The Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

Interesting! I do not collect much after 1960 and see I have none of that set although it is on the last page for the Falklands in my Scott British America album. My dad had stopped getting the annual pages around 1964. It is interesting that Scott had some issues around 1962-63 with several issues not included. That is why you see the odd stamps mounted on the page with the 1960 bird set. The same problem occurs in their world wide album during the same time period. 

At first glance Hugh(hdm1950 ), I would suggest your stamps are from the earlier Waterlow & Sons printings.

One final post from this week's arrivals is the used 1933 2/6 Battle Memorial. Like most collectors of the Falkland Islands I love this set but I am afraid the top 3 values are out of the range I am willing to spend on non Canadian items. 

Thanks Vince. That is quite the study. I never cease to be amazed at how deep some people go in their research. The cancel on my stamp is not complete enough to totally identify it but I gives me a pretty good idea. Funny story that ended up okay. About a month before I bought this one I had bid on another copy on another auction that I had forgotten about. The auction house always sends an update 2 days before the sale ends to let clients how their bids are standing up. I saw that I was the high bidder on the second stamp but luckily they are willing to allow cancelled bids. I felt bad doing so but I am sure the under bidder was happy to find themselves back in. 

Cheers! 

With the arrival of the 5 shilling Edward VII today I now have the complete basic set (Scott 22-29). I will keep my eyes open for noted varieties.

Here is another nice set of KGV stamps, the Whale and Penguin Set. I'm missing the 1d line perf, a relatively inexpensive stamp, but difficult to find (at least for me).

From Stepan Heijtz's Falkland Islands catalogue, 2013:

There are marginal inscriptions on the paper.

Either "CROWN AGENTS" horizontally in 12mm double-lined capitals or "CROWN AGENTS FOR THE COLONIES" vertically in 7mm high double lined capitals.

sudbury12000

With a little effort, you should be able to identify where your postage stamps resided in the sheet.
Hint:  The "N"  the bottom right hand pane, top row, 3rd stamp  from left of the pane.

Source : Possibly one of the Melville brothers books.

A recent addition to the flock of Falkland Islands birds,

The first of five semi-postal stamps issued by the Falkland Islands following the War. This one in 1982 and four more ten years later. 

Stamp:
Falkland Islands - Semi-Postal: Rebuilding After Conflict with Argentina 
Battle Sites
£1 +£1 Rebuilding Surcharge
Issued on September 13, 1982
Sc. B1

I'm not entirely sure where to post this ... here, or in a thread in Argentina. Bear with me and one of the moderators can move it if they think it proper. 

...

I bought this philatelic souvenir at a stamp show yesterday. It's obviously a dealer cover (commercial cover) and I use the term 'philatelic souvenir' since, while it purports to be a cover mailed during the occupation of the Falklands in 1982, I think it is just as likely, maybe more likely, that all of the handstamps and cancels, including the one from Port Stanley, were applied in Buenos Aires in Argentina. 

Here's what it looks like.



It has an overprinted Argentine stamp -- the only overprint made during the war. The overprint reads, LAS MALVANAS SON ARGENTINAS [THE FALKLANDS ARE ARGENTINE].

Stamp:
Argentina - Cockade Series
Issued on April 22, 1982
Overprint on Mi.Nr. 1547 / Sc. 1218 in black, LAS MALVANAS SON ARGENTINAS
1,700p
Chalky / Florescent paper [Back side very dark under UV lamp]
Mi.Nr. 1556x  / Sc. 1338

All mail destined for Port Stanley went through Buenos Aires. Commercial and First Day covers had the cancel shown above ... BUENOS AIRES (F) ARGENTINA. The '(F)' is for 'Filatelica' [Philatelic]. Regular mail had a different code ... 1C, E or R. 

On the above cover, the stamp was cancelled with black ink on May 10, 1982 and presumably sent to Port Stanley. The mailing address, however, is to a well-known stamp dealer in Buenos Aires. The idea being. one assumes, is that after getting an arrival cancel in the Falklands it would be returned to him (much like an FFC). You'll notice the reference to a mailing list on the address label. 

A handstamp, in red ink, appears above the CDS. It feature several soldiers raising the Argentine Flag with the caption ... VUELO CONMEMORATIVO RECUPERACION ISLAS MALVINAS - REPUBLICA ARGENTINA [Commemorating the recovery of the Falklands - Republic of Argentina]. [Not sure what VUELO means?].

It is not clear when this handstamp was applied to the cover. 

On May 26, the cover was cancelled using the 9409 cancel that was created by Argentina for use in the Falklands. The cancel was used as early as April 6th. It reads, 9409 ISLAS MALVINAS * REPUBLICA ARGENTINA. Sixteen days between leaving on Monday, May 10th and arriving on Wednesday the 26th it's quite a delay. It's normally a three-hour flight. The British Government, however, announced a Total Exclusion Zone around the Falkland Islands on April 28th (effective two days later). It would be reasonable to assume that that would have caused a considerable delay in transport - especially if it was sent by sea. It is also possible that given the evolving situation in the Falklands it may never have been sent at all. It may have been delayed so long that it was simply cancelled locally (with a duplicate of the 9409 CDS) and mailed to the address in Buenos Aries.

Having said that, the 9409 cancel is known to have been used on commercial covers dated: April 15, 16 and 26 and May 17, 1, 24, 26 and 27 ... and June 5. The above cover is dated on one of those dates ... May 26. 

In J. D. Davis' The Falklands War: Postal History and Stamps of the Argentine Occupation 1982 (1983) he mentioned that a number of Argentine dealers were active during the occupation and produced commercial covers for sale to collectors. About the 9409 CDS, he added, "I believe that similar handstamps, possibly inserted in a mechanical canceller were available in Buenos Aires particularly to cancel commercial and First Day Covers. Collectors are strongly advised to look carefully for other postal indicators that their items were actually cancelled at Port Stanley and not rely solely on the 9409 impression."

Good advice. Given the pristine condition of the cover and the lack of any back stamp, I'm of the view that it never spent any time at Port Stanley. I suspect that the dealer hoped it would get there but in the end it ended up being just a patriotic souvenir for Argentine collectors and the general public. 

Fine with me ... there are lots of philatelic souvenirs out there ... from previous political, economic and military conflicts. They too have a story to tell.

PS - This is possibly proof that other 9409 CDS existed in Buenos Aires. Here are examples, with two different stamps, of philatelic covers sold in Argentina using the 9409 cancel on a date not on the above list before the end of the war. I got these a couple of years ago. To be fair, however, I think these are counterfeits of the 9409 cancel. Notice that the lines in the flag are not even or straight. They're certainly not official cancels. 





PPS - One last thing. Here is an FDC with the 'occupation' stamp.