Be One One One!!

Germany really did have stamps issued in the 20's without "thousand","million" or "billion" stamped across them! It still doesn't happen to hold much value though. My catalogue places this at minimum value never used. The website raregermanstamps.com calls this one "Genius with torch" Am I missing something? I'm no genius for sure, but this being carrying a torch looks more like an Angel of some type lighting the way as a German Reich soldier is greeted by some Norse God or Hero.

Update: Ragui from the Facebook stamp group "Stamp collecting" had this to say.......This design was first issued in 1900 to commemorate the 25 anniversary of the union and the formation of the Reich Empire. It was issued in blue color with a denomination of 2 marks and was inscribed Reich Post. 

JimmyB

Cake!!!

 I dug up this today while clearing off some of the mountain. I can't dig up much info on it as about all I have to go on is the Aug, 1974 date and a Pat. Pending. I imagine maybe someone will recognize the photo and a trail may lead as to it's origin. ;)

JimmyB

Phoenix Rising

 King George was just so awesome. The man really set the bar high for the world in the appearance of stamps, this issue(174 in my book) is absolutely no exception to that.  After Hong Kong was invaded by Japan, refugee/prisoner camps were set up and amongst the interred, Edward Wynne-Jones, Hong Kongs' Postmaster began designing this special Coat of Arms shown below the stamp image and commemorative stamp for after their liberation. Special consideration was given to the design and approved by George to allow this vs the omnibus peace and victory stamp in 1946. "Phoenix rising from the ashes of war" is just so aesthetically pleasing. I also greatly appreciate the bilingual aspect of the stamp. The banner on the left roughly says "China and Britain perpetually at peace" and the right side says "The phoenix revives: great good fortune".  The Latin "Resurgo" or "Arise" appears beneath the rising phoenix. The British lions are holding shields that bear the name of the colony. It's easy to not notice the two bat's hovering around George's head which to the Chinese symbolize god fortune and longevity.   It's just such a cool looking stamp wouldn't you agree?

JimmyB

Anarchist Target

 King Umberto I, besides having another gigantic mustache of which seems to be a potential topical stamp category, was implicated in the assassination of the U.S. President William McKinley. Apparently, if Umberto had not gotten himself whacked by the Italo-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci, McKinley's assassin, American anarchist Leon Czolgosz, would have never been inspired to kill McKinley! Even more personal to me, I went to a jr.high school actually named after McKinley and without his death, my school's name may have been something completely different!! This only goes to show how important it is to avoid growing gigantic mustaches.
 This is Italy number 54 in my stamp book and has a faint 1889 penciled in on the backside, the same year that Thomas Edison showed his first motion picture. Were motion pictures really around that far back? Actually they were around earlier than that!
  

JimmyB

1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentary Issue

 Now if I were a squirrel, I would have never survived my first winter away from the nest.
 This set I found in a box along with other stuff today in an old glassine envelope with my handwriting on it, yet no recollection of having seen most of what was in the box. This morning has been frustrating for me as I found several boxes of items I had no clue that I had stashed away.
 This is a 300th anniversary issued to commemorate the arrival of the Hueguenots and Walloons who were some type of Calvinistic Protestants I believe probably in danger of being killed(I'm not certain all of the Hueguenots were Walloons which were a French speaking people.) deciding to settle in America. A monument was given to the city of New York in Battery Park honoring Jesse de Forest who founded New York and had come to America hoping to found New Belgium a new colony.

JimmyB

Wedding Anniversary

 I've never really made any finds with Japan. Tonight's a winner for me. I came across several older Japan's that are a bit over minimum value in my book. I'm going to have to stretch out these few finds over the next couple days however as I don't want to kill all my joy in one post.
 This is the 1894 2 Sen carmine colored stamp #85 in my Scott - 25th Anniversary of Emperor Meiji and Empress Haru's wedding. Meiji's Wiki page gives no mention of the Empress other than pointing her out in a family portrait along with his children which are all born from concubines. Quite a few concubines I might add all with the title Lady.
 I'm pretty certain this is a mint stamp even though there is slight discoloring in the lower left bottom. Remnant of gum remain scattered across the back in spots. Unfortunately #86  which is a blue 5 Sen almost identical was not alongside it in the album.
 At first I was excited thinking I had a pair of dragons on each side here, but it turns out that they are rather ornate cranes.

