2019-02-01 Stamp Magazine PDF

THE WORLD’S BEST PHILATELIC MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019
TM
MAGAZINE
Malta’s 1922 Stamp-on-stamp

celebration set from Royal Mail
of self-rule to kick off 2019
Icons revived How the

London 2010
homage to
the stamps
of George V
was created
www.stampmagazine.co.uk £4.75
COLLECTING GROUP
Water postmen Railway pioneers

Locations Hailing
in Britain the trusty
with a locos
history of which
delivering opened
mail by up New
boat Zealand
We would like to thank all our customers, consignors,
bidders and interested parties for a successful year
2018 and wish you health, joy and success in the
New Year.
We start a new exciting year with our auction in
February with a great extensive offer of worldwide
philately and numismatics.
Christoph Gärtner
43rd GAERTNER-AUCTION
Visit us on: www.auctions-gaertner.com
7 th - 8 th FEBRUARY COINS & BANKNOTES Worldwide
18 th FEBRUARY Special Aucion CHINA, including a special

catalogue “LIBERATED AREAS“
19 th FEBRUARY ASIA | OVERSEAS | THEMATICS

Special Aucion SPAIN
20 th FEBRUARY EUROPE | GERMANY |PICTURE POSTCARDS
21st FEBRUARY Collecions:

OVERSEAS | THEMATICS | EUROPE
22 nd FEBRUARY Collecions:
ESTATES and MULTIPLE BOX LOTS
GERMANY before & ater 1945
23rd FEBRUARY Special Aucion – Collecion Peter Zgonc

“GERMAN OCCUPATION WW II – Part II“
44 th AUCTION, 24th - 28th June 2019 | 45th AUCTION, 14th - 18th October 2019
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MAGAZINE
WELCOME
IN THIS ISSUE
In the space of few days last month, the
Charity Commission warned shops about
the perils of selling kiloware, on the
basis that fraudsters are buying it to sell
stamps for re-use, and The Daily
Telegraph reported that this particular black market
was worth £10m a year (see page 24).
Some extraordinary claims were bandied about.
The Commission stated that the majority of stamps
in kiloware are sold for fraudulent re-use. The
newspaper stated that one vendor sold 20,000 such
stamps per month. And Royal Mail stated that
cancelling stamps was its priority. I’m still trying to
work out which of these is the least credible.
There is a clear danger here, if you’ll excuse the
mixed metaphor, that sheep crying wolf results in
babies being thrown out with the bathwater — that
charity shops are castigated for innocently selling
used stamps, and that genuine collectors are
rebuked for innocently providing cover for criminals.
Let’s be clear. If the problem is as serious as
reported, it is not the fault of charity or philately. It is
the fault of security.
In the past decade, Royal Mail has put a great deal
of effort into making definitive stamps harder to
forge (by means of security overlays with date codes
and source codes) and harder to re-use (by means of
tougher gum and die-cut slits). Collectors struggling
to soak Machins off cover in a presentable condition
will be astonished to learn that fraudsters can make 66 Water postmen, and women, have a long history in Britain and other countries
a living out of this labour.
The bottom line, however, is that illegal re-use is
feasible only if stamps are not properly cancelled.
GUY THOMAS, Editor 8 WORLD NEWS

guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com Details of London 2020, and new
issues featuring guns and cookies
Stamp Magazine, My Time Media Ltd, Suite 25, Eden 10 NEW ISSUES
House, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF
British territories celebrate
(please mark correspondence either ‘Editorial’ or ‘Advertising’)
penguins and recall the 1970s
Art Editor
Alexandra Bourdelon
Publishers
My Time Media Ltd
16 AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Advertisement Sales Consultant Tel: 01689 869840 (UK) Classic gems from Great Britain,
Jay Jones Tel: +44 1689 869840 (rest of the world) Canada, Queensland and more
jay.jones@mytimemedia.com Printers
Overseas Advertisement Sales William Gibbons & Sons Ltd
Uty Rohrs 22 GB NEW ISSUE
Tel: 020 7834 0085 Subscriptions Full details of a stamp-on-stamp
My Time Media Ltd, 3 Queensbridge,
Commercial Sales Manager miniature sheet to kick off 2019
The Lakes, Northampton NN4 7BF, UK
Rhona Bolger
rhona.bolger@mytimemedia.com
Tel: 0844 243 9023 (UK)
Tel: +1 866 647 9191 (USA & Canada)
16 Star turns from the auction rooms
Subscriptions Manager Tel: +44 1604 828748 (rest of the world) 24 GB COLLECTOR
Kate Hall help@stamp.secureorder.co.uk Growing concerns over the
Chief Executive
Owen Davies
Current & Back Issues fraudulent re-use of stamps
Tel: 01795 662976
ISSN 0307-6679 www.mags-uk.com
32 LETTERS
USA Stamp Magazine, ISSN 0307-6679, is published monthly by MyTimeMedia Ltd, Suite 25 Eden
House, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF, UK. The US annual subscription price is 65GBP What is the target market for
(equivalent to approximately 108USD). Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air
Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. stamp issues, and why don’t
Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: send address changes to Stamp security features prevent re-use?
Magazine, Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA.
Subscription records are maintained at CDS Global Ltd, Tower House, Sovereign Park, Market
Harborough, Leicester, LE16 9EF, UK. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
37 DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
Should postboxes be playing
jolly Christmas jingles while post
offices are busy closing down? 22 Our verdict on the Stamp Classics issue
4 www.stampmagazine.co.uk FEBRUARY 2019

CONTENTS
FEBRUARY 2019 | Volume 85, Number 2 | www.stampmagazine.co.uk
56 How New Zealand celebrated its most important steam locomotives in 1963 and 1973 51 Malta’s 1922 definitive series 62 Finest engravings of Jindra Schmidt
42 How the 1929 PUC £1 was reimagined in 2010 72 Flags on British stamps amount to much more than the Union Jack 97 Establishing the market value of a classic invert
FEATURES 51 COMMONWEALTH COMPETITIONS

CLASSICS
Malta’s definitive series of 1922,
42 DESIGNING THE portrayed the same allegorical Win a Prince of Wales
LONDON 2010 ISSUES figure in very different ways presentation pack!
The special stamp issues which Or a copy of our
accompanied Britain’s most recent 62 GREAT ENGRAVERS GB price guide!
world philatelic exhibition were Jindra Schmidt was part of one
See page 39
modern creations with a period of the most fruitful designing and
feel. We uncover the secrets engraving partnerships ever
behind the miniature sheets
72 GB THEMES ‘The future of Post & Go is under
56 CELEBRATING NEW Many types of flag can be found
ZEALAND RAILWAYS fluttering on British stamps, from review. Might the same fate await
Commemorative issues in 1963 girl guiding to piracy!
and 1973 hailed the locomotives the special stamp programme?’
which helped to open up the 77 EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
rugged territory of New Zealand An 18th-century letter written by a
see page 32
in the years after European Scottish visitor to London is full of
settlement took root superlatives, and name-dropping SUBSCRIBE
66 WATER POSTMEN 80 WHAT’S ON
Various locations in Britain have Exhibition, auction, fair and society
Take advantage of our
a long tradition of delivering mail dates for your diary special subscription offer
to riverine barge-owners, island and have Stamp Magazine
house-holders and other remote 97 STRANGE BUT TRUE delivered to your door.
communities by boat. There are Americans who found rare errors See page 74
quirky examples overseas too in 1901 used contrasting methods
to establish their market value
FEBRUARY 2019 www.stampmagazine.co.uk 5

