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Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 17, 2024 18:52:19 GMT
Received another of these this week. This is a private cover sent by Georg Unkelbach, a Torpedo Boatswain's Mate assigned to the 2nd Company, II. Division, aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, to his sister in Straßburg. The letter was kept with the cover. It was written in two parts. The first was written when the ship was in Saipan, which would have been late June 1914. The two Kiautschou stamps were presumably attached around this time, as 4 cents would have been the correct pre-war letter rate. The second part was written on 1 August 1914, while in Ponape. The cover was postmarked 5 August 1914 aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, with "Feldpost" added to indicate that postage was no longer required due to the war. The letter reads roughly as follows: Unlike Kirchhoff, Unkelbach survived the sinking of S.M.S. Gneisenau. He was captured by the British, and appears to have survived the war. By the time delivery of this letter was attempted in 1923, Straßburg was no longer German, having been ceded to France under the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of WWI. The French post office in Strasbourg received the letter, but marked it for return to sender. At some point, a note was added indicating that the sender could now be located at the Zollamt (customs office) in Lingen, Germany.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 9, 2024 22:20:22 GMT
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Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 7, 2024 15:57:29 GMT
The 5 Pf is also a 56° overprint. Here's yours (left) next to a 48° overprint.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 5, 2024 18:03:56 GMT
All of those appear to be 56° overprints. Due to the catalog value, they're unlikely to be forged overprints, but if you wanted to know for sure, you would need to send them to an expert for examination.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 2, 2024 3:03:46 GMT
Those are ship names of the Austrian Navy. SMS Radetzky and SMS Kaiser Karl VI at the Pola naval base.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Mar 27, 2024 22:19:10 GMT
Pretty sure that's a forgery.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Mar 19, 2024 12:59:15 GMT
WARNING!!!
If you're using StampFix on a Mac with an Apple Silicon-based (ARM) processor – meaning an M1, M2, or M3 processor, not an Intel processor – and MacOS 14 (Sonoma), don't upgrade your OS to 14.4. There are major bugs in 14.4 that are causing USB hubs and devices to no longer be detected, and more importantly for StampFix purposes, breaking all Java applications. Apple is aware and is supposedly working on a fix.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Mar 16, 2024 12:09:27 GMT
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Post by PostmasterGS on Mar 2, 2024 19:11:03 GMT
Anyone here on an ARM-based Mac (M1, M2, or M3 processor) who is willing to test an ARM version for me?
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 28, 2024 15:51:03 GMT
No idea about this item in particular, but in the German areas, a phase printing is typically an item that only went through a portion of the printing phase. So it will usually be missing some portion of the printing, be it a certain color, embossing, etc. I'm seen them referred to in English as progressive proofs. Phase printings are particularly common in certain German occupation areas where the phase printings were assembled into presentation books for certain high officials, leading to many of them being in the collectors market. I wouldn't classify the black printing as a phase printing since it looks to be a complete printing, just not in the proper colors. Maybe some sort of proof? EDIT: An example of Phasendrucken from this site, which has several Austrian examples.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 25, 2024 20:06:47 GMT
Anyone here on Windows 10 or 11 having any issues with the new version? I just received a second report of the buttons across the top being non-functional, this time from a Windows 11 user.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 25, 2024 0:41:38 GMT
WRT the Horsham cancel, it appears to line up perfectly.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 22, 2024 13:11:26 GMT
I tried it on my old Windows 10 PC and it cropped and saved the files. However, I was loading the images from the desktop (tried both 'drag and drop' and the open button on the top) and it would only put the processed files on the desktop not the designated output folder. I changed the defaut output folder to the download directory but still the cropped images were sent to the desktop. Hate to ask the obvious question, but did you have the box checked to use that output location? If so, let's troubleshoot, because I haven't been able to replicate that issue. 1. Were you loading an image to screen or bypassing and saving it straight to file? 2. If to the screen, was it a single stamp or multiple stamps per image? 3. If multiple, what means did you use to save it – the extract and save to file button on the Multi Detect tab or the Extract button in the "Edit Individually" window?