JimmyB

Lost On a Single Page

 I pulled out an old stamp album I got at an auction which is called Paragon Stamp Album and printed for S.S. Kresge Company in my hometown of all places, Racine Wisconsin in 1931!! My Grandma even worked at S.S. Kresge when I was a kid!! Anyways, I turned to the Ukraine page and found these two stamps. One original and one surcharged. My Scott catalogue has about one page of pre 1992 stamps and lists neither of these though it does give mention of the government of Ukraine in exile in Warsaw printing a 40h denomination and overprinting with the Cyrillic "UPP", purportedly created as a Field Post issue for a planned invasion of the Ukraine which never happened. The stamps were never issued. This old album has this 40h stamp imaged on the page, so I wonder if these were simply sold to stamp dealers then to raise some cash or if these really are official Ukrainian stamps and I am just showing off what a true idiot I really am when it comes to looking up stamps. Particularly stamps with Cyrillic writing.

JimmyB

Train, Horses, Field Hand

 This 1928-29 issue #157 shows a farmer harvesting wheat the old fashion way with horses. In the background it appears there is a passenger train cutting thru the field. It reminds me of a farmer that lived about a mile from me while I was a teen. He and his brother used a two horse team to work a small farm which sloped up a gentle hill along the highway. The land is all commercialized now with stores,banks,gas stations and restaurants. I'd guess the man and his brother were at least in their 70's and was amazed that one could farm in such a way in the modern age.  I'm disappointed by the heavy cancellation, in fact upon closer examination it actually looks like multiple cancellations. Beggars can't be choosers though and if this were pristine the value would have made it unattainable for me to have.

JimmyB

Not Gonna Peek

 Mr. Howard Gordon from the Facebook group Stamp collecting brought to our groups attention that 100 sheets of the souvenir $2 inverted Jenny stamps were intentionally inverted themselves so having already been to the post office and declined a sheet purchase I opted to return and take a hit at the lottery for the inverted invert. I get a kick out of the USPS's last line in it's description of the souvenir. "Imagine the excitement of finding such a sheet of stamps." Odds are less than 1:22,000, so I think I'll leave the package unopened for now and just dream. Not to mention, on the back side of the package it says in order for a return the package must remain unopened.

JimmyB

Heavy Transport

 In 1946 Canada released this depiction of the Prince Edward Island train ferry which was used to transport boxcars and occasionally locomotives to, from and about the island. It usually operated at night. #273 in my book.

JimmyB

Long Tall Sally

 This semi-postal from 1952 Finland #B118 in my book, note the different number on Stampworld(scroll down about half the page to #421), is surtaxed with proceeds going to aid in the prevention of tuberculosis.
 In the upper left corner is the Cross of Lorraine which is used by the American Lung Association and similar organizations around the world. Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease which infects the lungs and kills around half of those afflicted if left untreated.
 Two Spotted Flycatchers appear at a nest, both looking off to the right perhaps spotting a swarm of flies maybe?  These Flycatchers use a feeding technique which is referred to as sallying, which is a form of hawking, this method involves sitting on a perch. spotting a bug, flying to grab it and immediately returning to the same or nearby perch and enjoying the snack.
 The used versions of these stamps garner a slightly higher catalogue value. This one is actually in really good condition compared to my average stamps, only one small perf on the bottom is missing and it appears well centered, although the image appears turned ever ever so slightly to the left with greater distance on the bottom left edge than the top left and reversed on the right side.

JimmyB

Can't Catch a Break.

 This King George the Fifth, #90 in my book(04) from Canada values at $16.00 mint(better centering and perf condition than this) and $50 never hinged. I know this wasn't hinged, but it's easy to see whre the gum is missing on the bottom right corner of the stamp. It may as well be hinged then eh?

JimmyB

Canada's old "New" coat of arms.

I much prefer the 1905 version of it's coat of arms over this one adopted in 1923. Just my opinion, but the beaver is just so Canadian. This special delivery has the one adopted in 1923.


This is the 1905 Coat.

This is the 23 coat.....you be the judge over whether it was an improvement.  I like the beaver myself.

.

This is E7 in my book and issued from 1938-39. Two more coats have been adopted since the 23 version, but still......No beaver.