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WORLD NEWS
London 2020 world

exhibition will be an
eight-day extravaganza
Details have been confirmed of the London
2020 World Stamp Exhibition, the latest in a
long British tradition of hosting major
international events at 10-year intervals.
Granted patronage by the Fédération
Internationale de Philatélie, and by the Queen,
the eight-day exhibition will be held from
Saturday May 2 to Saturday May 9 next year, at
the Business Design Centre in Islington.
The competitive element will comprise 2,750
frames of material in the championship,
traditional, postal history, aerophilately,
revenue, postal stationery, thematic,
literature, open, modern, picture postcard and
youth classes, with entries expected from
collectors in more than 60 countries.
As at London 2010, there will be a change-
over of the material on display at the end of the
fourth day, to enable everything to be shown in
the limited space available.
The closing date for applications to exhibit is ABOVE: London 2020 expects to have 2,750 exhibition frames, split into two groups on display for four days each
June 30, so the final qualifying exhibitions in
the UK and Europe will be Spring Stampex in
February, the ASPS Scottish Congress in April
and Stockholmia 2019 in Sweden in May.
Applicants based in Britain should contact the
UK Commissioner, Mike J Y Roberts.
E-mail: ukcommissioner@london2020.co
Some 97% of the commercial stands have
already been booked by dealers, auctioneers,
postal administrations and other bodies.
The event has the support of the Philatelic
Traders’ Society, which organises the twice-
yearly Stampex events at the BDC, and Spring
Stampex will not he held in 2020 in order not to
compete with the world exhibition.
London 2020 is organised and run solely by
volunteers, and further volunteers are being
actively sought. The chairman of the organising
committee is Frank Walton.
For further details, visit www.london2020.co
ABOVE: The venue is the Business Design Centre in Islington, which also hosted London 2010 and London 2015

WORLD NEWS AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
Knotted guns on UN definitives NEWS IN BRIEF
The latest definitive stamps from the United Nations UN offices in Vienna, show colourful reinterpretations of
> Bernie Beston
from Australia was
take inspiration from an international symbol of peace, the artwork created as part of the UN’s Non-Violence elected President of
the sculpture outside its headquarters in New York. Art Project. The €0.90 is by the Swedish explorer John the Fédération
Formally titled Non-Violence but nicknamed ‘The Ernst Nilson, while the €2.30 is by Ringo Starr, Lennon’s Internationale de
Knotted Gun’, this bronze sculpture of a revolver with its former collaborator in The Beatles. Philatélie at its
Congress in
barrel tied in a knot was created by the Swedish artist The latter has the word ‘Imagine’ above the trigger, in Bangkok, defeating
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, following the murder of his reference to one of Lennon’s best-loved songs. British candidate
friend John Lennon in 1980. It was donated to the UN by The third design, with a 1c value for use in New York, Chris King.
the government of Luxembourg in 1988. has a different format and features an engraving by the
Two of the stamps, with values in euros for use at the Swedish-Norwegian artist Martin Mörck.
> A pristine copy of
China’s unissued
1968 The Whole
Country Is Red 8f
was sold for ¥13.8m
(about £1.6m) by the
China Guardian
auction house in
November. It is the
most expensive
stamp ever sold in
the country.
> Midpex 2019 will

take place at the
renamed
Warwickshire Event
Stamps with a British pioneers to be Centre in

Leamington Spa on
July 6, with extra
whiff of fresh honoured in Sweden stand space for
dealers and
specialist societies.
baked cookies At the Stockholmia 2019 international exhibition, which will mark
the 150th anniversary of the Royal Philatelic Society London, each
> The Royal
Philatelic Society
Iceland and Greenland both issued scented day is being dedicated to one of the RPSL’s founding fathers, thereby London has
celebrating the leading lights in early British philately. published a new
stamps for Christmas, illustrating and
May 28 will honour Sir Daniel Cooper (1821-1892), who was the book, King George V
smelling like freshly baked cookies. Definitive Profile
Iceland’s two non-denominated stamps, society’s first President in 1869 and gave its inaugural display. Head & Seahorse
paying the special Christmas rates for May 29 will recall James Ludovic Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford Stamps Overprinted
inland and European mail weighing up to (1847-1913), who secured royal patronage for the society in 1906 and for Nauru, by Robert
bequeathed his famous philatelic library to the British Library. C Stein.
50g, featured cookies in the shapes of a
Christmas tree and a snowflake, and May 30 will turn the spotlight on Frederick Philbrick (1835-1910),
> A Lebanese
smelled of gingerbread. who proposed the formation of the society and built a worldwide collector, Nabil
Greenland offered a 14k value which collection which he sold to Philipp von Ferrary for £8,000. Karam, has been
May 31 will celebrate Dr Charles Viner (1812-1908), who compiled ratified by Guinness
showed cookies shaped like people,
one of the first catalogues and edited several early magazines. World Records as
snowflakes and a map of Greenland on a having the largest
baking tray, and smelled like cinnamon. It June 1 will honour Thomas Tapling (1855-1891), who bequeathed collection of stamps
also released a 16k design which showed his enormous worldwide collection to the British Library. featuring cars,
the cookies hanging from a pine bough, and June 2 will remember Marcellus Purnell Castle (1849-1917), who totalling 3,333
edited the society’s journal, The London Philatelist, for 25 years. unique items.
smelled like pine.
‘When the aromas of pine and biscuits fill For full details of the event visit www.stockholmia2019.se
> Solent Stamps
the air, we know that Christmas is will no longer run
approaching,’ said the designer. stamp fairs in
Plymouth, but
The Iceland issue was printed by Cartor,
Phoenix Fairs South
the Greenland issue by Lowe-Martin. West is organising
quarterly events at
nearby Plymstock.
ABOVE: Sir Daniel Cooper ABOVE: Earl of Crawford ABOVE: Frederick Philbrick > A parcel sent
from the USA to
Australia was
missent to Austria
not once but five
times, before finally
being delivered two
months late,
according to the
Sydney Morning
ABOVE: Dr Charles Viner ABOVE: Thomas Tapling ABOVE: M P Castle Herald.

