Beryllium Guy
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Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 8, 2024 15:38:43 GMT
Thanks for your posts today, Vince ( stanley64)! I am glad that the 10E forgery arrived in good time. I am interested in learning more about the coated or porcelain paper, which you mentioned. Do you know if it causes the ink to be released from its surface when one of these stamps is soaked in water? I am thinking along the lines of chalk-surfaced paper, which often makes it easier for the ink to fade or disappear altogether when soaked in water. I am wondering if I need to add these to the fugitive inks list....
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 7, 2024 5:24:43 GMT
Thanks, khj Ha ha, OK, I still misunderstood your meaning about the doubled numbers, but at least the better image has helped, and I do understand your explanation about looking to the selvedge for clues to seeing which colors are shifted and in what ways. This has been a good learning opportunity for me! Anyway, thanks so much for responding on this. I guess my friend has an interesting curio for a specialist, but nothing of particular value. That's what I wanted to know.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 7, 2024 4:35:24 GMT
Thanks again to rod222 and khj for your previous responses. I asked my friend for a better image, and below is what I received. I cropped off the bottom portion, as I don't think it adds anything more to the discussion. Is this clear enough to discern anything from the characters in the selvedge? I do understand khj's comment that it can only be a double printing if the letters and numbers (25 USA) are doubled too, and they aren't, so OK, that is not the answer. In that case, if it is indeed a color shift, can you tell which color is shifted? Personally, I am now thinking it must be black, because if you look at the 25 USA on the shifted example, it is further away from the left edge of the blue field compared to the lone example on the right-hand booklet. Does that fit what we are looking at? Thanks for any comments!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 15:38:30 GMT
Very nice, Hugh ( hdm1950)! I have the 2nd KGV set (Wmk 4 with Script CA) complete, but I am missing that $3 one from the 1st set. I would love to find a copy for myself like yours. Your $10 KGV also looks super. It's the nicest used copy I have seen. I ended up shelling out for an unused one, because all the used ones I saw were very heavily cancelled. I looked at your post in the HK thread, and I should be able to help you fill in a couple of the gaps. You should also post your KEVII sets, as I may be able to help you there, too. Feel free to PM me if interested.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 15:27:18 GMT
Thanks for the further responses, khj and rod222. Thanks also to salmantino for your post. I agree that the image is not well focused in any case, so I have asked my friend if he can supply something better, ideally a scan with decent resolution. If I get anything more, I will post it. That may be more of an academic exercise at this point, as it sounds like from the comments that an item like this isn't particularly valuable, especially if this sort of occurrence was relatively common for this issue, according to khj. Of course, the answer lies in the selvedge, which I should have known!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 6:42:30 GMT
Fair enough, rod222I have renamed the thread along the lines you have indicated. I wasn't sure if double printing was correct, so thanks for clarifying. I will say, though, that when I look at the blurry stamps in the booklet on the left, it doesn't actually appear that one color is shifted or mis-registered, as shown in your examples. In fact, it looks like I can see a sort of shadowing on both sides of the birds, and in different colors. If it were truly a shift or mis-registration of one color, then it should only be evident on one side, and it should only be one color. Does that make any sense? This sort of thing is not at all my area, so please forgive any incorrect terminology as I try to get it right.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 6:27:22 GMT
Downtown Post Office (1940) Ontario, California, U.S.A.Every now and then, I stumble across a place that takes me back in time. That's exactly what happened some weeks ago, when I discovered the downtown Ontario Post Office, shown below, which was built in 1940. It's a classic, art-deco style building, and the real irony for me is that in the more than 30 years since I have been coming to this area, and now living in this community, I never knew it was here! When I need services, I usually go the Upland PO, which is slightly closer to where I live now, but it has nowhere near the aesthetic beauty. I think I may have just found my new favorite post office! Left: Exterior view of the PO at 123 W. Holt Blvd. in Ontario. Inset right: plaque near a front corner of the building indicating the year (1940) and listing several names, the most prominent of which is that of James A. Farley, Postmaster General. Left: Interior view with services window to the left. Right: Interior view of the lobby showing rows and rows of brass PO boxes. Both main interior rooms feature murals, which I am guessing were painted by artists under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program started in 1935 during the Franklin Roosevelt presidency in an effort to put the unemployed to work and help pull the US out of the Great Depression.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 5:30:35 GMT
At the request of a good friend of mine, who is not a stamp collector, I am posting images below of some stamps in his possession. He bought two booklets of US, Scott #2284-2285 back in 1988, one of which he eventually noticed seems to be either double printed or color shifted. That is the booklet pane shown on the left. On the right is a booklet with only a single stamp remaining, that seems to be printed correctly. I checked in the 2024 Scott WW Catalogue, and there is no mention of any printing errors for these booklets, but perhaps a US Specialized Catalogue might have better information. Is a doubled or blurred or shifted printing like this even considered an error, or just a freak or oddity? My friend would like to know if this item has any market value to collectors, so I offered to post on TSF and collect opinions. Please let me know what you think.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 3:58:37 GMT