JimmyB

Mouse Pain

 I got a pair of stamps(Taiwan) from a friend at work who got a package. Anyways, I found the fruit stamp on the right instantly. Longan's (after I had to look up and see what they are. There's a video on the linked page) remind me of Kiwi berries with a tangerine rind and one big black seed.  I gave up looking for the bird on the left. My finger began to hurt scrolling on my mouse for so long that I cried uncle. I'm not using my index finger to type this, that's how long I searched. Either I'm blind, stampworlds not showing it or it's in Scott's. But I've gotta make some fast cash tonight on GTAV and I'm afraid a patch is coming along to remove the farming. I hope someone knows when this bird was born and doesn't hurt their finger like I have searching.

JimmyB

1+0=0

 Except for the huge shark bite along the edge, I think this is a nice used stamp. Light cancel though a tad off centered. Neils Henrik Abel(1802-1829). was from what I can tell only the 3rd person to be on a Norwegian stamp, regular postage at least.. #148 in my book and issued in 1929, the 100th anniversary of his death, the color is ultra blue. I wonder if they use the same color names as Crayola?
 When Neils entered the University, he already knew more mathematics than anyone else in the country. How does one get taught mathematics when they already know more than their professors? I guess you just create and discover new mathematics. He was taught at home with hand written textbooks and in one of his textbooks had been written the equation 1+0=0. He was average in all his classes except for math in which he excelled.
 Died at 28 from TB, but responsible for major advances and lived a poor man basically having what appears to be an appointment to professorship sent via post and arriving too late, Neils having passed before the news from the University arrived to him. Ok, the ending is different, but I couldn't help but think "Good Will Hunting".

JimmyB

Battered Yet I Looked

 This is a well worn #10 Finland with serpentine roulette perforations from 1866-1874 or else an 1893 reprint on thicker woven paper. Without knowledge of the colors I'm looking for to know the difference, or stamps to compare paper thickness I'll settle for that as the possibilities. I measured the depth of the serpentines and determined it is not of the special varieties in the thousands of dollar catalogue value, I am happy to find it in my mixture from Elmer never the less. It's always exciting finding a stamp in the catalogue with expensive varieties. I feel like I'm checking my lotto ticket numbers when I'm making measurements with my perf gauge.

JimmyB

Above the River Thames

 This is a view of Windsor Castle above the river Thames on Basutoland's King George V's Silver Jubilee omnibus of 1935. This set is of significance partly because of King George's interest in stamps.

JimmyB

Unique Address?....Priceless.

 A postcard of the Golden Throne in Mysore Palace is a fantastic addition to my postcard collection. Follow those links and you'll see what I mean. Multiple stamps are always a plus on cards I receive also. There can never be too many stamps on a card or envelope one receives. The entire region this card comes from is deeply steeped in mythology, religion and military history and yet, I cannot help but find my attention drawn however to the unique return address on this card. I read an article recently about the Jamaicans trying to fix the address system so as it is easy for postmen to find the recipient. Here is an address that reminds me of the addresses used there, but this one is in India and please note the line "near varthur Police station" which is what I am referring to as being unique.  Thanks for appreciating my blog Col. Akhil Kumar, you'll be hearing from me soon my friend, via snail mail.

JimmyB

Missing Just One

 This is one of my favorites as far as issues go. 1962's QE2 Hong Kong. I'm missing the $5 stamp and my catalogue describes 2 different types of each one. Ordinary and chalky paper. Now what in the world is mean't by that and how does one go about detrming if they have either one or the other? I notice that the right edge of her face has a shine to it as though from a light and don't know if this is an offset in the printing or just the natural glow of this hot chicka's beauty. I'm guessing it's a tad offset.

JimmyB

Dragon Slayer

 Dragons need to be slain and who better than a warrior with a sword. Arrows are to easy, you can just take pot shots as they fly overhead and hide with every blast of fire behind a rock. It takes a real man to march out with just a shield and sword to slay one on the ground. Kind of looks like a toddler dragon though, well perhaps slaying dragons on the ground can only be done with young ones that can't fly yet.

 This is Latvia #'s 64,65 and 67 in my book. 64 and 65 issued in 1919 and 67 in 1920. 

