Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Stamp Collector

SOUTH GEORGIA & SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS Stromness Whaling Station On 30 September, South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands released a stamp set highlighting the Stromness Whaling Station. This abandoned whaling station is located on the north coast of South Georgia. The shore station was built in 1912 to augment the floating factory facilities, which had been established in 1907. Whaling continued at the station until 1931, when it was converted for use as a major ship repair yard. Operations ceased at Stromness in 1961, and the station buildings fell into disuse. Stromness played a significant role in the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition after the expedition’s ship, Endurance, was crushed by ice. Using the ship’s lifeboats, the men headed for Elephant lsland, which was…

It was well known that King George V never liked the idea of commemorative stamps. However, it may well have been that those within the General Post Office were similarly not inclined towards such stamps. So when, in February 1934, an approach was made by the Colonial Office suggesting that stamps be issued by all parts of the colonial empire on 10 May 1935 to mark the king’s Silver Jubilee, the reply from the GPO stated it did not intend to do the same. The reply added that work was underway on new definitives, making it an ‘inopportune moment’ to consider commemorative stamps. However, the government was considering national celebrations and wondered how the GPO might participate. Surprisingly, it seems that on this occasion the king did indeed favour special…

SOLD FOR £347 British post office Jacmel in Haiti, letter franked 4d from Port-au-Prince 1966 to Marseille France via London and Calais SOLD FOR £201 France, 1849 20c Cérès black on white with margins, MH (signed) SOLD FOR £930 Portugal, block of four 1955 Christmas stamps with inverted legend ‘Portugal’, cancelled Lisbon SOLD FOR £365 Natal, 1904–5 £1 10s. KEVII lilac and orange, MH SOLD FOR £137 Great Britain, 1d Mulready letter sheet of 11 May 1840 to Salisbury SOLD FOR £1763.75 France, 10f airmail overprint on 1928 90c Berthelot, MNH (signed with certificate) SOLD FOR £639 Penhryn, original hand-painted artwork for 1993 $2 Textile cone shell stamp SOLD FOR £256 New Caledonia, 1903 60c brown postage due stamps overprinted ‘CINQUANTENAIRE’ in pair with gutter SOLD FOR £336 Belgium, complete…

The opportunity to find and research a cover, and, hopefully, an accompanying letter with it, should be a rewarding journey for all. The time of war is always traumatic for everyone, and those who are parted both at home and away with military forces perhaps suffer the most. Weeks and months often go by without knowledge of each other, and the longed-for letter is awaited with hope as well as concern. When it does arrive and as long as the sender’s initials or signature is on the envelope, then a sense of joy and relief descends before the letter is read. Those serving on active service in the military were allowed to send letters without postage cost, signified by the phrase ‘on active service’, and the writer would add ‘O.A.S.’…

Michael Faraday (1791–1867) was one of those remarkable 19th-century individuals who laid the foundations of our modern world (Figure 1). Like several such people, he was totally self-made, being the son of a blacksmith from unfashionable Southwark. His poor start in life gave him both incredible determination and a freshness of vision. He was apprenticed to a bookbinder aged 14 – a big break because it enabled him to access books on science, which he read voraciously. He attended lectures at the City Philosophical Society and then the prestigious Royal Institution, eagerly making copious notes. Aged 21, he applied to the eminent chemist Sir Humphrey Davy for a job as an assistant. Davy was smart enough to spot his talent and gave it to him. Working for Davy, he discovered…

REVENUES Holkar’s first court fee stamps When India became independent on 15 August 1947, all the 556 feudal states ceased to exist, writes Christer Brunström. They have also been referred to as native or princely states, but they were all part of a feudal system that was encouraged by the British administration. Some states were very large while others just comprised a few villages. The British had introduced a gun salute system that ranked the more important states based on the ruler’s gun salute. Four rulers were awarded a salute of 21. The maharaja of Indore in Central India was given a gun salute of 19, which indicates that Indore was a very important state. The state of Indore was ruled by members of the house of Holkar, which was…