WORLD NEWS
NEW ISSUE
Antarctic penguins and

their adorable chicks
new definitive series for the British coldest of places, losing the power of flight beaches or tussock grass, with the
A Antarctic Territory illustrates the

region’s penguins, with the six lower
values depicting chicks and the six higher
but becoming extremely efficient swimmers
and divers. Their bodies are streamlined,
their wings serve as flippers and their legs
exception of the emperor, which breeds on
sea-ice. Egg-incubation duties are shared
by both parents, working in shifts until the
values close-up views of the heads of act as a rudder. Their bones are dense, to chick hatches. Shift lengths vary hugely,
adult birds. make diving easier, and they can descend to with changeovers daily in the case of the
There are 17 species of penguin in all, but depths of over 250m. gentoo but monthly in the case of the
only six reside in Antarctic on a permanent A penguin’s diet consists mainly of fish, emperor.
basis. Of these, Adélies (1p, 76p) and squid and crustaceans, with the smaller The breeding cycle is carefully timed so
emperors (66p, £5) live on the continent of species mostly feeding on krill. Underwater, that chicks hatch when food is most
Antarctica, while chinstraps (10p, £1.20), these birds are fearsome predators. plentiful. When old enough, they are left in a
gentoos (20p, £2) and macaronis (5p, £1) Penguins are rarely seen underwater, crèche, watched over by a few adults, which
breed in the Antarctic peninsula, and kings so our main impression of them is allows both parents to feed at sea.
(50p, £3.50) on the subantarctic islands. conditioned by how they appear on land, Adult penguins have no natural predators
All adults have a striking black and white where they are ungainly but can travel great on land, though eggs and chicks are preyed
coat, and a similar body structure, though distances on foot. upon by other birds such as skuas and giant
they vary greatly in size. These are sociable creatures, living in petrels. In the water, the birds are hunted
Penguins evolved from petrels about 50 colonies of up to a million nesting pairs. by leopard seals and killer whales.
million years ago. There were at least 25 When huddling together against the cold of The stamps were printed in litho by
species, including larger ones than exist winter, emperor penguins can reach a Cartor, mostly from photographs by Sue
today, but some have become extinct. density of 19 birds per square metre. Flood. The lower values are portrait format,
They evolved to be able to live in the Penguins generally breed on rock, the higher values landscape format.

Commemorative Jersey Stamps
The latest issues from Jersey Post
Sir Walter Raleigh, Governor of Jersey Issue date: 5 February 2019
Jersey Post & Go

Durrell: Saving Primates
Issue date: 13 February 2019
Stamps, Miniature Sheets and Souvenir Sheetlets are Free postage

and packing for
also available as First Day Covers and in Presentation Packs. Subscription
Visit the website to see our full range and to order online. Customers!
Open your
www.jerseystamps.com account today
Email: stamps@jerseypost.com Tel: +44(0) 1534 616717

www.facebook.com/jerseystamps @JerseyStamps
WORLD NEWS
NEW ISSUE
Take yourself back to

the extravagant 1970s
he latest in Jersey’s nostalgic Popular Culture
T series of stamp issues, shining a decade-by-

decade light on the language, music, fashion,
events, food and leisure of our living memory, recalls
the groovy 1970s.
The artistic styles and typefaces used across the set
of six colourful stamps transport you back to an era
when clothing was unnecessarily extravagant, music
was unnecessarily rebellious, cuisine was
unnecessarily continental and technology was
resolutely pre-digital.
The 50p value, celebrating language, simply has the
word ‘Boogie’ in flowery period style, while the 65p,
celebrating music, features the safety pin, the
inelegant and non-conformist fashion accessory of
punk rock.
The 76p, on the theme of fashion, has colourful
flared trousers draped over chunky high heels, while
the 82p, recalling the advent of home video
recording, illustrates a VHS cassette being fed a
psychedelic tape.
On the 94p value, focusing on food, a 1970s couple
can be seen tucking into a cheese fondue, at a time
when this Swiss-French culinary delight became
something of a British fad, with fondue sets suddenly
being promoted in all major department stores.
The £1.12 value, devoted to leisure, illustrates a
rollerskate, the key accessory for a roller-disco,
naturally worn over a psychedelic sock.
The accompanying miniature sheet, with its single
£2 stamp, features an exaggerated artist’s impression
of a Jersey shopping street during this period, a time
when the island’s tourism and offshore finance
industries were booming.
Designed by Hat-Trick Design in London, and
printed in litho by Enschedé in the Netherlands, the
set will be issued on January 18.

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£3,750 £200 £475 £325 £495 £345 £435 £300
SG 28 MM SG 19c VLMM SG 169a UMM SG O36a FU

£350 £380 £800 £650
SG 66 LMM SG 164 FU SG O19c LMM SG 110bb UMM

£210 £300 £650 £350
SG 2a MM
To view these and hundreds of similar
£5,950
items please visit one of the best
philatelic websites in the world at
www.purvesphilatelics.co.uk
All major credit and debit cards accepted.
* 20% discount is
SG 20 LMM SG 354b UMM available to new
£575 £250 customers only.
AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS Edited by Adrian Keppel. Prices quoted exclude buyer’s premiums
CANADA 1851 GREAT BRITAIN 1840

OR
Used 12d black LD
F Penny Black first day cover
SO
,717
Part one of Eastern Auctions’ sale of the
£5 0 Grosvenor’s sale of specialised Great Britain included an
Highlands collection of British North America attractive Penny Black first day cover.
included a fine example of what many regard as the most desirable Sent from London to Duns, the entire was franked with a stamp
stamp of the British Empire: the Colony of Canada’s 1851 12d black. from plate 1a, with corner letters AC, cancelled with a brownish red
The top value in a set of three, portraying Queen Victoria, this Maltese cross. On the reverse was a clear London despatch mark
stamp’s postal function was limited: it could prepay only unusual dated May 6, 1840.
rates, such as the quadruple domestic rate or the single letter rate The addressee was Lady Elizabeth Campbell, the Marchioness of
for the bimonthly mails from Montreal to Newfoundland, Bermuda Breadalbane, who had earlier served as a Lady of the Bedchamber
and the British West Indies. to Queen Victoria. Amusingly, the correspondence was an account
Only 51,000 copies were ever printed, of which only 1,450 were for a butt of sherry wine.
sold over the counter. The remainder were destroyed in 1857,
ensuring the stamp’s status as a classic rarity. SOLD BY GROSVENOR £24,000
This particular example had full margins and a neat
concentric-circles cancellation.
SOLD BY EASTERN AUCTIONS £50,717
QUEENSLAND 1861
Ormond Hill specimen
Abacus’ auction included a fine example of the ‘Ormond Hill specimens’, the presentation
sets requested by Rowland Hill’s nephew which brought both him and the printers, Perkins
Bacon, into disrepute.
The Registered (6d) olive-yellow of Queensland, issued in 1861, is one of only six recorded
with the special ‘Cancelled’ handstamp used for these sets.
These souvenirs were effectively the first ever specimen stamps, predating the time when
specimens were supplied as a matter of course to the Universal Postal Union.
They were frowned upon by the authorities at the time, and as a result Perkins Bacon saw
many of its contracts for colonial stamps terminated in 1862.
SOLD BY ABACUS £17,730

WORLD NEWS AUCTIONS GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES| EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
CHINA 1878 TURKEY 1872
Flawless multiple of the 5ca Multi-country franking
Kelleher & Rogers’ sale of the Lee Yuen Wong collection of China Karamitsos’ second sale of the Wolfgang Bauer collection of the
offered buyers an opportunity to pick up some top-quality items ‘Large Hermes Heads’ of Greece included a fascinating cover
from the country’s classic issues, not least this rare multiple from franked in three different countries.
the 1878 first issue, the ‘Large Dragons’. Sent from Turkey to Greece on August 19, 1872, it was initially
The unmounted mint block of ten of the 5ca orange was almost franked with a 20pa stamp of Turkey, cancelled with the octagonal
flawless, with vivid colour, very good centring and sheet margins to postmark of Cesme.
both left and right. At the Austrian post office of Scio-Cesme, on the Aegean island of
This was the highest of the three values in the series, which was Chios (then still part of the Ottoman Empire), a 10sld stamp of
in use until the ‘Small Dragons’ were issued in 1885. Austria was added to get it to the Greek island of Syros. There, it
was franked with a 20l stamp of Greece.
SOLD BY KELLEHER & ROGERS £20,287
SOLD BY KARAMITSOS £15,330
CONFEDERATE STATES 1861

