on All Fool’s Day (1 April) and celebrates six decades of rib-tickling mirth, including the much-loved TV comedians of British TV comedy’s ‘Golden Age’. The First Class stamps depict TV standup and sketch show stars Spike Milligan, The Two Ronnies, Billy Connolly, Morecambe and Wise, Norman Wisdom, Lenny Henry, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Monty Python, French and Saunders and Victoria Wood.…

The way a registration system works is by tracking a letter during its course in the post, with a signature taken on delivery. Generally you are required to hand in the letter at a post office and pay an extra fee for the service, and you get a receipt to prove that, should it be necessary. Such a service was first introduced for UK inland mail on 6th January 1841. For about half a century before that, however, the Post Office operated a system that registered some letters free of charge. The catch was that it applied only if they contained gold or silver coins (or jewellery), whose presence in a letter was usually fairly obvious from the weight and feel. These were known as ‘Money Letters’. How it worked…

We can hardly imagine the difficulty in the past when trying to locate a family member who had left the country and was travelling, for we are now so used to almost instant communication. A look back to just before the Second World War serves as a reminder of the good fortune we now have, and the worry and concern that people had then. The Belgian aristocratic family with the four-word surname of de Crombrugghe de Looringhe was based in Bruges, the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The reason for the journey of the Baronne by ship to Mombasa, a coastal city in south-eastern Kenya, is unknown, but she did not rest there, and travelled onwards to the Belgian…

The long line of male music legends to appear on British stamps looks to set to finally come to an end with Dame Shirley Bassey due to be honoured later this year. So far Royal Mail have paid homage to artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and most recently Iron Maiden; whilst the 2010 ‘Classic Album Covers’ set featured predominantly male bands, such as The Clash, Blur, and Led Zeppelin. Reporting that Shirley Bassey is to be the first female artiste honoured with her own stamps The Daily Mail newspaper used the headline ‘Shirley Not!’ and others have commented on the good news that a female music star is be honoured. Welsh singer Bassey is perhaps best known for her vocal performance…

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in the USA has announced the opening of the nominating process for the 2023 Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award (SPAA). The Smithsonian award will recognise philatelists from the U.S. and international philatelic communities with the nomination process open until 1 March. Award winners will be honoured at a museum-hosted gala event in Washington, D.C., on 4 November. The SPAA was established in 2002 to honour and celebrate living individuals for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of philately. This achievement may include original research that significantly advances the understanding of philately, exceptional service to the philatelic community or sustained promotion of philately to the benefit of current and future collectors. The SPAA medallion is a 3-inch, gold-plated bronze disc depicting a sunburst with eight straight and…

The new special stamp commemorates 70 years of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Court of Justice of the European Union, which was established in 1952 in Luxembourg, is the judicial body of the EU, responsible for ensuring the application of EU law across all its member states. It consists of two courts: the Court of Justice, which has a judge for each of the 27 member states, and the General Court, which was established in 1988 and has 54 judges (two for each member state). More than 42,000 judgements have been delivered by the institution since 1952. Each member state of the EU has its own languages (there are currently 24 official EU languages) and specific legal system. The buildings housing the Court of Justice in…

Swiss Post have announced the results of the very first public vote to choose the most beautiful Swiss stamp of 2022, with the ‘Typically Swiss’ special stamp taking the prize. The winning stamp design, with a design featuring an Alphorn and the Matterhorn, received over 14,000 votes. Issued in September, the stamp was designed by graphic artist Andrea Klaiber. Stefan Bühler, Head of Stamps & Philately at Swiss Post, said: ‘I’m not surprised that this stamp is so popular. Because the design includes everything we love so much in Switzerland.’ Second place was claimed by the colourful ‘The popular sport of hiking’ stamp, designed by Nicole Vögeli; ‘Bumblebee’ by Oreste Vinciguerra came in third place. All participants were entered into a prize draw to win ten year books of Swiss…

Whilst looking through my Post & Go collection I came across Greenland and realised I had not covered it, writes Stuart Leigh. Like most Scandinavian countries Greenland have been issuing Franking Labels for some time from the a-Con style printers, but in 2018 they took delivery of a Post & Go kiosk made by Intelligent AR and started producing stamps from both. The stock (or rolls of blank stamps) can be used in both printers, so collectors of the original Franking Label can continue their collection from the aCon Printer whilst Post & Go collectors have another country to add from Greenland’s Desktop Kiosk Unit (DKU). The 2018 issue showed Greenland Landscapes. Subsequent issues in 2019 depicted Polar Bears, 2020 Sled Dog Pups, 2021 Greenlandic Seals and in 2022 pictured…