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 22, 2024 4:49:42 GMT
Rod,
The report was that none of the buttons across the top are functional. Makes no sense.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 22, 2024 4:18:43 GMT
That cancel was used during the German occupation.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 22, 2024 2:01:33 GMT
Would Microsoft auto update to these (unknown to me) New Windows 10 ? If so I can throw it on my computer (Win 10) and give it a whirl. I only use Version 1.36 of "Stamp Fix" as it is just second nature now I use it about every day Not aware of how many deskews it has carried out, but 40,000 would not be an exaggeration (It is on my Win 7 desktop) AFAIK, Win 10 will do some automatic security updates, but nothing major like updating to a newer version of Win 10 or to Win 11 without you telling it to. I was able to find a Win 10 laptop in the family, and it seems to be running fine on it, so not sure why one of the users is having an issue.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 21, 2024 21:16:43 GMT
Anyone using the new version on Windows 10? If so, are you having any issues? I got a report of some odd issues on Windows 10.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 21, 2024 0:44:24 GMT
Looks to be a Finnish cancel on a German stamp. Not unheard of on seapost with foreign ports of call.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 21, 2024 0:41:55 GMT
There was a problem with the installer for the Mac version, so if you previously downloaded it, you'll want to go download the fixed version. Also, I discovered while fixing the installer that the app won't run on MacOS versions 10 and under. So if you're on a really old Mac, time to upgrade your OS! Thanks to stainlessb for the assist.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 20, 2024 17:16:42 GMT
Well, crap. Let me look into it.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 20, 2024 13:08:02 GMT
I guess it would help if I actually made the page visible to non-admins... I think I'm brain-fried at this point. Should work now.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 20, 2024 2:48:24 GMT
clivel, Let me know if you run into any issues. To be honest, I don't really know Linux. I installed it just to build the libraries I needed and to test out the installer to make sure it would load. I didn't take it through the full-ish battery of tests like I did with Mac and Windows.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 19, 2024 21:38:54 GMT
Ladies and Gents, I give you.... PMGS StampFix version 2. First, a little about the "Why?". Since I created PMGS StampFix v1.0 back in 2016, I've changed computers, and I was never able to get my new computer setup properly to work on the app. The versions of all the various software bits-and-pieces that I needed were no longer available for download. This meant that I had to keep an old computer around just for working on the app, and that eventually, to get it working on the new computer, I was going to have to update it the newer versions of Java and the various add-ins, since those were the ones that were now available for download. So, that time has come. I also took this opportunity to re-write about 95% of the code, hopefully making it more efficient, and to add some new features that should help get stamps from scans that were otherwise un-processable. Before we get to what's new, a little about what's changed from v1.64. 1. New OS SupportThere is now a single version for Mac, a single version for Windows, and a version for Ubuntu-based Linux. No more light and full packages, and no more 32-bit Windows support. The files are bigger with the new Java bundled, but that ensures it will work consistently across installations. Also, for any Linux users, other versions might be possible, I just don't have the ability to test them because I only have an Ubuntu machine. If you use a different version of Linux and want to give it a try, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do to build an installation package for your specific OS version. 2. The Appearance.As is always the case when new features are added, some reorganization is required for space reasons. Here's the new StampFix window. All of the old features are still there, just in new places. There used to be separate load buttons for processing a single stamp from a single file, processing multiple stamps from a single file, processing multiple files, and processing folders. There is now 1 load button that handles all files. Folders can't be handled be the file chooser, but those can still be dragged and dropped. The former contents of the sidebars (left sidebar had processing and output settings, right sidebar had settings for extracting multiple stamps from a single image) are now in tabs in the left sidebar. 3. A few Quality-of-Life ImprovementsYou can now double-click in the image window to open the File Chooser. Dragging and dropping a folder will now output with the same folder structure as the input folder. 4. Accuracy ImprovementsThe background color detection is much better, and there's now a toggle that allows you to force a black or white background color. And now the big news - what's new! 1. CroppingIn the past, this image would have been un-processable. Scanning these stamps in the card caused too much clutter in the background, and the app couldn't find the stamps. Now, when you load this image, it still generates an initial error saying that it can't find the stamps, but then you have a couple new options that can get you to where you want to go. The first is the Crop. You can click the crop button and draw a new rectangle that, when you release the mouse button, extracts that portion and re-processes it as if it's a new image. This helps to find those stamps that were otherwise lost in the background clutter. 