Hugh ( hdm1950), I really liked your earlier post showing your recent acquisitions.... lots of really nice stamps there! Would love to know the watermarks on the Hong Kong KGV $2 and $3 stamps, if you are willing to share. Thanks!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 3:53:04 GMT
Thanks for your post, Rob ( REL1948)! I have signed up for the program, and I will do my best to make it if I can. It is a busy time at my work, so it remains to be seen how the schedule will play out this week. I am hoping to attend and see you there!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 6, 2024 3:40:35 GMT
Thanks for your post, Anil ( anilkhemlani). Here is my opinion about your stamps: From left to right: - HK, Sc155, 2c Gray (KGVI), CV $1.00 unused
- HK, Sc114 or 137, 10c Ultramarine (KGV), CV 35c used, either variety
- HK, Sc73 or 89, 4c Violet on Red (KEVII), CV 45c used, either variety
- HK, Sc134, 5c Violet (KGV), CV 35c used
- HK, Sc159, 15c Carmine (KGVI), CV 35c used
For numbers 2 and 3, the exact catalogue number depends on which watermark the paper has, but in these cases, it doesn't affect the values. The above values are based on the 2024 Edition of the Scott Worldwide Catalogue. Note: If these stamps are stuck down, and you are planning to soak them, you will need to be careful. The image on the KEVII 4c Violet on Red is most likely fugitive to water and will fade if immersed for soaking. The others should be OK for standard soaking. Hope this helps!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 4, 2024 21:50:31 GMT
Quiet, Rainy Weekend with Some StampingGreetings, stampers everywhere! I hope you are all as well as you can be. The good news for me is that I have finally got rid of the cough that plagued me for two months. Some new meds have made the difference. Stamp-wise, recent activities have included color study tasks with both Stan ( stainlessb ) and capejack . Stan has been especially helpful by talking me through the download of the PERFOMaster4000 software program, which I am hoping to learn how to use. Handling of actual stamps has been mainly organizational in nature. I have been going through some trade offerings, which has forced me look through my accumulations, and I have managed to consolidate a bit. I also did some soaking, as I come across stamps that need it. I am away from home this afternoon, but I hope to get back to the stamp sorting later tonight. Stay stampy, all!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 3, 2024 15:22:29 GMT
Welcome to TSF, Christian ( phildug ) I look forward to seeing some posts of your material and hope you will enjoy your time with us! -Chris Southern California, USA
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 2, 2024 17:27:53 GMT
Recent Package from Sri LankaMy wife recently bought a DVD from a 3rd-party seller on Amazon, and much to her surprise, it turned out that the seller was located in Sri Lanka! So, the bonus for me was some strips of recent Sri Lankan issues, which were used on the package. The postmarks are not very distinct, but the stamps are nice enough, and I am planning to soak them off and use them as trading material. Soaking them off. Opinion: Need to be fast and nimble. Lay face down. Cut off all necessary unwanted packaging. Probable result, yellow stamps stained by the packaging material. rod222: Sorry to be late in following up on your point above. I have moved the discussion to this thread from the Today's Mail thread. As I mentioned in a follow-up post, I decided to take the precaution of doing a trial soak on some of the yellow envelope material (please image below). The material was indeed colorfast, so I was able to soak the stamps off in the usual way without any problems. I will post scans of the stamps in a Sri Lanka thread at some point. Anyway, thanks for expressing your concern, Rod. It didn't turn out to be a problem, but it was a good idea on your part for me to approach the soaking with caution so as not to ruin the stamps.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Feb 2, 2024 6:30:46 GMT
This Week's Mail Postmarked in Portugal on 04-Jan-2024 Arrived in Ontario, California on 30-Jan-2024The beautiful cover shown below was sent to me by stanley64, containing some stamps as part of a trade we are making. All I can say is thank you very much for using such nice postage on the cover, and for getting those stamps very nicely cancelled, too. This is the nicest cover I have received in a very long time! Thanks, Vince, your efforts are much appreciated! Also, please note that this is my 5,555th post. I saved the "four fives" milestone as a nod to you, since I know you love the fives!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 29, 2024 22:24:48 GMT
I respect you, khjVery much, in fact!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 21, 2024 16:55:09 GMT
René ( renden ) wrote: Yes, René, I collect Mauritius! From the looks of your recent acquisitions, I would venture to say that you are well ahead of me, though. But I haven't looked at my accumulation in a long while, so I will pull them out later today to see what's in there. At the moment, I am working on your great holiday giveaway lot (thanks again!) I will be in touch soon about Mauritius.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 20, 2024 15:44:50 GMT
Getting Back to StampsGreetings, stampers far and wide! I hope you are all doing as well as you can. As I have not felt well enough to leave the house much, the silver lining is that when I am not working, I have been able to spend some time on stamps. Here's what I have been doing: - Went through WW classic stamps offered in trade and have selected stamps to offer in return
- Need to go to the PO today to mail that trade packet and a few oddball France items for Stan (stainlessb )
- Been digging through the huge gift lot, sorting, soaking, and organizing items I find there (see image below)
- Need to go through some recent eBay purchases and put those in their proper places (got another nice Hong Kong CHINA overprint!)