It may at times occur to the philatelist that there is a rather romantic synergy between the magical shores of the Mauritius island and the mystical stamps of the ‘Post Office’ issue. And one could equally draw parallels with the dodo, the now more-than-rare native bird of that island, and the rarity of those two stamps, whose appearance we witness so infrequently they could be mistaken as extinct; albeit a few of them do still exist – unlike the dodo. Certainly, no twitcher or philatelist expects to learn of any new sightings of either bird or stamp. However, our featured item will ruffle more than feathers when it emerges that previously unknown versions of the famous 1847 Mauritius ‘Post Office’ issue have now come to light. This exciting discovery is…

I have often wondered how long it would have taken for the earth to tear itself to pieces in one vast explosion if the safety valves afforded by volcanoes did not exist. In Britain we are lucky not to suffer the more extreme forms of natural disaster, of which a volcanic eruption in full swing is probably the most visually impressive, but many countries experience their varied effects. As with all sciences, volcanology has its classifications, the simplest being extinct, dormant or active, while a Richter Scale-like Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) was devised in 1982 by two American geologists to measure relative eruption power on a scale of 1-8. Volcanoes are also divided into three main types of which the stratovolcano is the most common, achieving the familiar cone shape…

Postal history is a reflection of days gone by and, for generations, patriotic collectors have been writing to express their feelings to the Royal Family on every occasion. Mrs Dams of Peterborough was one such prolific letter writer who put pen to paper for anniversaries, birthdays and even for safe returns from overseas visits. The Ladies-in-Waiting were punctilious in replying, as Alice Egerton did on 16 August 1953, to acknowledge Mrs Dams’ good wishes for Princess Anne’s second birthday. By that time the Royal Family had decamped to Balmoral for their traditional summer break so, although the letter was written on Buckingham Palace letter paper, the postmark is that of Balmoral. Mrs Dams was busy again in June 1953 when she expressed her loyal greetings to The Queen on the…

Part Three - The Satchel To her surprise the Shepheard’s hotel in Cairo was sumptuously superior to the fashionable Paris Hôtel Continental, where Noella had never expected to enjoy such stylish and comfortable accommodation. Whilst William Le Queux took the opulence of their surroundings with nonchalance, his female travel companion enthused unashamedly, in particular about the view from her chamber window across the busy street to the Nile. According to the enquiries Fred had undertaken prior to their arrival the Earl had received a number of messages from the concierge in the days leading up to his passing. ‘The problem is the staff who handed the notes to my lord state they were always in sealed envelopes and I’ve not found any evidence that these messages were retained. Certainly they…

In 2019, Austrian Post wowed the public with the world’s first blockchain stamp. It was the first time that a seemingly traditional product managed to harness the highly complex technology of the blockchain. The response was overwhelming: the Crypto stamp 1.0 with the Unicorn motif became a worldwide sensation and sold out remarkably fast. The basic principle is a physical stamp with five digital twins in different colours and quantities in the blockchain. The Crypto stamp can be bought as a haptic product in Austrian post offices or ordered in the online shop, then the digital twin is activated in the blockchain – including the surprise of discovering which rare colour the NFT comes in. With this, Crypto stamp marked the launch of (stamp) collecting 2.0: the trend continued with…

Traditionally the new season of meetings of the Royal Philatelic Society London begins each year with the members being given the privilege of seeing material from the Royal Philatelic Collection. The sad death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II meant that the originally planned date was within the period of official mourning. By gracious permission of His Majesty The King, the display, of New Zealand, was shown at the first meeting of 2023, on 12 January. Rod Vousden FRPSL, of the Royal Philatelic Collection, had chosen New Zealand as 2022 marked the 70th anniversary of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain (NZSGB), selecting material from the reign of Queen Victoria through to King George VI. The focus of the Collection is stamps, the display opening with the stamps…

The Triskelion Collection is the first IOM stamp set to feature new Royal Cypher. The four-stamp set features Manx’s famous three-legged symbol. The triskelion, which has been a symbol of Manxness for nearly 1,000 years, is one of the world’s oldest continually used national symbols. Originally derived from an early sun symbol, It can be seen everywhere on the Isle of Man, appearing on banknote a coins as well as historic buildings and contemporary commercial branding. The original triskelion’s Pagan significance related to triple gods and the three domains of land, sea and sky. It was also believed to represent the cycles of life the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone. The original legs, introduced by Alexander lll of Scotland in 1265, were bare, but by the 14th century had acquired…

In 1922, photographer Jimmy Nelson published Between the Sea and the Sky, a book of images of Netherlands communities in national dress and in their particular environment. Netherlands Post have released four new stamp sheets, Ode to the Netherlands, featuring portraits of women and girls in their traditional national and regional costumes. The stamps and sheetlets, with a value of 1 (for items up to 20g) were designed by Larissa Rosvaenge of Jimmy Nelson Studio. https://postnl.post France’s La Poste has issued a new stamp featuring Nelson Mandela, African anti-apartheid campaigner and the first President of South Africa. Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1962 for conspiring to overthrow the state. He served 27 years of imprisonment before leading the ANC to victory in 1994’s multi-racial general election following the…

