Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Stamp Collector

A new version of the book The United States Postal Service: An American History has been published by the USPS, with the online edition of the 162-page guide available to download and read for free. The ambitious history covers a range of subjects including Steamboats, The Pony Express, Postmasters in the 19th Century, The Postwar Boom, Mechanization and Early Automation, and 21st Century Innovation. Writing in the introduction, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy states that the book: ‘tells the story of our ever-changing and improving institution – from its expanding delivery network, to its growing suite of services and technological innovations, to its proud legacy of workforce diversity and service to the American people.’ You can download the book via the All About Stamps website, just visit: www.allaboutstamps.co.uk/stamp-guides…

Volunteering, a new domestic 20g stamp from Norway, shows an affirmative show of hands bearing letters spelling out Frivillighet (which translates as ‘volunteering’) designed by Jørn O. Jøntvedt. 2022 was designated the Year of Volunteering in Norway following a proposal by the Association of NGOs, and the new stamp marked its culmination. Norway has around 100,000 volunteer teams and associations, and last year shone a spotlight on organisations active in everything from arts and culture and local community to sports to humanitarian efforts – and hopefully encouraged more people to volunteer! Issue date 11 November 2022 posten.no/frimerker…

In 1899, Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951) teamed up with Ludwig Loner, the manager of Lohner-Werke factory in Vienna, to develop an electric vehicle (EV) they called ‘System Lohner-Porsche’. Its front wheels were driven by wheel hub motors with an output of around 3 PS each, the range was about 50 kilometres. At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, the vehicle was presented as the ‘world’s first transmissionless car’ and attracted a lot of attention. To increase the range of the electric vehicle, which was very heavy due to its lead batteries, Porsche constructed the first hybrid car, the ‘Semper Vivus’, with additional gasoline engines supplying more energy to the batteries and wheel hub motors. Mr Porsche and his team were certainly ahead of the EV game, even if the design of the car…

Back in the late in 1960s the agent handling the advertising in British stamp books put forward the idea of a sponsored ‘cheque-book’ type product. It did not prove easy to find a sponsor although eventually the Milk Marketing Board was persuaded, and the 1969 £1 ‘Stamps for Cooks’ resulted. It is a sobering thought that for your £1 you purchased stamps sufficient to post 55 letters. Similar books appeared in 1972 and 1980 for Wedgwood, and from 1982 became an annual product, the interleaving pages providing a story, such as that of Stanley Gibbons. A common feature was that the stamps were all definitives, albeit invariably one pane provided a se-tenant combination not otherwise available. A change came in 1990 with the ‘London Life’ book, for it contained both…

Samoa West Pacific islands administered jointly during the final decade of the 19th century by Great Britain, Germany and the USA. Great Britain occupied all of the western islands from 1914 to 1920 when they came under a New Zealand mandate, and later under a United Nations trusteeship. In 1962 the islanders opted for independence, but continued with sterling until 1967 when a decimal currency (100 sene = 1 tale) came into circulation. The last sterling stamps; 8d and 1s 0d values, commemorated Samoa’s Parliament House in its centenary year (figure 1). Earlier predecimals continue to attract collector interest today, especially those from the embryonic years of Samoan postal history when, in 1877, a private postal service for newspaper distribution issued stamps in a range of values from 1d to…

The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which is based on three visionary ideas. Firstly, some places are so important that their preservation cannot be left to a single country. They are the responsibility of the international community. Secondly, it removes the distinction between our natural heritage and our cultural heritage; both are equally important. And thirdly, it goes on to recognise that nature is the background to human activity, so we need to study the ways that people interact with nature and how to preserve the balance between the two. The convention was ratified by 20 countries and took effect from 1975. The World Heritage Convention grew out of the Aswan Dam project in Egypt. The government of what was then the UAR…

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CHAPTER, THREE THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF A DEATH IN CARIO PART TWO - THE ARRIVAL IN CAIRO Despite her energetic efforts concentrating on the changing French landscape, which flashed by her train cabin window, Noella was unable to rid her mind of the horror of Hector Giroux’s public execution. As William Le Queux had rightly stated the two reporters were on their way to Milan when the beheading took place, however the imagery, conjured up by her travel companion, of the guillotine blade, stocks and the guilty man’s exposed neck haunted her long past their Italian stop and it wasn’t until they departed Zagreb that her attention turned elsewhere. By the time the train arrived in Belgrade, Noella was completely lost in fascination with the travellers around her. Those who…