- Also trying to learn about color quantification techniques from Stan and capejack , but they are way ahead of me!
Above: Stamps laying in the open green folder are ones from the gift lot. This bunch all came from one envelope marked "Duplicates." There were a few from Eritrea in that envelope, so the rest of the material pictured is my Eritrea accumulation, to which I added the new items. This weekend, I will also be soaking more stamps from the big lot. Most of those have been culled from mounted collections, and almost all still have hinges affixed to the backs. I have been making progress not only with material from the big lot, but also going through my accumulations at the same time, identifying stamps for which I should find new homes. Stay stampy, all!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 19, 2024 18:57:46 GMT
It's a nice pair, Alex ( vikingeck), I congratulate you! Please give Robin my best regards! I recently bought a Cape Triangle from him on eBay. Wish I was there with you in York! Well, I understand why Robin is calling this pair SG19c Steel Blue, as his rationale is likely similar to what many sellers/collectors do. As soon as they see the light patchiness in the engine-turned background, they think it is one of the rare shades. Based on my research and working with SG to get images of certified examples, I think it is unlikely that these are SG19c. Just my opinion, of course, and that does not detract in any way from what a nice pair they are. As for which way to display them on a page, I like the "square orientation" better than the diamond (so, agreeing with Hugh hdm1950), but I would flip it around from the way you have shown it to make the numeral "1" in the barred-oval numeral cancel (BONC) more or less the right way up, rather than completely upside down, as it appears now. Once again, just my opinion, since you asked! Hope you will continue to enjoy the show, Alex!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 18, 2024 16:43:32 GMT
Thanks to all for the great responses to the request for help from Chris ( millersville )! There's quite a lot of good info there. Chris, as you and I discussed privately yesterday, you have some familiarity with APS (American Philatelic Society) resources for expertizing. Did you know that the APS also maintains a reference collection of both genuine and forged examples of stamps? My suggestion is that rather than destroy the highly suspect overprinted stamp, you should offer to donate it to the APS collection as a forgery. That way, it will still have some philatelic value, but it should never end up being sold as genuine to an unsuspecting collector. Just a thought!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 15, 2024 17:04:39 GMT
A bit more stamping serendipity this weekend. Yesterday I was sorting through Danish West Indies and Indonesia, and I noticed a few DWI Queen Wilhelmina stamps had these scratches on the surface, like the colours had been scraped off with a fork.