2. Manually Drawing Bounding BoxesWith the image shown above, you have another option, which is to manually draw a bounding box. Once you finish drawing the new bounding box, the app searches within that box for stamps, and if it finds any, draws a new blue box around them. As with the cropping function, this allows you to find otherwise undetectable stamps by "removing" the background clutter. This function differs from the crop function in that it doesn't dispose of the remainder of the image, so if you need to draw multiple manual bounding boxes you can. 3. Extracting without Rotating/CroppingYou can also use the manually drawn bounding boxes and autodetected bounding boxes to extract stamps or entire regions of the image without processing them at all. No rotation, no cropping, just extraction. 4. Removing bounding boxesFinally, you now have the ability to manually remove bounding boxes as well. My hope will all these changes is that folks who weren't able to have success with the app in the past because of their workflow (scanning stamps in stockbooks, dealer cards, etc.) will now have more success with it. I have no doubt that, because of the volume of the changes and the complexity of the new features, there will be bugs. If you spot any bugs, see any behavior that isn't as you would expect, or just have any questions, please let me know. Additionally, if you have an image you're unable to process, please send it to me. If I can't get you settings to make it work, I can at least use it to guide future fixes and features. Download is here, as are a Youtube video, a written guide, and animated .gif demos.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 7, 2024 18:00:15 GMT
OMG! Just seen this , unbelievably organised , must have $$$$ banked away in mounts …..your shelves may be cheap , the mounts in quantity certainly aren’t. I have far more of most sizes than I'll ever need, mainly due to a combination of factors. I have mild OCD, so I have to have the correct size mounts. Oversized won't cut it. Add to that the fact that Germany, especially the occupied areas, requires a lot of odd sizes. So I end up needing a large variety of sizes. When I started working on putting everything on pages, I was living overseas and getting mounts was a huge pain. I had to order from the US, then have them shipped through the military mail system. It could easily take a month or two to get an order. So, I ordered a few of every size. Then I ended up needing lots of certain sizes, so I have some sizes in large quantities. And I keep re-doing my pages. The OCD again.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Feb 4, 2024 16:59:00 GMT
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 22, 2024 21:07:04 GMT
I use a version of one of these – ITOYA Art Portfolio. Comes in sizes up to 18"x24". Screenshot of mine above is an 11"x14". The pages are PVC-free and acid-free. Most are 24 2-sided pages, so 48 pockets total. Prices vary by size, but it usually works out to about $1.00-1.50 per pocket, depending on what price you can find them at.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 19, 2024 12:59:12 GMT
I can do it for you, Rod. I’ll send you an email.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 18, 2024 3:03:59 GMT
rod222 , I suspect it was the case that Herr Bradtke simply wasn’t in the right place at the right time, because there were certaily colored postcards available not only in the colony, but at the three post offices (Herbertshöhe, Matupi, and Simpsonhafen/Rabaul) that were within close proximity to his homes on Kabakon and New Britain. His primary PO was Herbertshöhe, which was, at the time, among the largest, busiest POs in the colony. His postcard stating there were none available in DNG was from 1910. There were two types of colored postal stationery cards that were introduced in 1898 and 1902. If he was looking for postcards as opposed to postal stationery cards, there were numerous ones available. These are just a few I have in my postmark collection from approximately the same period. Postmarked in Kieta, which was a far more remote PO, and depicting Matupi, which was <40 km from his normal PO in Herbertshöhe. Postmarked in Simpsonhafen (later renamed Rabaul), which was <30 km from his normal PO in Herbertshöhe. Postmarked on a mail steamer, but depicting Simpsonhafen in color. Not to mention there being dozens, if not hundreds, of PPCs that were in a slightly color-toned grayscale. Postmarked on a ship of the German Navy visiting the colony.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 17, 2024 21:35:09 GMT
In the mail today, a couple additions to my coconut-worshippers collection (is that a thing?). The first follower of August Engelhardt was Wilhelm Bradtke. He came to Kabakon in 1905, and began serving as Engelhardt's plantation manager. He left some time later to work as a plantation manager on New Britain, but returned in 1909 to serve as a partner of Engelhardt's and plantation manger. This stint lasted only a year, with him leaving in 1910 to manage a plantation on New Mecklenburg. He also apparently a philatelist. This card contains the following text: This card contains no text, but contains an early photo of Matupi, which sits on a peninsula in Simpsonhafen Harbor, just a few kilometers from Rabaul.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 17, 2024 3:31:18 GMT
Not necessarily. Michel gives the used value as –.–, which means there's not enough information to set a price. That doesn't mean the price will be higher, just that there haven't been enough documented sales to set a price.
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