Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i Stamp Collector

The Summer of Stamps virtual festival has been so enjoyable, thanks to everyone who has visited the website, enjoyed the videos and exhibits and got involved. It’s been fantastic to see so many people on the website and to be able to share such expertise and knowledge; thanks also to our festival partners, marketplace traders, and featured societies. One of the many rewarding aspects of the month-long online event has been the All About Stamps Competition, which challenged collectors around the world to produce a one-page entry on a theme of their choice, with the overall winner receiving the All About Stamps Medal. The competition attracted entries from around the world on subjects as varied as Lewis Carol, the liberation of the Channel Islands, and Asian comics. What’s been really…

A number of virtual stamp shows are set to take place in the coming months as the world of philately fights back against the global pandemic and the difficulties involved with running a physical collecting event. In the first weeks of the lockdown many stamp dealers, auctioneers and event organisers were looking to the internet as a way to keep calm and carry on collecting. Here at Stamp Collector and on the allboutstamps.co.uk website we quickly launched the ‘Keeping You Collecting’ campaign, before launching the hugely successful Summer of Stamps online event. The Philatelic Traders’ Society announced the news of a virtual Stampex, which is set to be held from 1 to 3 October. Stamp Collector are pleased to be taking a virtual stand at the event, so do pop…

Guernsey Post is delighted to announce the release of two new stamp sets, #GuernseyTogether and #AlderneySpirit, which have been designed by local school children to reflect the positive aspects of the global pandemic as a result of COVID-19. The Guernsey and Alderney stamp designs, chosen by two independent judges from over 200 competition entries, have now received royal approval from Her Majesty, The Queen, and will be issued on 19 August. The Guernsey stamps, which include colourful rainbow designs, were created by Kahlan Marriott, age 5; Olivia Le Tissier, age 6; Alexis Drummy, age 8; Danny King, age 8; Joe De Carteret, age 10; Lily-Ella O’Brien, age 10; Oliver Blake, age 11; and, Phoebe Smart, age 13. Continuing the colourful theme, the Alderney stamp set features designs by Eli Maurice,…

Australia’s natural alpine beauty is celebrated in new stamp issue which highlights three spectacular locations from Australia’s largest alpine region. The national heritage-listed Australian Alps stretch from Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, through New South Wales and into eastern Victoria, with the stamp issue illustrating their beauty and significance. Australia Post Philatelic Manager Michael Zsolt said that the spectacular landforms, and the stock huts and stock yards of the area bring to mind Banjo Paterson’s iconic poem The Man from Snowy River. ‘The Alps are not only a popular tourist and snow sports destination, they also have plant and animal life found nowhere else in Australia and, in some cases, the world.’ The four domestic base rate ($1.10) stamps, designed by Sharon Rodziewicz of the Australia Post Design Studio,…

It all began so innocently. One minute I was on eBay buying vintage badges for a memory experiment when a job lot of used stamps caught my eye. The next thing I knew whole shelves had been taken over by yet-to-be-sorted stockbooks and I was raiding my savings account, shelling out £250 for the complete works of Stanley Gibbons. Like all collectors, however, such rash buying definitely wasn’t my fault. Blame, instead, the substantia nigra. “When we see new things it stimulates the substantia nirgra part of our brain… With more than half a million stamps issued, I was about to get high on philately” Dr Shirley Mueller explains in her brilliant book, Inside The Head Of A Collector, that when we see new things it stimulates the substantia nirgra…

The 20 December 1898 brought smiles to the faces of millions of Britons with family members and friends girdling the globe; all relying heavily on postage stamps to pay for their communications. A GPO notice issued that day brought news that on and after 25 December ‘letters to the following British possessions and protectorates may be posted at the rate of 1d per ½ oz, instead of the 2½d rate as at present.’ A long list – from Aden to Zanzibar – followed; but notable non-participants included the Australian States, Cape Colony, Jamaica, Malta, Mauritius… and New Zealand. Each, with one exception, had declined to take part on the grounds that they could not afford the reciprocal rate reductions colonists would demand at a time when their administrations relied on…