SOLD FOR £335 France, 1908 20 francs ‘Marianne and Rooster’ of Chaplain gold coin, VF SOLD FOR £239 Romania, Transylvania, 1606 3 groschen Prince Stephen Bocskai silver coin, VF SOLD FOR £189 Bolivia, 1850 8 soles silver coin, VF SOLD FOR £615 France, 1956 50 francs Suez ‘Forces Françaises en Méditerranée Orientale’, VF SOLD FOR £241 Belgium, 1858 5 francs Leopold I silver coin, XF SOLD FOR £228 Ancient Rome, 145 BC Junia silver denarius, XF SOLD FOR £162 USA, 1831 Coronet cent copper coin, XF SOLD FOR £473 Gibraltar, £50 Queen Elizabeth 1995 banknote, UNC BUY AND SELL ON DECAMPE, MORE THAN 80 MILLION COLLECTABLES ARE WAITING FOR YOU!…

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A mid his busy schedule, we managed a quick chat with Bill Barrell after his return from Hafnia and just before his departure for Stampex. HOW ARE THINGS GOING? Well, we are in midst of a very busy cycle, and Bill Barrell Ltd is very busy! We returned from ‘Hafnia 2024’ in Copenhagen at 2am this morning (21 October), and early tomorrow morning, we drive to London to set up our booth for Stampex. Hafnia was a great show, held in an attractive, older building and very well organised by the Danish Philatelic Federation. The demand for GB stamps and covers was good with some very keen buyers in town (Figure 1) There were over 2,000 frames of exhibits to admire and learn from. One of these exhibits was mine,…

Modern rarity The US stamps sale at Siegel on 8–10 October included an example of the $2 red and blue, non-Inverted Jenny error sheet – a modern rarity (lot 2716). This sheet of six stamps included a congratulatory card. Only 100 sheets were distributed to random post offices around the US, and only approximately 40 have been registered with the postal service. The $2 Inverted Jenny souvenir sheet went on sale on 22 September 2013. It was printed using the intaglio printing process and plates made from the original dies used to produce the 1918 24c airmail stamp. The denomination was changed to make it easily distinguishable from the original. The souvenir sheet background depicts the original airmail route, the National Postal Museum and aviation pioneer Reuben H Fleet. A…

First flight covers are not uncommon and often have a very philatelic contrived flavour, with cachets and vignettes abounding. However, those from the first seaplane flights out of Brunei in 1930 have a somewhat more romantic history and arose from a genuine need by the Admiralty to conduct the first survey of the South China Sea (Figure 1). When this story is combined with an unpublished account by one of the pilots, CE Livock, you have all the ingredients for a tale of derring-do (Figure 2). Flying was still in its infancy in the Far East, and Livock recalled a government official who greeted him with the words: ‘I don’t know why you’ve come here; we’ve had one airship in Sarawak, and we’re never likely to want any more.’ The…

When the first Europeans arrived in what is today’s Venezuela, they explored the Lake Maracaibo area, which they thought resembled Venice with all its canals. Hence, when baptising the country, they chose the name Little Venice or Venezuela. It is a fairly large country that occupies the north-eastern part of the South American continent. It is a country with a huge geographical variety, ranging from tropical rain forests in the south to beautiful sandy beaches along the Caribbean coastline. I remember arriving at Caracas Airport many years ago; when I exited the plane, it was like entering a hot sauna. Other parts of the country have a much cooler climate. Venezuela shares borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. It is a potentially very rich country as it has huge mineral…

Chew Valley Hoard acquired for the nation The Chew Valley Hoard of coins, dating from the time of the Norman Conquest of England, has been acquired for the nation by the South West Heritage Trust. The acquisition of the hoard, whose value of £4.3 million makes it the highest value treasure find ever, was thanks to major funding, which includes £4.4m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £150,000 from Art Fund. Consisting of 2,584 silver pennies dating from c.1066 to 1068, the hoard covers the transition from Saxon to Norman rule, which was begun in 1066. It was likely buried for safekeeping in the turmoil of the Norman Conquest of England, probably during rebellions in the south west against the new Norman king, William the ‘Conqueror’. Just under half…