Propaganda cover
The Max Mayo collection of American all-over advertising covers,
sold by Schuyler Rumsey, comprised an amazing array of
eye-catching and rare postal history, including this Confederacy
propaganda cover of 1861. PHILIPPINES 1944
Sent from Corinth, Mississippi, to Abbeville, Alabama, on June 5,
which is less than two months after the outbreak of the US Civil War Guerrilla postal service cover
in April, it has a two-colour design based on one version of the
10-star flag of the Confederate States, which were trying to secede H R Harmer’s auction offered this cover from the Philippines
from the Union. Guerrilla Resistance postal service, which operated during the
The stripes are adorned with the names of the leaders of the Japanese occupation of the country during World War II.
Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis and Vice-President Franked with a rouletted 1943-series 2c blue stamp, the cover
Alexander Stephens. also had a plethora of handstamps, including a ‘Posted in the Free
Besides the circular date stamp of Corinth, the cover features a Philippines’ oval datestamp of January 28, 1944, and a ‘We depend
straight-line ‘Paid’ handstamp, and manuscript ‘5c’ and ‘Due 5c’ upon Gen MacArthur’s pledge to return’ cachet. There is also a
annotations. censorship mark of the 10th Military District.
Illustrated propaganda covers were a feature of the Civil War, but Supplied by the United States, the guerrilla resistance fighters
very few used examples of this particular design are recorded. were able to run a postal service in the provinces they controlled.
SOLD BY SCHUYLER RUMSEY £5,284 SOLD BY H R HARMER £2,113