RPSL: GB ‘Wilding’ Queen Elizabeth II definitive issues 1952-1967 by Frank Walton. Discover much more about the Wildings definitive stamps, named after the photographer Dorothy Wilding, in this exclusive virtual exhibit from Frank Walton RDP FRPSL. Treasures form the Tapling Collection. In this exclusive video, Richard Scott Morel FRPSL, Curator, British Library’s Philatelic Collections, examines some of the many philatelic rarities held in the Tapling Collection. Philatelic Exhibitions, Chris King (Royal Philatelic Society London). There is growing interest in the history of philately and in the extensive literature and philatelic ephemera, writes Chris King, as he provides an in-depth presentation of this fascinating philatelic subject. Reply Paid Cards in International Mail. Eric Scherer’s exhibit, provided courtesy of the Royal Philatelic Society London, aims to lead International Reply Cards out of…

As the Mayflower 400 website (www.mayflower400uk.org) explains: ‘this particular vessel and the people on board would have far and long-lasting consequences for their future and legacy… The history of Native American people is often charted from first contact with Europeans, beginning in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus, but there are aeons of history that stretch back centuries before that period.’ In fact, the history of the Wampanoag Tribe that inhabited the New England area stretches back around 12,000 years. So how has philately treated the subject? From the previous pages we can see how the journey of the Pilgrims has been recalled on a variety of stamps, but for stamps celebrating Native American life and culture we have to turn to the stamps of the USA. According to…

The Summer of Stamps virtual festival, held on the allaboutstamps.co.uk website has seen a record number of visitors, with a wide range of guides, offers, and stock on offer. Running from 9 July to 9 August, the special event has seen thousands of collectors visit the website, with the festival programme being updated each day with new content. With well over 150 guides, offers, and updates – many provided by partners such as The Postal Museum, The Royal Philatelic Society London, and The British Library – the flow of traffic to the website has been consistently high. Some of the most popular content so far includes Frank Walton’s Invited Display on Perkins Bacon Revenue stamps, an introduction to the Royal Philatelic Society London Collections, and The British Library’s video guide…

The official First Day Covers issued as part of the Summer of Stamps virtual festival have been extremely popular with collectors, with the first pair of commemorative covers featuring the recently released Queen stamps. With the opening day of the online event coinciding with the release of the new Queen stamps (as detailed in August’s magazine), we couldn’t resist releasing some special covers and thanks to the experts at Buckingham Covers, soon had a pair of new covers, featuring a special ‘Summer of Stamps’ postmark, to showcase as the festival opened. Editor Matt Hill said: ‘I must admit I got a little over excited when we first saw the special festival postmark! It’s something a bit different for us and it’s really great that the covers have proven to be…

Got spare stamps, mini-sheets, and covers in your collection? Join the #donateyourstamps campaign launched as part of the Summer of Stamps festival, and help encourage youngsters to start collecting! Kidstamps is a fantastic free postal club which gives young collectors a starter pack of stamps and accessories, free stamps via our website competitions and newsletters, details of the Stamp Active Competitions and the British Youth Stamp Championships. Members also receive four vouchers a year that they can redeem for free stamps and first day covers. So why not help the organisers by joining the fun #donateyourstamps campaign? Here’s the simple steps to get involved and become a donate-a-stamp hero! • Find spare material (stamps, particularly thematic stamps and first day covers) that you’d like to donate• Share a photo of…

The latest stamp from Åland celebrates the work of the region’s police force, which numbers 69, along with another 21 members of staff (that’s one police officer for every 433 inhabitants). Law enforcement is one area that falls within the remit of the Åland autonomy. Still, the Åland police largely resembles the police force in Finland, but uses its own insignia depicting the Åland coat of arms on uniforms and vehicles. Regulated by the Government of Åland, the Åland police largely performs the same tasks as the local police in Finland. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service are administrated by the Åland team of NBI, and the Åland governor represents the national police administration. According to Aland Post, the latest data on reported offences…