Ukraine’s early history is one of domination by outside powers, though Kyivan Rus’, the first flowering of Slavic culture in the 9th century, was based in what is now the country’s capital city. The Kyivan Rus’ state was the progenitor of both Russia and Ukraine, a common but contested history that is at the root of the current conflict. Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great of Kyivan Rus’ (d.1015) chose to be baptised into Orthodox Christianity in 989 and then ordered his subjects to do the same. The adoption of the Orthodox religion also led to the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet. The state lasted until around 1240 when invading Mongols and the Golden Horde dispersed the Slavic tribes. In the 13th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a union of two countries…

Special postcard for the UPU As part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a specially designed postcard has been produced. This postcard, celebrating 150 years of international postal cooperation, was part of a global initiative between the UPU, Postcrossing and the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) to celebrate the anniversary. The campaign, titled ‘A Maximum Card for Maximum Worldwide Fun’, offers collectors a unique way to commemorate this milestone and is intended to help achieve even greater visibility for philately. The card was available from local post offices, or you could download it from the UPU’s website. Postcrossing is a project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from people around the world. The idea is simple, for every postcard you send,…

Eight stamps in a new issue dedicated to The Who, which was released on 17 October, feature images of some of the band’s most popular and iconic album covers, while a further four stamps in a miniature sheet feature two publicity group shots and two images of the band’s dynamic live performances. The Who are the seventh music group to feature in a dedicated Royal Mail stamp issue – following on from: The Beatles (2007); Pink Floyd (2016); Queen (2020); The Rolling Stones (2022); Iron Maiden (2023); and The Spice Girls (2024). THE BAND Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon formed The Who in 1964. Within five years, they went from performing club shows to headlining the Woodstock festival and becoming the biggest box-office draw in the…

The first issue of Bavaria, the first in old Germany, went on sale from 1 November 1849. This issue consisted of three, square numeral designs with values at 1 kreuzer black, 3k blue and 6k in shades of brown. In unused condition, the first printings of the 3k and 6k are extremely rare, while used examples still seem affordable from double-figured amounts. Bavaria’s first stamp, the 1k black, has a high reputation among international collectors. Several printings and colour shades may be differentiated. Market prices also depend on quality of cut, margin and cancellations. EARLY PRICE RISES The oldest market report I checked for my research on the price development of Bavaria’s 1849–50 1k black in the late-19th century was illustrated by the Berlin stamp dealer, editor and specialised journalist…

The first part of these two articles looked at the ‘mail holding facilities’ offered by the Post Office over the years. But they weren’t the only ones offering that kind of service – a range of private providers have also performed this task, so this time, we’ll take a brief look at a few of them. LOCAL PLACES OF NOTE Last month’s article mentioned that letters would naturally be left at a post office ‘if there was one’. In the early days, of course, there might well not be one, but even if there was, letters would often be addressed to some prominent local location. Inns were an obvious and popular choice (Figures 1–2), as were carriers (Figure 3), who undertook to deliver letters to places the official postal system…

Most coin collectors are relaxed, sociable types, with a simple passion for small metal pieces that tell stories. But there exists a special breed of collectors who, seemingly unsatisfied with how much they get to say in their professional or personal lives, always have something to grumble about – even when it comes to coins. Take, for example, the new €2 coin commemorating the 35th anniversary of German reunification (Figure 1). A tribute to reunification, a celebration of national identity and yet … collectors? They’re divided. Some say the design is a masterpiece, while others instantly switch to ‘know-it-all’ mode, claiming that earlier coins were far superior. It seems that some coin collectors will never be pleased. There’s always something too modern, too simple or ‘not traditional enough’. You’d almost…

Tudor beasts The Royal Mint has released the seventh coin in its ongoing set reimagining the 10 stone beasts that stand guard on the moat bridge of Hampton Court Palace. The 10 stone beasts on the Moat Bridge signified the strength of the Tudor dynasty by representing the lineage of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Incorporating both real and mythical creatures, each was carefully chosen to serve as a reminder to visitors of the legitimacy and authority of the Tudors. With a 2025 £5 brilliant uncirculated coin, the Queen’s Panther is the latest beast to join the collection. On the bridge, the Queen’s Panther stands across from the Tudor Dragon and is the final Queen’s Beast visitors meet before entering the palace. In heraldry, panthers are often…