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19
COURT PHILATELICS
USA
We sell many one of items not usually listed on ebay under rudd3325 - check them out!
We are also interested in buying any of your surplus stamps on or of paper for payment or exchange.
Price list free on request. Guaranteed full refund if not satisied. Please E-Mail us if you would
like to receive our special ofer lists. Postage: UK customers pay no postage. Overseas, please
add £4.00 / 1/4 lb, £5.00 / 1/2 lb, £7.00 / 1 lb and £2.50 for all collections ordered. We will use
latest Commems including very rare high values!There are no credit card charges and no VAT
payable. (½ lb = 225g, 1 lb = 450g)
GREAT BRITAIN ON PAPER MIXTURES
Buying & selling stamps,
GB COMMEMS NO XMAS Wide ranging on paper mix includes h.v’s & modern to 2018
issues. ½ lb £16.00, 1 lb £30.00. covers, & postal history
GB HIGH VALUE DEFINS On paper, many from registered & recorded mail so good
cancellations, a clean mix. Includes modern security issues which will become very rare with all
the gold labels used on mail. ½ lb £18.00, 1 lb £35.00.
STAMPEX
GB MULTIPLES ISSUES Try to keep up with the recent multiple issues. Increasing
variety, right up to the latest 2018 Harry Potter, Owls, Game of Thrones, 2017 Droids & Aliens,
Classic Toys, Landmark Buildings, Songbirds, 2016 Mr Men, Shakespeare Quotes, Star Wars,
Comedy Greats, Bridges, 2014 Sustainable Fish, Buckingham Palace etc. Try and complete those
diicult sets. ¼ lb £24.00, ½ lb £45.00.
GB MODERN COMMEMS NO XMAS ONLY While Stocks Last! This sells for a
small fortune on auction sites as they are so hard to ind these days, we can supply very small
Business Design Centre, stand G4B
amounts. Mostly 2012/2018 issues only with the odd high value and multiple issues. Limited
range as so modern but very sought after. 2 oz £13.00. London N1 0QH 13-16 February
GB SPECIAL CHARITY MIX A well balanced on paper Charity mix covering Deins,
Commems, H.Value Commems, H.Value Deins, Pre-decimal, Wildings & Pre QEII. Covers all
periods. 1 lb £12.00, 2 lbs £22.00.
GB REGIONALS (On paper). A wealth of variety from all four regions, ind those elusive Stephen T. Taylor
band/perf varieties very cheaply. Over 7000 – 8000 stamps/ 2lbs. 1 lb £15.00, 2 lbs £28.00.
GREAT BRITAIN OFF PAPER MIXTURES 5 Glenbuck Road
GREAT BRITAIN Of paper mixture. The tedious washing of this modern mix has been
done for you already by charity supporters! There are over 500 basic machins to collect. One of
Surbiton Surrey KT6 6BS
each in good nick can cost over £1,000.00. We can’t guarantee all in there but you’ll have great Phone: 020 8390 9357
fun sorting, includes commems, h.v commems & deins, worth the price on their own. Guaran-
teed totally unpicked. At least 10,000 stamps / 1 lb. 1 lb £19.00, 2 lbs £37.00.
GREAT BRITAIN OFF PAPER COMMEMS NO XMAS Previously included Xmas,
we can now supply without so the rarer Commems only. Wealth of variety from KGVI to date, in- info@stephentaylor.co.uk
cludes some high values. Approx 5000 stamps to 1 lb weight. ¼ lb £22.00, ½ lb £42.00, 1 lb £80.00.
FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH ON PAPER MIXTURES.
www.stephentaylor.co.uk
SPECIAL OFFER NO.1: Buy 1 lb Aus, Canada, N.Z& U.S.A for the discounted price
of £62.00. List Price £74.00.
AUSTRALIA On paper charity mix, includes modern with dream variety, many Commems
Your American dealer in Britain
and high values, collected from a school-teacher in the Outback. Approx. 2500 stamps / 1 lb. 1 lb
£18.00, 2 lbs £34.00.
CANADA Sold out before, we have been fortunate to get fresh stocks from the increasingly dif-
icult country. A colourful on paper charity mixture from the Canadian Save the Children Fund
of Commems, Deins, Large Pictorials and high values. 1 lb £20.00, 2 lbs. £39.00.
NEW ZEALAND On Paper charity mixture with Commems and higher values includes dif-
icult to ind modern. Supplied to us exclusively by a N.Z Charity. Approx. 2500 stamps / 1lb. ½
lb £11.00, 1 lb £20.00.
U.S.A. An on paper charity mixture with stupendous variety. There can’t be many mixtures so at-
tractive and with such good count. Approx count 3500 to 4000 stamps. Per 1lb £16.00, 2lbs £30.00.
EUREKA! We’ve found it. This has to be our best world mixture yet. At least 85% commems The History & Local Post of
with a staggering variety with around 100 countries/states (yes we have found stamps from that
many). Much modern and many high values included. Our SUPER WORLD 100. ½ lb £28.00,
1 lb £55.00, 2 lbs £105.00.
RATTLESNAKE ISLAND, LAKE
OVERSEAS FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH CHARITY MIXTURE With ERIE
over 120 Charity sources in this country it is not surprising that this is the ultimate mixture of
Foreign & Commonwealth stamps essentially on paper. Enormous variety and mostly modern Revised and Updated - 2009
as it is collected from oices on a day to day basis. Many h. values as many are Air mail values
and a lot will never be seen in approval books! 1 lb £30.00, 2 lbs £55.00, 5 lbs £125.00.
EUROPEAN COMMEMORATIVES New in the spring again it has been remarkably
successful. Mostly Commemoratives from all corners of Europe (No GB). Great variety with This modern edition contains
high values and semi-postals. Includes very interesting stamps from the new Russian States,
Iceland, Faroes, Greenland, Vatican, Monaco, San Marino, United Nations and Liechtenstein.
A must for all collectors of Europe. ½ lb £28.00, 1 lb £55.00.
More Local History
COMMEMORATIVES & LARGE ONLY ON PAPER MIXTURES Special Additional Detail of the Ford Tri-Motor
ofer. Buy 2 diferent lots of the Commems & Large mixtures below deduct 5% from the price,
4 items deduct 10%, 8 items deduct 20%! AUSTRALIA ½ lb £19, 1 lb £35.00. AUSTRIA ¼
lb £35, ½ lb £68.00. BELGIUM. ¼ lb £23, ½ lb £45.00. BHUTAN ¼ lb £35, ½ lb £68.00. BO-
All Stamps including 2009 issue
TSWANA ¼ lb £18, ½ lb £35.00. CANADA ¼ lb £40, ½ lb £70.00. CYPRUS ¼ lb £30, ½ lb
£58.00. FAROES 2oz £39, ¼ lb £74.00. FINLAND ¼ lb £20, ½ lb £39.00.FRANCE ¼ lb £23.00,
Over 200 Illustrations
½ lb £42.00. FRENCH AFRICA ¼ lb £47, ½ lb £90.00. GERMANY ½ lb £16, 1 lb £30.00.
GERMANY H.V COMMEMS ¼ lb £22, ½ lb £40. GIBRALTAR ¼ lb £30, ½ lb £58. GREECE
¼ lb £31, ½ lb £60. GUERNSEY ¼ lb £33, ½ lb £65.00. IRAN ¼ lb £30.00, ½ lb £58.00. ISLE
OF MAN ½ lb £33, 1 lb £59.00. JERSEY ¼ lb £33, ½ lb £65.00. JAPAN ¼ lb £22, ½ lb £40.00. ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY
LUXEMBOURG ¼ lb £39, ½ lb £77.00. MALTA ½ lb £16, 1 lb £30.00.NEPAL ¼ lb £20, ½ lb
£38.00. NORWAY ¼ lb £23, ½ lb £45.00. SPAIN ¼ lb £23.00, ½ lb £44.00. SWISS ¼ lb £23, ½ lb Send to:
£45.00. THAILAND ¼ lb £23, ½ lb £45.00U.S.A ½ lb £25, 1 lb £48.00.
OFF PAPER MIXTURES
SPECIAL OFFER NO. 7: Buy 1 lb World, 1 lb British Commonwealth and 1 lb W.
Europe Scoop for the discounted price of £130. List price £150.00.
John Wells, P.O. Box 222
WORLD SCOOP An Of paper mix scooped from our oddments tub. Emanating from
Charities, Auctions, personal collections etc. You will ind high Cat (please tell us when you do)
Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, EN8 8GS,
& many additions for your collection. Each 1 lb lot is over 7000 stamps, costing around ½ p
each. ½ lb £18.00, 1 lb £35.00, 5 lbs £155.00. Sale price ½ lb £16.00, 1 lb £31.00, 5 lbs £139.00.
England
BRITISH COMMONWEALTH SCOOP Sold out over the last 8 months, we can now sup-
ply more of our popular Of paper mixture covering old Empire & modern Commonwealth. Several
clients found stamps cataloguing £10 to £50 each. No promises but with at least 7,000 stamps/1lb
you’ll have great fun sorting. ½ lb £31.00, 1 lb £60.00. Sale price ½ lb £27.90, 1 lb £54.00.
Price including postage & packing only
WEST EUROPE SCOOP An Of paper mixture of small and large stamps with much
earlier material. Many better and unusual values. In great demand as our interests in the EEC
£14.50
grow. Approx. 10,000 stamps to 1 lb costing around ½ p each. ½ lb £28.00, 1 lb £55.00. Sale
price ½ lb £25.00, 1 lb £49.00.
US $29.50
COURT PHILATELICS Payment accepted by cheque or money order
Dept SM, P.O Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, Beds LU7 9XT.
TEL: 01296 662420 • E-mail: courtphilatelics@aol.com
Payment: We accept cheque, postal orders and all major credit & debit cards. Paypal
Sorry credit card facililties not available
payments can be made to courtphilatelics@aol.com or you can pay direct into our bank:
RBS, A/C no. 10088313, sort code 16-1620. NO MINIMUM ORDER.
Selling your stamp collection?
Warwick and Warwick have an expanding requirement for world collections, single country collections, single items, covers,
proof material and specialised collections. Our customer base is increasing dramatically and we need an ever-larger supply
of quality material to keep pace with demand. The market is currently very strong for G.B. and British Commonwealth and
the Far East. If you are considering the sale of your collection, now is the time to act.
FREE VALUATIONS
We will provide a free, professional valuation of your collection,
without obligation on your part to proceed. Either we will make
you a fair, binding private treaty offer, or we will recommend
inclusion of your property in our next public auction.
FREE TRANSPORTATION
We can arrange insured transportation of your collection to our
Warwick ofices completely free of charge. If you decline our
offer, we ask you to cover the return carriage costs only.
FREE VISITS
Visits by our valuers are possible anywhere in the country or
abroad, usually within 48 hours, in order to value larger and
valuable collections. Please phone for details.
ADVISORY DAYS
We have an ongoing programme of advisory days, in all regions
of the United Kingdom, where you can meet us and discuss the
sale of your collection. Visit our website for further details.
We will be visiting the following towns within the next few weeks:
Wakefield, Rotherham, Newark, Oswestry, Ryde, Andover,

Ulverston, Bury, Kettering, Mansfield, Swanage, Midsomer,
Nottingham, Ruislip, Hexham, Tynemouth.
EXCELLENT PRICES
Because of the strength of our customer base we are in a
position to offer prices that we feel sure will exceed your
expectations.
ACT NOW
Telephone or email Ian Hunter today with details of your
property.
Warwick & Warwick Ltd., Chalon House, Scar Bank,

Millers Road, Warwick CV34 5DB England
Auctioneers and Valuers Tel: (01926) 499031 • Fax: (01926) 491906
www.warwickandwarwick.com Email: ian.hunter@warwickandwarwick.com
Get the experts on your side! /warwickauctions @warwickauctions

GB COLLECTOR
NEW ISSUE
Stamp-on-stamp nod to
oldest philatelic society
T
he Stamp Classics miniature sheet, to highlighting a key issue from a different It promotes the study of philately through
be issued on January 15, is billed as a reign. These are presented in their original holding regular meetings and exhibitions,
celebration of Royal Mail’s history, sizes, meaning that the formats vary, and giving awards, publishing new research,
and of organised philately. It marks the the way the sheet is perforated creates a maintaining a huge library and a growing
150th anniversary of the Royal Philatelic non-postal label holding its title. museum, and offering a world-renowned
Society London, and the 50th anniversary of The RPSL is the oldest philatelic society expertisation service.
the official opening of the original Postal in the world, formed in April 1869 as the The National Postal Museum opened to
Museum by the Queen. Philatelic Society London. The future King the public in 1969, as part of the General
Its three 1st class and three £1.55 values George V became its patron in 1896, and Post Office complex in the city of London,
are all stamp-on-stamp designs, each Edward VII granted it royal status in 1906. housing the superb Reginald Phillips

WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS GB collector LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
collection of 19th-century stamps, and the £1.55 KING GeorGe VI
Royal Mail archives. It closed in 1998, but 1940 peNNY BlAcK ceNteNArY ½d GreeN
was re-established near the Mount The centenary of adhesive postage stamps
Pleasant sorting office in 2017. was celebrated with a double-head design
Designed by Hat-Trick Design, the by Harold Palmer, portraying the King
miniature sheet is printed in litho by alongside Queen Victoria in a new format.
International Security Printers. Six values, printed in gravure by Harrison,
were issued on May 6, 1940.
1st class QUeeN VIctorIA
1891 £1 GreeN £1.55 QUeeN elIzABetH II
Originally issued in brown-lilac in 1884, in a 1953 coroNAtIoN 2½d reD
unique horizontal format, the £1 value was From more than 75 ideas submitted, four
reissued in green on January 28, 1891, designs by different artists were chosen to
surface-printed by De La Rue. Its ornate celebrate the Coronation, the 2½d being the
style and its corner letters (different for work of Edgar Fuller. Printed in gravure by
each stamp in the sheet), were typical of the Harrison, it was issued on June 3, 1953, the
reign, designed to deter forgers. day after the ceremony, along with 4d, 1s 3d
and 1s 6d values.
1st class KING eDWArD VII
1910 2d tYrIAN plUM otHer proDUctS
A newly designed 2d stamp, surface-printed The presentation pack celebrates the
by De La Rue in a new colour, had been history of stamps in Great Britain across the
distributed to post offices and was about to reigns of the six monarchs, and a press
be issued when the King died, on May 6, sheet of 10 uncut miniature sheets is
1910. Its released was cancelled and almost offered in a limited edition of 300.
all the stock was destroyed, but a few The miniature sheet will be available with
examples survived, making this the a special commemorative overprint at
greatest rarity in British philately. Only one Spring Stampex only, from February 13-16,
was used on cover, addressed to the Prince in limited edition of 6,000.
of Wales and received on the day he became
King George V. regarded by many as Britain’s finest
stamps. Known as the ‘Seahorses’, they VERDICT
1st class KING GeorGe V depict Britannia ruling the waves in her sea
1913 2s 6d BroWN chariot. The 2s 6d was issued on June 30, coMMeMorAtIVe WortH
Designed by Bertram Mackennal and 1913, along the 5s value. It’s always nice to see stamps marking a
recess-printed initially by Waterlow, the philatelic landmark, or two
high value definitives of King George V are £1.55 KING eDWArD VIII
1936 1½d reD-BroWN QUAlItY oF DeSIGN
PRICES Ambitious plans were made for Accession,
Coronation and definitive issues for King
The design concept is as simple as it
could be, yet the sheet layout is
Miniature sheet £6.66 Edward VIII, but only four values of the rather inelegant
Accession set were issued before his
Presentation pack £7.40
abdication. Designed by Hubert Brown, a WoW FActor
Press sheet £73.26 17-year-old student, and printed in gravure Collectors will love to use these stamps
Stamp cards £3.15 by Harrison, the ½d, 1½d and 2½d were on their mail, and some will attract
First day cover £8.55 released on September 1, 1936, and the 1d wider attention as a result
two weeks later.

GB COLLECTOR
NEWS IN BRIEF
> A BBC television

programme, Inside
Extent of the black
market in reusable
The Christmas
Factory, broadcast in
December, included
a short feature on the
making of 2018’s
Christmas stamps,
including some rare
footage from inside
International Security
Printers’ plant in
Wolverhampton. It
will remain available
stamps exposed...
on BBC iPlayer until The black market in used stamps sold for reuse as if that ‘Our priority is to cancel all stamps to reduce the
January 15. they were new is booming, according to an investigation risk of fraud.’ However, a sorting office worker told the
by The Daily Telegraph. newspaper that reused stamps make it through the
> A report into the The newspaper reported in December that the postal system because ‘cost-cutting measures have led
health of Royal Mail
by Ofcom, Britain’s internet auction site eBay alone hosted more than 2,100 management to tell staff to turn a blind eye’.
watchdog for the listings for reusable British 1st class and 2nd class Fraudulent reuse of stamps is estimated to cost Royal
communications stamps, offered for Mail as much as
sector, expressed as little as 16p each, £10m a year. This is
concern at the
and that one vendor despite the security
company’s failure to
reach 5% proitability, was selling 20,000 a measures
the level which is month. incorporated into
deemed necessary It suggested that the printing of self-
to safeguard the fraud was adhesive Machin
universal service.
incentivised by the definitives since
> Post & Go kiosks rising cost of 2009, which include
in post ofices are postage, and that complex text
having their screens the chief culprits overlays, source
updated with what is
were mail-order codes, die-cut slits
claimed to be a more
user-friendly layout, businesses. and gum which
making it easier for Royal Mail was makes them harder
users to choose the quoted as saying to soak off cover.
transaction they
require.
> Slogan postmarks

seen in December
...as charities are warned over
included ‘Remember
to post early this
Christmas’ (irst
the ‘risks’ of selling kiloware
used in November),
‘Stay well this The Charity Commission has circulated an alarmist fraudulently re-sold as if they were valid postage.’
winter!’ (referring to warning to British charities about the ‘risks’ associated The alert claims that ‘Fundraisers may believe they
a National Health with selling kiloware. are selling stamps to collectors, but this is rarely the
Service website),
and ‘Merry It states that ‘Anyone knowingly collecting, preparing, case as these stamps have little collectable value.’
Christmas!’ (giving distributing, reusing or selling used stamps to avoid Whether this will deter charities from selling kiloware
the last posting paying full postal fees may be committing fraud’. It goes remains to be seen. But, as one dealer told Stamp
dates for 1st class on to suggest that some charities are ‘inadvertently Magazine, ‘It contains misleading information, and of
and 2nd class mail).
enabling this form of fraud’ by selling kiloware. course the reuse of stamps would not happen at all if
> A Royal Mail It even asserts that ‘The majority of these stamps are postal authorities cancelled them as they should.’
manager’s reply to a
seven-year-old boy,
assuring him that a
birthday card he had
addressed to his late
Yearbooks and packs of 2018 issues
father in heaven had
been successfully Royal Mail’s 2018 Yearbook is a full- The price is £153, but then the face
delivered, became colour 64-page hardback tome which value of the stamps is more than £127. A
an internet sensation
offers a fresh perspective on the themes leather-bound version, in a limited
in late November.
commemorated on British stamps edition of just 160, is priced £203.
> A Merseyside man during the course of the year. Annual products available from the
who started picking Entitled Putting Stamps First and philatelic service also include a year
up elastic bands containing all the special issues and pack (in a protective folder) at £133, a
dropped by postmen
six years ago now miniature sheets in mint condition (the year of presentation packs (in a gift box)
has 10,000 of them, Harry Potter chapter is an insert), it at £136, and a year of miniature sheets
forming a huge ball. comes in a numbered edition of 8,000. (in a presentation case) at £42.

WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS GB COLLECTOR LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
Christmas stamps HOT OFF THE PRESS
came in mixed sheets Don Staddon has the inside line on British
stamp printings, post office supplies and
It emerged at the end of November developments in postal mechanisation
that the 2018 Christmas 1st class
and 2nd class stamps, featuring DEFINITIVE PRINTINGS
postboxes, were printed in sheets On the latest reprints of the Scotland 1st class and 2nd
shared with the reprinted 2017 class country definitives, all cylinder numbers (including
designs, reproducing Madonna & phosphor) are shown as C2, not only black as we
Child paintings. suggested last month. Sheets of both values were printed
This arrangement, which yields side-by-side on the same reel.
vertically se-tenant pairs from the
bottom row of the upper pane and PRESTIGE STAMP BOOK PRINTINGS
the top row of the lower pane, was The Harry Potter prestige stamp book issued in
not announced in advance, and December (January issue, page 24), has been reported
Royal Mail subsequently admitted with no fewer than three different errors: the third pane
that it was the result of a (Machin definitives) missing, the fifth pane (one side of
misunderstanding. the miniature sheet) inverted, and a double back cover.
In 2017, the Madonna & Child Buyers should examine their copies carefully, but
stamps and the children’s design should not expect to be able to purchase these booklets
competition stamps were locally. We checked at a number of crown post offices,
deliberately printed in mixed finding that none of them had the product in stock, and
sheets, by De La Rue. A year later, several were not even aware of their existence.
the same template appears to have
COURTESY OF NORVIC PHILATELICS

been adopted by the new printer,
International Security Printers,
without direction from Royal Mail.
The mixed sheets of 50 were distributed to post offices, but
se-tenant pairs were hard to obtain because the sheets were
designed to be split into two panes of 25 for convenience, giving
customers a choice between secular and religious designs.
The philatelic service is not offering se-tenant pairs or strips either,
so the only reliable way to obtain these is to purchase an entire sheet.
POST & GO PICTORIAL PRINTINGS

Musical postboxes The outcome of Royal Mail’s review of Post & Go has not
been announced, but we understand that there may be no
offer festive surprise more pictorial stamp issues, and that the absence of
Royal Mail kiosks from exhibitions and other events will
continue indefinitely.
In the run-up to Christmas,
What will happen when existing stocks of pictorial
Royal Mail adapted eight
designs run out is unclear. Will the digital printer at ISP
postboxes around the UK to play
be bought into use to replenish supplies for Royal Mail
traditional Christmas jingles, the
kiosks such as the one at The Postal Museum, or would
sound of sleigh bells or a
this not be considered worthwhile?
message from Father Christmas
Commemorative overprints should continue, and we
when letters and cards were
believe The Postal Museum has something planned to
posted in them.
coincide with Stampex.
Besides being visibly
Horizon-style labels may become the norm from
decorated with snowflakes, they
machines installed in post offices, as they are used
were invisibly fitted with sensors
largely by customers sending parcels.
that triggered recordings when
letters were dropped inside.
POST & GO VARIETIES
Initially, from November 26,
The Winter Greenery designs reissued for the Christmas
postboxes were adapted on
PRESS ASSOCIATION
period have been reported with an ‘18’ year code in the

Greenwich Promenade in
security overlay, and also with overprinting errors. At
London, on Queen Street in
least one post office kiosk vended the 1st class designs
Cardiff, on High Street in
printed with 2nd class values, and the 2nd class designs
Edinburgh and on Wellington
printed with 1st class values.
Place in Belfast.
Late in 2018, 2nd class Machin-head and Common
Later, in response to ‘overwhelmingly popular demand’, four
Poppy stamps were vended at The Postal Museum with
more were converted on New Street in Birmingham, on Lime Street
part of the text indented, but only when bought as singles.
in Liverpool, on Princess Street in Manchester and on Queen Street
in Glasgow.

TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL
TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL
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Tony Lester
AUCTIONS LTD
10th February 2019 Sale

Our February auction will include a £10,000 BC KGVI M
collection, good collections of Austria, Liechtenstein and
Switzerland, many GB collections, varieties, a
stock of China, Tristan da Cunha Postal History,
a good collection of signed Space material,
BC collections and items etc.
Free Valuations
We are keen buyers of collections or can sell through our
auctions on commission. We can travel to value suitable lots or
you can bring them to us for an on the spot valuation.
Auctions
Our auctions cater for both collectors and dealers, with single
stamps and sets in addition to many collections and ‘box lots’.
2019 Auction Dates
10th February • 14th April • 30th June
• 1st September • 17th November
CONTACT US TODAY FOR A FREE COPY OF OUR NEXT CATALOGUE.
TO: Tony Lester Auctions Ltd (01926) 634809

The Sidings, Birdingbury Rd,
www.tonylester.co.uk
Marton, Nr Rugby,
tonylester@btconnect.com
Warwickshire CV23 9RX
TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL
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YOUR VIEWS
LETTER OF THE MONTH
Who exactly are today’s Royal Mail

special stamp issues aimed at?
It seems apparent that Royal Mail’s special
stamp programme has given up on stamp
collectors. Or is it the other way round,
and collectors have given up on special
stamps?
Gone are the days when it was
GET IN TOUCH customary to queue up at the post office
for cylinder blocks and gutter pairs when
These pages are devoted to giving a special issue was released. Today,
you the opportunity to have your say. collectors tend to specialise in definitives
Whether you want to praise or and booklets instead.
complain, suggest or advise, add Royal Mail is consciously producing sets
information or correct it, or just get of stamps with a different appeal,
something off your chest, we’d love although I am not quite sure who they
to hear from you. appeal to. If it is the general public, there
seems to be little attempt to publicise
Send your letters to: them, other than perhaps getting a picture
Stamp Magazine, MyTimeMedia Ltd, in the newspapers.
Suite 25, Eden House, Enterprise There is virtually no publicity material in
Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF post offices, and the stamps may be on
Or send an e-mail to: sale from only one serving position. Most
guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com sub-post offices do not stock them at all.
Even the philatelic service offered by ABOVE: Are publicity posters a thing of the past?
The Editor reads all letters, but is Tallents House leaves a lot to be desired.
unable to answer them all personally. The future of Post & Go pictorial issues is already under review, and they may be
We reserve the right to edit letters discontinued. Might the same fate ultimately await the special stamp programme?
for publication. Don Staddon, Haywards Heath
Turning to alternative Is this a British record for uncancelled stamps?