JimmyB

Fortuity Yet Again

 It's kind of creepy for me how events in my life simply by chance randomly tie together. A perfect example is this short story.
 A gal at work brought in a binder of numerous philatelic items to show me after I loaned her a Scott's book on F.D.C.'s. Pressed for time in the break room I had to quickly look through and actually spotted a few items that were of interest to me. Anyways, I passed a home made album page of Transvaal and she asked me where it was. Transvaal is one of those stamps I check out when I'm sorting through a mixture that I've looked up and then quickly moved on sorting. It's somewhere in my head, but I haven't filed it so I said that I think it's in Africa(actually it was in South Africa). Perhaps my brain works in a way that it is cluttered, but yet somehow semi-organized. Today I come home and immediately set to making a blog post because yesterday was a day in hell for me. GTA V came out Tuesday and times been precious, no time to show a stamp to anyone yesterday. Anyways, I begin looking for something to share and choose this. Two King George V's from the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Searching for something to remark on these two stamps I do some sleuthing and come across a wiki article mentioning that in 1910 a 6 pence stamp of Transvaal was overprinted for the Bechuanaland Protectorate. I definitely need now to ask her about which Transvaal stamps she has(she had a lot of stuff to look at in 15 minutes I stretched beyond that as much as I dared). It'd be so cool if it turned out to be a 1910 6 pence. Maybe I'll start buying lottery tickets once again.
 King George V rocks and he's on my top 2 list of stamps. I need to share more of what I've got of these in my collection.
 These are issued on Dec 12, 1932.  The first two lower denominations #'s 105 and 106 out of a set of 12 stamps in my catalogue, engraved, watermarked and good looking with a 12.5 perforation.

JimmyB

Been there, Wish I Done That.

 This may come as a shock to most folks, but my job is not thrilling. I get all my enjoyment at work conversing with coworkers. I was conversing with a sweet gal named Ling and happened to mention(yeah, just happened to bring up) that I was searching for stamps and postcards. She in turn just says that she'll have her sister mail me a postcard from Australia. Wow, that shows you how nice she is. Zero interest herself in any philatelic endeavors whatsoever and boom, she's having her sister send me a card. Turns out to be a card of Perth, Australia which my ship(when I was a Navy Lad) pulled into. That was 30 years ago and how I've wished over the years I had a memento of it all. Also, it was franked with a 2013 stamp of a 40 spotted pardalote(yeah, I'm a bird nut also, with 4 birds who actually "converse" with me) which actually has about half that more spot's than 40. Also a pair of tourist spots(cripes, I unintentionally made a pun) in Australia(Fremantle's Fisherman's Wharf and Sydney's The Rocks) from 2008. Now she's telling me she's got some stamps for me and keeps forgetting to bring them in and I'm so unsure of how to show a little gratitude.

JimmyB

7 Ancient Wonders

 I received my first Postcard of an ancient wonder of the world today from my good friend Mohamed Ibrahim who is in the FB group "Postcards swap". It also happens to be a Unesco site and gives me another card to check off my list. The Pyramids and Great Sphynx. The affixed stamp listed as "Egyptian Art" 2002-2005. I definitely need an update from a Facebook friend on this one.

JimmyB

Manxmen

 Another super duper fantastic issue of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Yes, Nelson is present on the stamp, but this set is for the men from the Isle of Man. Manxmen they are called. John Quilliam is represented as the "Manxman" on the 22p stamp on the lower left. Nelson made him First Lieutenant on the HMS Victory, a 104 gun first-rate ship of the line. The lead ship which Nelson was on leading the charge and commanded by Captain Thomas Hardy. The fact that Quilliam survived the suicidal position of being on the lead ship is amazing. As fantastic as the strategy was, the Victory along with the Royal Sovereign(splitting off as a lead ship to the right) bore the worst of it all in the total British annihilation of the French and Spanish navies. "God Save The Queen!!!!"

JimmyB

Older stamp of him

 September 3rd I shared a stamp I had with Emperor Dom Pedro's image on it. This is an older stamp of him with a much younger likeness. #57 in my book and rat tat shape to be sure. I had someone comment on a recent post that one of my stamps was just a space filler because of the condition. I'm sure he feels this one is too, but please don't be a killjoy and make remarks like that. I'm not pulling anyone's teeth to look at my posts. It's kind of like looking at a man's wife and saying to him he'd need to drink a case of beer to......well you know what I mean.
 This is #57 in my book and issued in 1866.   Valued at $5.00 if in much better condition than this.

 

JimmyB