In the section on soaking stamps, he mentions that the paper of some of the 'more recent' DWI stamps were coated with a substance before printing that caused some of the design to be removed when soaked. I wonder if that's what happened to my stamps, especially after I gave them all a nice bath to clean them up! Hey, Mark! Just wanted to mention that the stamps depicting Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands would be from a Dutch colony.... so these would be Dutch Indies aka Netherlands Indies rather than Danish West Indies (present-day US Virgin Islands). I also wanted to mention that there is a thread that I started a while back on Stamps with Fugitive Inks that is intended to be an online resource for TSF members and other collectors alike: thestampforum.boards.net/thread/9051/online-resource-stamps-fugitive-inksUnfortunately, the timing of when I moved this thread into the public board wasn't very good apparently, so it has never really gotten much new info added to it. But if you read the first three posts, you will find some good info there. Although it is a bit after the fact for your Dutch Indies, those issues are already in the list, as they are one of the few mentioned explicitly in the Scott Catalogue. And if it is of any further comfort to you, I made the exact same mistake as you did by following the "soak first, ask questions later" protocol, and I destroyed some of my nicest postally used Dutch Indies. Here is just one example: Anyway, I hope you may enjoy having a poke around the thread on Fugitive Inks!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 15, 2024 16:36:15 GMT
Terri ( philatelia), I have now restored the posts from hrdoktorx and gstamps for your viewing pleasure. They can be found just before my previous post stating that I had temporarily removed them to keep the contest open.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 13, 2024 17:29:33 GMT
Stamps? What are Those?Greetings, stampers far and wide! I hope this post finds you all doing as well as you can be. I have been struggling with ongoing health issues, and I just can't seem to get better. I got sick right after Thanksgiving, and I have been sick on and off ever since. I went to the doctor earlier this week and got some meds, which have helped, but I am still not 100%. As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I haven't done much with stamps or on the Forum recently. But it is a bit of an exaggeration, as I did find time to do some soaking yesterday, and those stamps are being press-flattened now. This is mostly material from China and Hong Kong from the big gift lot I received some months ago, in addition to some of my auction winnings from Xavier's extravaganza ( hrdoktorx ). I have been using dishwashing soap in the soaking water, per advice from tobben63 and stainlessb , and I have to admit that the stamps look cleaner afterward, so I will probably continue this practice. I was sorry to see that the OrcoExpo stamp show in Orange County is cancelled this year. I went with Dave ( Philatarium ) last year, and I made some interesting acquisitions. I wasn't going to attend this year anyway, but I am still sorry to see the event cancelled. Also, since I last posted here, the article that Stan and I wrote together on the Soaking Study for the TSF Newsletter, V8.1 has been revised and re-published in the Cape & Natal Philatelic Journal (CNPJ). The new version has added content on the Cape Triangles, and I was pleased that the CNPJ Editor was interested in including it in their publication, as it is quite different from the sort of material that they usually have in the Journal. Back to do a bit more soaking-type work (mainly philatelic surgery items) next thing. Stay stampy, all!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 13, 2024 16:04:44 GMT
Terri ( philatelia) It seems your latest plea for help on these overprints resulted in answer posts in the thread from hrdoktorx and gstamps, but as I think you are looking for private responses (PM), I have removed those from the public board for the moment. I can re-instate them at any time, so just let me know when you would like me to do that. Stay mystery stampy, all!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 13, 2024 15:46:31 GMT
Greetings, Thomas ( mccloughlin), and welcome to TSF! Many thanks for your nice introduction. Where in Ireland are you located, if you don't mind saying? I had the chance to visit Dublin and Killarney a couple of years ago while living in the UK (2019-2022), and I made to Belfast in Northern Ireland as well. Hope you will enjoy your time with us! -Chris Southern California, USA
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 12, 2024 20:22:38 GMT
Wow, looks great, René ( renden), congratulations on such a nice acquisition! If you end up with any duplicates, I would love to have a chance to make you an offer on them!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 11, 2024 0:41:46 GMT
I found this stamp in a batch of France postage and postage due stamps and am leaning toward it being a fantasy, but am curious if anyone has background information available. Interesting item, Chris! Sorry to say that I have never seen it before. Let's tag some members with deeper knowledge in France or for unusual items to see if they can help: hrdoktorxstainlessbracatrienRyankhjdaniel
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 5, 2024 20:23:59 GMT
Terri ( philatelia) Many thanks for your latest post. It’s an interesting idea to do a feature about the contest results. It would be a new direction for the Newsletter. Please let me think about it over the weekend and discuss with the Moderator Team, and I will respond more concretely early next week. Thanks again for your efforts in this area!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 4, 2024 16:25:41 GMT
Thanks for posting, Alex ( vikingeck). That’s a superb pair of SG20! Congratulations on such a beautiful acquisition!
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,662
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jan 4, 2024 7:20:06 GMT
Happy 2024, All!Now that the New Year is in full swing, and the holiday season is coming to an end, I just wanted to remind everyone to read the Newsletter (if you haven't already), and to vote for your favorite article, if you are so inclined and haven't already. Thanks for your support!
Also, if you have specific comments about the content of the Newsletter or suggestions for future issues, please make a post here: thestampforum.boards.net/thread/11247/thoughts-volume-issues-2023-2024?page=1&scrollTo=183245
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