Their legendary status cemented by more than 2,000 shows across 64 countries in a career spanning five decades, heavy metal titans Iron Maiden are the latest musical act to appear on British stamps. The new set of stamps celebrates their show-stopping live performances whilst also featuring examples of their familiar, if slightly scary, artwork. Iron Maiden’s story, taking them from the grot of the late 1970s toilet band circuit to private planes and megastardom, is a proper tale of rock ‘n’ roll rags to riches. In the mid-1970s, heavy metal needed a reboot following its powerhouse beginnings in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. The hard rock genre that had blended abrasive industrial sounds with an occult Hammer Horror aesthetic to create its defining sounds in Birmingham’s Black Sabbath was out…

PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED HANDSOME DOUBLE HEAD The Andrew Wilson Collection of the Rhodesia 1910-13 Double Head Issue was recently on offer at Spink. The highest price paid was for this 5d lake-brown and green example. Perforated 14, the stamp featured lovely bright colours and was well centred with large part original gum. The auction catalogue described the stamp as being ‘one of the finest of the dozen or so mint examples known, handsome and very rare so fine.’ SOLD FOR £10,000 PATRIOTIC PONY EXPRESS The ongoing sale of the ‘Erivan’ Collection of United and Confederate States recently took place at H.R. Harmer, and included this Well’s, Fargo & Co cover of 1861. Featuring a $2 red ‘Pony Express’ stamp, tied by a blue ‘Pony Express San…

At about the time Mesolithic migrants arrived in numbers on Great Britain’s shores from the European Continent (c. 7,000 BC), South American tribes began to cross the narrow waters that separate modern Venezuela from the islands of the Caribbean, and to settle on Trinidad’s coasts. They would later develop agricultural skills, but initially exploited the vast oyster beds and the large and valuable pearls awaiting discovery in those shallow waters. Native traders came from many parts of South America, bringing pottery and textiles to Trinidad’s busy foreshore markets to exchange for pearls. On his third voyage to the New World in the 1490s Christopher Columbus is said to have sighted an island with three prominent peaks which brought the Holy Trinity into his Catholic thoughts and prompted him to name…

Between 1941 and 1942, the King George VI definitives were re-issued in paler shades with the idea that this would save ink. I find these first day covers interesting for two main reasons, first that there was a war on, but collectors are collectors and they did not let this stop them visiting their Post Office and sticking their stamps to get a First Day Cover. And secondly the number of unusual combinations of stamps you find, far too many than was needed, meaning more stamps were used, and so more ink, and so defeating the reason they were issued. The plain cover shown here is a good example of my second point with a block of five halfpenny Green’s stuck on cancelled with a Burton Leonard Harrogate CDS and…

In 1840 Great Britain’s population stood at a little over 18,000,000. Of that number only half had mastered the skills of reading and writing. The illiterate 9,000,000 belonged almost exclusively to the labouring classes. Opportunities to send and receive letters prior to 1840 had rarely come their way, due to high postage costs, and the simple truth was that poorer folk had yet to develop the habit of communicating by mail. The cost deterrent vanished on the 6th of May when the first Penny Blacks went on sale. Now a ½-ounce letter could wing its way across the length and breadth of Britain for a penny. Figures for numbers of letters posted throughout the realm began to climb; though somewhat slowly at first because it took time to grow accustomed…

The voyages of Columbus sent shockwaves around Europe. Now, the world was undeniably round. And a voyage across the western ocean could open up new trading opportunities with the East. This would cut out the long land journey and all the middlemen along the way. Henry VIII is generally credited as the ‘father of the English Navy’ – but the foundations were laid by his father. Henry VII invested in shipbuilding to strengthen both the navy and the merchant marine. He also built Europe’s first dry dock at Portsmouth – which survives today. John Cabot (Zuan Caboto in Venetian) had been trading around the Eastern Mediterranean, when a problem with money caused him to flee Venice. After unsuccessful visits to Spain and Portugal, he ended up in London, where he…

Mime is perhaps one of the least appreciated of art forms, yet its history spans thousands of years and it has inspired comics, actors, and musicians, from the likes of Charlie Chaplin to David Bowie. As a thematic, mime is both unusual and flexible, allowing you to pick and choose which aspects of the art’s long history, traditions, and performers to include. The result is a theme that can be as big or as small as you like. The origins of mime date back to the ancient world, when silent performers provided dramatic interludes to the traditional dramas of Greece and Rome. Mime continued to be performed and was a popular part of Medieval European entertainment, where mummers would travel from town to town telling tales from legend, folklore, and…