ROYAL MAIL REVEAL IRON MAIDEN STAMPS Royal Mail are kicking off 2023 with a new set of stamps and a miniature sheet dedicated to heavy metal band Iron Maiden, who formed in 1975 and have released over 40 albums. The new stamps still bear the silhouette of the Queen, suggesting they were planned and produced before the Queen’s sad passing in September, and show the band performing at a variety of concerts throughout their long career. The value of each stamp is shown in a font reminiscent of the band’s familiar logo. The four-stamp mini sheet is dedicated to the band’s mascot Eddie, who regularly appears on the band’s artwork. A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: ‘Unmatched and renowned for their onstage shows, the main stamp set celebrates Iron Maiden’s…

Belgium’s stamp schedule for 2023 has been revealed, with an eclectic mix of subjects set to be featured, including the 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Berlin’s 2023 Special Olympics, the world breakdancing championships, the 95th birthday of film-maker Raoul Servais, and the Europa common theme of peace. The organisers of the Boston 2026 World Expo have announced that Graham Beck has joined the exhibition’s Advisory Board. Graham is well known for his ‘Exploring Stamps’ YouTube channel which features videos covering many facets of the hobby. Meanwhile, the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) has appointed FIP Vice President Reinaldo Macedo as FIP Consultant to Boston 2026. A set of postage stamps to honour Korean boy band BTS are set to be issued in 2023, according to reports.…

Guernsey Post is celebrating the life of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll with a set of two commemorative se-tenant stamps. The stamps show images of The Queen alongside places she visited on the four occasions she came to the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The 56p se-tenant stamps relate to visits The Queen made to Guernsey in 1978, where she and Price Philip visited St Peter’s village, and 2001, where Her Majesty, on her fourth visit to Guernsey, opened the 201 Squadron Museum at Castle Cornet. The 87p se-tenant stamps show images of The Queen in 1957, when she and Price Philip visited Guernsey and were presented with gifts for Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Cambridge Park, and in 2005 on her final visit, when she visited the island to…

The Isle of Man Post Office recently released stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo XVII, the sixth and final mission in which man explored the lunar surface. The mission launched from the Kennedy Space Flight Center on 7 December 1972. The commemorative issue also coincides with the current Artemis 1 mission heading back from the Moon which, if successful, will hopefully lead to humans returning to the Moon in the next few years. At the conclusion of their final moonwalk on 14 December 1972, Commander Cernan stated: ‘As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I’d like to just say what I believe history will record: that…

PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED FAMOUS ‘HOPE’ COVER The only known cover featuring an 1856 Provisional 4 cents black on blue stamp, one of the rarest issues of British Guiana, was recently sold at David Feldman. The stamp, printed on surface glazed paper, featured the initials of postal clerk Wight ‘EDW’, was cut octagonally with good margins all around, and was described as being an ‘outstanding quality example’. The cover was sent to Sophia’s Hope Estate in Mahaicony and was very lightly cancelled by village datestamp of Williamstown ‘A 3 C OC 30 1856’. The auction catalogue explained: ‘this is one of the rarest stamps of British Guiana, representing the most important item of this issue, and one of the outstanding covers of British Guiana. Without doubt, a…

Plans to hold an exhibition at Wellington to mark the First Centenary of the Dominion of New Zealand had begun to materialise in 1938, when a 55 acre site was allocated by the New Zealand Government for the construction of suitable buildings and attractions. The central feature was to be a 150-foot Art Deco structure known as the Centennial Tower. The tower would be flanked by an extensive fountain with a centrepiece statue of a sea nymph riding a seahorse. On the ground floor within the Centennial Tower, engineers from New Zealand’s Department of Railways would build a working model railway on a scale large enough to carry passengers around scores of exhibition booths leased to companies from across the world. With war looming – indeed, already flaring into armed…

