Whatcha Been Stamping?

After finally taking the time to purchase some more 22 ring album pages I have been removing my stamps with flaws from their current album They were languishing in ad-hoc order with annoying paper labels alongside each one in Prinz type "stock-book" pages. The scanned page is of various 2p green Machins (from a total of 6 pages). I have just reached the 4p "blue" value with Machins then it will be onto various other types to lift & shift. From the various stamps with flaws I have collected, many are minor flaws which are unlisted but also many listed flaws (by Gibbons). A lot of the flaws can only be seen under magnification but they are there.

It's not too difficult to identify the flaws after a while checking each stamp. I have a specialist catalogue (Gibbons) for Machins which lists many flaws & uses diagrams of them. Occasionally I come across things that look "odd" on a stamp & write it up as I see it, the other flaws are usually listed or similar to listed flaws in the catalogue or other sources of info. One of the main snags with spots, dots & flecks on Machins is dust particles during the printing process getting onto the sheets, if the anti-static process during printing was not used. A lot of the stamps have come from booklets or cylinder blocks so I already know their source when checking them for flaws. Thanks for your interest. madbaker

I recently added another cover to my Iwo Jima cachet collection; it is one that isn't listed in Mellone but I've only seen it one listed other time and at a higher price than what I paid.

Today, I took a chance on a lot of international reply coupons in the hope that it included one of the four I am missing to complete my U.S. IRC collection. The lot's two images weren't sufficiently clear to make a positive ID but I'm hopeful...

Still looking for Cicero, Illinois items (outgoing only) to add to my hometown collection. With both parents having passed, my siblings moved away and the childhood home sold, the collection is my final connection to the town I grew up in.

anilkhemlani I cannot see well enough but I learned that one has to study early Russian stamps closely to be sure they are not actually from Finland and vice versa. Glad to see how much you are enjoying the hobby.  

No stamping at all on the last two weeks. I've driving, on holidays throught NE France (Mulhouse, Colmar, Strasbrdg, Metz & Nancy). 3125 km in total, which is a lot in Western Europe, where most things are very close. Trying to find anything philatelic, on the French POs. But, no luck: just olympic games booklets, in which I don't have any interest. We'll see things go on next Sunday's stamp market. Anyway, August is a very quite time for stamps...

Hoo, that is one long car trip!

received some Cyprus stamps I bought on eBay.

Wishing you covid-free !! Stan

Am working on Senegal (french colony West Africa) - to complete the early early - going well - should be able to have 1-2 complete pages soon if USPS takes some "speed" !!

René

Trying to get back into my stamps after work trips, another covid bout, holidays and work deadlines... On my holiday I did manage to pop into the York stamp and coin fair, and pick up a bunch of Belgian stamps to fill holes.

Yesterday, I spent several hours sorting a mound of Canadian stamps and separating them into 4 piles: my collection, future TSF giveaway, on paper, and Stamps for the Wounded donation. This morning I soaked the on paper pile and will add to the other 3 piles once dry.

I can't recall the last time I was able to spend so much time focused solely on stamps.

So sorry Alek! With everything going on in my life I didn't have the ability to plan ahead for anything. It would have been nice to meet up!


I'm planning on going to the Antwerp stamp fair in October if anyone is about for that one!

Long-Lost Package Finally Arrives!

Greetings, stampers everywhere! I hope this post finds you as well as you can be. It is a quiet Saturday morning here in So Cal at the moment. We are in the midst of a renewed heat wave, as temperatures are expected to soar today after a little bit of a break the past couple of days.

I am pleased to report that after 4 months wait, my eBay purchase from late March, which shipped in early April finally arrived. The package was heavily damaged from partial immersion in liquid, presumably water, but who knows? The damage made the address barely legible, but more importantly, the bar code was compromised, which explains why the tracking stopped and never resumed.

Amazingly, despite all the damage to the package and the documents inside, the stamps seem to have escaped unharmed. I will scan them properly sometime this weekend and post them in the Cape Triangles thread. In the meantime, I have been in touch with the eBay seller, and we have worked out a nice settlement.

Stay cool and stampy, all!

Gee Chris, Beryllium Guy , looks like it swam alone across the Atlantic , but just shows how robust those 1850s stamps are

Hi Joan (cursus),

Hope you are having a good time in NE France. I too drove a lot of miles in the UK, 2,600+ but it was fun. Have just returned to a messy house with daughter moving home and a little one running amok ! It's busy and tiring. I too had little luck with stamps while away. I did find a seller at an antique fair with 4 stockbooks of cinderellas which kept me quiet for a while. I also picked up a Canadian collection from a Charity shop, the first time I have found stamps in such a location. The collection will be moved on as it is not of interest for me.
Whilst away, I was reading the board most days but missed a lot so will be catching up during the coming week.
Against my better judgement I have decided to take a table at the Tel Aviv Stamp Fair tomorrow more because I missed the last two than anything else although they did contact me to ask me if I was coming because some buyers were asking after me which was nice. So my 14 year old Grandson will accompany me and help where needed. I will need help with the lifting !!!!!

Good to go away, but good to be back, even to a War Zone !!

Londonbus1