Spink’s recent e-Auction of material from Singapore and Malaysia included a top right corner block of twenty 1965 Orchids 15c stamps, with the fourth vertical row, and parts of the third and fifth row missing the black ink (country name and Arms). SOLD FOR £1,500 The Warwick and Warwick July stamp auction some spectacular prices paid for rare Indian States stamps. A Cochin 1942-3 Official overprint 4p sage green reached £3,840, also from Cochin a 1943-4 Official 1a brown-orange made £4,320. A Soruth Official 1948-9 ‘ONE ANNA’ surcharge on 1929 3a black and carmine with the variety ‘small o in ONE’ (pictured) was bid up to £5,760 despite minor imperfections. SOLD FOR £5,760 The latest Warwick and Warwick sale saw some rare New Zealand Postal Fiscal stamps on offer, including…

The Castle High Value stamps issued during September 1955 completed the first definitives series of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Four denominations (2s 6d, 5s 0d, 10s 0d and £1) gave GB its first pictorial set, with each stamp depicting, alongside the monarch’s image, a castle from one of the home nations that make up the United Kingdom. Earlier GB high values had already displayed pictorial designs – the 2s 6d HMS Victory, and the 5s 0d White Cliffs of Dover in George VI’s reign for example – but the Castles of September 1955 formed a cohesive set with a unifying theme. It is important to stress that these high values were not commemorative issues; they were the second part of the Wildings definitives issue (½d to £1), all displaying the…

Back in 2008 when the first Post & Go stamps were issued from the Galleries Post Office in Bristol the font was a large and bold Arial style, which fitted on the Machin stamp neatly, writes Stuart Leigh. In September 2010 in readiness for the introduction of the first pictorial issues – Birds of Britain – the font was changed since the image took up much more space and the area for the service indicator was smaller. The new font (Font 2) has a smaller service indicator with lines 4mm apart. But is easily identified as ‘up to’ has a lowercase ‘u’ and ‘g’ of ‘100g’ is in Times New Roman or similar seriffed font. After upgrading the kiosks to produce the smaller service indicator, some machines experienced software glitches…

Lemons are one of the few citrus fruits that are rarely eaten straight from the fruit bowl. Instead they’re appreciated for their medicinal qualities, their high levels of vitamin C in particular, and as a flavoursome cooking ingredient. Originally grown in southern Asia, the humble lemon is now found in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Antipodes. And, if proof of their enduring popularity was needed, two of the world’s top lemon producers, China and Italy, love lemons so much, they don’t export any of their crop! A good starting point for such a fruity thematic are nations that grow and export lemons and a nice addition to any collection would be the USA’s 2018 Meyer Lemon stamp. Meyer Lemons are actually a cross between a lemon and a mandarin,…

The inaugural All About Stamps Competition formed part of the Summer of Stamps Virtual Festival and has been hugely popular with collectors around the world. Supported by the ABPS, the competition challenged collectors to produce a one-page entry on a subject of their choice, with the overall winner set to receive the All About Stamps Medal. At the time of going to print, the final results are being decided, so be sure to check online at allaboutstamps.co.uk to view each entry and find out which one-page display came first. The idea of the competition was simple; we want to give collectors everywhere the chance to share their material and knowledge, whether they were new to exhibiting or an experienced competitor. Philatelists around the world regularly enter competitions, often of eight…

Royal Mail and An Post are jointly commemorating the life of English World Cup winning footballer and Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton with a special postmark. This is the first time that An Post and Royal Mail have collaborated on a postmark, reflecting the role that Jack Charlton has played in football in both nations. The postmark will read: Jack Charlton, 1935 – 2020, and will be applied across stamped mail posted in England and the Republic of Ireland from Monday 20 July and will run until Sunday 9 August. Stuart Simpson, CEO at Royal Mail, said: ‘Jack was an integral member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad and played a key role in the Republic of Ireland’s football history.’ David McRedmond, An Post CEO said: ‘Jack Charlton…

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the Jersey Motorcycle & Light Car Club (JMC&LCC). Persuaded to move to Jersey by his brother-in-law in 1919, motorcycle enthusiast H.W. Rawnsley-Gurd, arrived in Jersey to find there was no established motorcycle club. After taking part as an observer at a reliability trial, as well as organising an impromptu hill climb, Rawnsley-Gurd brought together the Jersey Motor Cycle Club. At the first meeting of the club, at an office in St Helier, only six people attended, including the office boy. The club had its first formal reliability trial on Easter Monday 1920, which proved to be a tremendous success. By the time of the club’s first general meeting, the membership had grown tenfold. During the early years of the club, two men had differing…