The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built around 2570 BC. To get an impression of that age; if one imagines its lifetime (till now) to be one day, the Battle of Hastings took place around seven o’clock in the evening, and the age of Shakespeare was two and a half hours before midnight. The Sphinx, near its foot, dates from around the same time. Its face, that has gazed across the desert for four and a half millennia, is possibly modelled on that of Khufu’s son, Khafre – who also had a giant pyramid built. The civilization that built these amazing artefacts dates back to before 3000 BC, when the first Pharaohs slowly took control of the River Nile and its delta. They then expanded their empire to include parts…

Whether they’re paid professionals, or dedicated volunteers, lifeguards are an essential part of the emergency services. While not as high-profile as fire-fighters or medics, in the US alone, lifeguards save around 100,000 people from drowning every year. So, why not plunge into a thematic that celebrates these under-appreciated heroes? Lifeguards or lifesavers, as they’re sometimes called, are at their most visible in public swimming pools, but the profession is as flexible as the job requires. Some lifeguards are stationed at beaches, where they can either swim to your assistance, or use rescue crafts. In the UK, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), is the largest such body, with specialists trained in a range of skills, from surf and paddle board rescue, to manning the lifeboat itself. And you don’t have…

CINDERELLAS Revenues of Saxony When going through albums of miscellaneous Cinderella stamps, you sometimes discover items which are difficult to identify, writes Christer Brunström. Frequently it can also be rather tricky to figure out exactly what their purpose was. The illustrated stamp is a typical example. It is quite a handsome design featuring the coat of arms of the town of Döbeln in the Kingdom of Saxony. It was probably issued sometime in the 1890s by the municipal council. The denomination is 25 pfennig and the word VISIRMARKE at the top of the stamp gives us a clue as to its purpose. More than 40 cities and towns in Saxony released this kind of fiscal stamps which were known as VISIRMARKE or MELDE-MARKE. They were first used by the police…

None of us can ignore the climate emergency – it’s the most pressing global issue of our time, and the slogan ‘There is no Planet B’ perfectly encapsulates the fear and urgency of the necessity to combat C02 emissions and halt global warming. And if in recent years activity to raise awareness round it has heated up – yes, pun intended – the world of philately has kept pace, showing a keen responsiveness in transmitting the message via postage stamps. It means there are rich pickings for collectors interested in topical thematics, too, with World Climate Day, coming up in March, inspiring new ideas for your collection. There couldn’t be a better place to start than the Climate Change Stamps issued by Finnish Post in 2020, which brilliantly demonstrated how…

The first part of this article (Stamp Collector, January 2023) looked at the values from ½d to 3d, which covered most of the basic rates during this reign. This month will look at the remaining low values from 4d to 1s. These were mainly general values at the time they were issued, and for much of the period, the main solo usage for the values from 6d upwards was probably for parcel post rates. However, as parcel wrappings (or large pieces showing the usage) were seldom kept, examples can be difficult to find. More often the stamps appear in combination with other values, and the solo usages seen are typically for higher weight steps, and/or include payments for additional services. However, later in the reign changes in airmail rates (detailed…

The envelope is the curse of the postal historian as so often the outside wrapper is disposed of, leaving only the letter inside but bereft of its context, not knowing where it was posted or to whom. Air letters are often overlooked by postal historians, being deemed ‘modern’ and seldom recognised in stamp catalogues despite being, without doubt, postal stationery when they bear an imprinted stamp. But their great advantage to collectors is that they reveal the whole story, just as their predecessors did in the folded entires of the nineteenth century. Postal history does not have to be old to be interesting and taking the trouble to read the contents of an air letter can be a rewarding experience. The example illustrated here is not without interest from a…

Many, if not most of us, have experienced the knock on the front door of our home by a postman/woman who is delivering an item that has been insufficiently prepaid. We may recall the phrase ‘double the deficiency’, which was the amount to be handed over, and then a change that came when a standard handling flat fee of £1 was additionally paid, as well as the shortfall. If the postage was one penny short, then that and a pound was required, and a friend did inform me once that exactly that had happened to him… and I was the culprit. Currently there is a £1.50 flat fee for the shortfall or £2.50 if no postage has been paid. For example, preparing Christmas cards in bulk can well lead to…