Twelve stamps titled ‘O Land of Our Birth’ depict scenic images that are the result of an open, free-to-enter photo competition that was held in June this year. The public on the Isle of Man and in the UK was invited to submit their own photographs which they felt summed up the Island’s unique beauty, heritage and character, drawing inspiration from the words of the Manx National Anthem. Over 1,000 entries from IOM and UK individuals were entered into the competition and a final selection was made by judges Maxine Cannon (Stamps & Coins General Manager), Jo Overty (Project Officer UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man) and Renee Caley (Marketing & Online Manager of Isle of Man Steam Packet Company). Representing the general public’s view of the Island, the set reflects…

Whilst in Greek mythology Zeus is the sky and thunder god who rules as king of the gods, and apparently the Father of Hermes, there is none better in all the heavenly realm to place on your post than Hermes, because he’s the ‘messenger’ of the gods. So it stands to reason that he’d be the one who’d bless all Greek dispatches. That’s how the Greeks saw it, anyway. The ‘Large Hermes Head’ were the first of these blessings, issued in October 1861, and which remained in use up until 1886. During the first few months of issue there were two printings, the more angelic Paris printing, and then the slightly more beastly Athens printing, the former from France, the latter home-made. Literally. Now there’s a devil of a stamp…

Intriguing stories can be told about many local stamps, writes Christer Brunström. Some have been printed for islands with no humans, only inhabited by birds. Carn Iar is a prime example. The North-West Highlands in Scotland is home to the Summer Islands which includes a tiny tree-less speck of land known as Carn Iar (Westward Rock). Sometime in 1960, stamp dealer John Lister contemplated buying the island. Whether this actually happened is unclear. However, in 1961 he had a set of six ‘local’ stamps printed for Carn Iar. The stamps are quite attractive and they feature different sea-birds. The denominations range from ¼ penny to 5 shillings. Why a farthing stamp was included is a mystery. Lister probably soon realised that no one would take the stamps seriously and they…

One of the country’s most familiar and important buildings, the Palace of Westminster houses the UK’s key political and lawmaking institution. As we negotiate our way through this difficult year it would be easy to touch on the timing of such a stamp subject; to use the stamps as an opportunity to comment on modern-day politics and the decisions that have so literally and dramatically affected thousands of lives in recent months. But this is not the place for political commentary – let us instead focus on the stamps themselves. Issued on 30 July, the six stamps show views of both the exterior and interior of the Palace of Westminster, whilst a miniature sheet shows interior views of the building’s architecture and design, with a longitudinal section through the Palace…

It was intended that two ships would travel together; The Speedwell from Holland and The Mayflower from Rotherhithe in London. Their Charter, permitting the passengers to leave the country and to set up a new plantation in the British colony of Virginia, had been granted by the King, James I of England, also known as James Vl of Scotland. The journey was funded by the Virginia Company, which had offices in London and Plymouth. The Speedwell sailed from Delfshaven, with passengers who had come from Leiden. On board were William Bradford, Myles Standish and over fifty more Separatists. The Mayflower sailed from London. On board were the Captain Christopher Jones, Governor John Carver, and over sixty others. At Southampton, more adventurers joined The Mayflower including Stephen Hopkins, who had previously…

Sorting out your counties can be problematical in itself. For example Elginshire is better known these days as Morayshire or just plain Moray, and immediately next door to Moray, in the alphabet as well as geographically, is Nairnshire. Both ceased to exist as separate local government entities in 1975 but, as postal historians, it is the nomenclature from Victorian times which seems the most appropriate. Anyone who collects the more remote and rural counties of the United Kingdom will know how difficult it is to find interesting material from all the towns and villages of this country and over the centuries many places have declined in importance. Elgin for example had a cathedral in 1224 which was burned to the ground by the Red Wolf of Badenoch in 1390, only…