catalogues to get round We have all suffered the annoyance of having a nice group of stamps uncancelled when
they pass through the post. But this 2nd class letter is extraordinary.
Gibbons appendix policy Correctly franked with 58p in postage, it has been postmarked, but at the bottom,
upside-down, leaving all 44 stamps untouched. Is this a British record for the number of
In response to Richard West’s Talking Point uncancelled stamps on one cover?
column discussing whether appendix Andrew Pink, Ipswich
listings in catalogues are still necessary
(January issue, page 33), I became
disenchanted with Stanley Gibbons’ policy a
few years ago.
I have thematic collections of birds and
flowers, in which many of the stamps from
other countries are relegated to the
appendix, which means that little
information is supplied about them.
Yet Gibbons refuses to treat Great
Britain’s high values in the same way, even
when they appear to be available only
from the philatelic service at Tallents
House in Edinburgh.
I looked for an alternative catalogue to
rely on, and found one which lists all
stamps with issue dates, sequential
numbers and prices.
My collection is now listed with SG
numbers up to 2010, and alternative
catalogue numbers after that date.
Len Davenport, via e-mail

WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR LETTERS COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
SOAPBOX
Collectors of signed covers need to be aware of the scourge of the autopen.
Not least astrophilatelists, such as Jeff Dugdale
Celebrity signatures on cover can be

very expensive. But how can you be sure
that that signature for which you have
paid a hefty premium is genuine?
This is a particular problem in one of
my collecting fields, astrophilately,
when it comes to astronauts’ autographs
on covers relating to space flights.
Covers signed by the crew of a space
shuttle mission routinely change hands
for £100, for example. Yet it is
acknowledged that there are many
falsified signatures on the market.
FORGERY AIDS
When manned spaceflight was in its
infancy, astronauts and cosmonauts
were required to sit down and sign
hundreds of covers for the philatelic ABOVE: An autopen at work, duplicating a signature with mechanical accuracy
market. As you would expect, they
quickly got bored doing this, and it
wasn’t long before other means of
providing signatures were being tried.
One solution was photocopies, which
are usually easy to recognise because
they don’t have the colour or sheen of a
genuine stroke of a pen.
Another was ‘secretarials’, made by a
personal assistant who is practised at
forging the boss’s signature. Although
they are strokes of a real pen, they
usually look suspicious to expert eyes.
Most insidious were ‘autopens’,
mechanical devices which precisely
replicate genuine autographs by moving
a pen over paper in a repeatable pattern.
These have been widely used since the ABOVE: Dutch souvenir cover supposedly signed by the astronaut John Young. In fact, it’s the work of a machine
early 1960s by officials and celebrities
who are too busy to sign hundreds of ‘It’s quite easy to identify autopen this is Chris Spain’s site, which you can
documents or souvenirs in person, and signatures,’ he said. ‘The common traits find at www.astroautopens.com
their results appear perfect. are consistent line thickness from
beginning to end, due to unchanging STRANGE VIBRATIONS
BAD NEWS pressure, and usually, but not always, In some cases, with a magnifying glass,
Recently a dealer offered me a collection the use of a bold and black marker such you can actually detect the minuscule
of more than two dozen covers signed by as a Sharpie pen.’ vibrations of an autopen. This is the case
astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini and Repeat your own signature 100 times on a cover I have which was supposedly
Apollo programmes. My heart raced, but in quick succession, and then compare signed by John Young, one of the 12 men
then the caveat emptor (buyer beware) the first one with the last one. Are they who walked on the Moon.
principle sunk in. identical? Of course not, because fatigue Young’s signature was notoriously
Since I was given plenty of time to and carelessness set in. In fact each of difficult to attain, because as an
decide whether I wanted them, I sent the 100 will be unique, in a tiny way. employee of NASA he believed he should
them off to one of Europe’s foremost So if you have a signed cover on which not sign items which would allow others
authorities on astronauts’ signatures for the signature is absolutely identical to to make a private profit. You would
a meticulous examination. He judged one that is known to be authentic, the therefore expect most of his autographs
95% of them to be the work of autopens. chances are they are both by autopen. to be by autopen.
For this reason, a number of books Sure enough, if you scrutinise the
GOOD NEWS and websites now provide examples of loops in his handsome series of
That was the bad news. The more autopen patterns, against which you can flourishes, you can see the shimmer of
positive news is that he could tell the compare any covers and other the autopen’s stylus.
genuine from the fake. documents you own. A good example of Jeff Dugdale

YOUR VIEWS
Simon Templar film had a philatelic plot line Might Denmark follow
As a follow-up to the USA out of the UPU?
Gordon Hendry’s
In response to your news story about the
Soapbox column on the
United States’ plan to leave the Universal
theme of philately on
Postal Union (January issue, page 8), there
film (December issue,
is a lot of talk about a similar move in
page 31), I’d like to
Denmark, where I’m currently working.
offer up one of George
The ailing postal service here has to
Sanders’ outings as
deliver millions of packages posted from
Simon Templar, in The
China for just a few kroner compensation,
Saint in Palm Springs,
which only adds to the amount of red in its
released in 1941.
account books.
A police inspector
Allan Brink, via e-mail
asks the Saint to act as
a bodyguard to his old
friend, who plans to
take three valuable Call it Amexit?
stamps from New York
It can’t just be me who has noted the
to California. The man
parallels between Brexit and the United
is murdered soon
States wanting to leave the UPU. Is the
afterwards, so the
entire world order disintegrating?
Saint decides to carry
Denis Williams, Cardiff
them himself to the
intended recipient.
Although the stamps
are stated to be worth Shouldn’t security
$65,000 each (in 1941,
remember),
features make pen
collectors will be cancels unnecessary?
amused at the way in
which they are stored Given all the security measures applied to
and handled, with not a modern definitives, including adhesive which
stock book or a pair of prevents stamps from being washed off
tweezers in sight. They envelopes, it seems unnecessary that Royal
are transported in a Mail has a policy of vandalising them if they
locket, a pill tin, or in a secret pocket in the lapel of the The Saint’s jacket. have not been properly cancelled.
With such carefree handling, the only surprise is that the value of these stamps had not Since receiving used high-value stamps
plummeted by the end of the film. through the post is such a rarity, due to the
Steven Ardron, Highbury use of postage labels by post offices, the
value of these items is at a premium. But
any collectors posting them to themselves
If you don’t ask, you don’t get. But if you do ask? or fellow collectors risk these items being
defaced on route.
This 1995 airmail cover from India made me Indian postal service complied. Dave Savage, Lisburn
think about the ongoing criticism of Royal Are British postal history collectors trying
Mail’s defacing of stamps with pen similar messages? If so, do they ever have
cancellations. the desired effect? HOT TOPICS
As can be seen, the sender handstamped I’m not holding my breath...
a request for neat cancellations, and the Philip Stoy, Crickhowell
You can debate the philatelic
issues of the day, and exchange
opinions and information with
other collectors, in the Forums
section on our website. Visit
www.stampmagazine.co.uk

GREAT BRITAIN
POSTAL HISTORY
and STAMPS
to 1930
Postal History from 1300 and Fine Stamps from Queen Victoria to King George V
YOUR WANTS LIST IS WELCOME!
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WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS COMMENT COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS | | STRANGE BUT TRUE
DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
DISCORDANT NOTES?
And so that was Christmas, and what have we heard? Musical postboxes
trying to drown out the sound of post offices closing their doors
eft hand, meet right hand. the country had more or less however, it turns out there is THE AUTHOR
L Britain’s postal service

has been demonstrating
once again that one side of the
equal access to their services.
Nowadays, many people in
more remote, less populated
some money sloshing around in
the coffers, even after generous
pay-offs have been made to
John Crace is
a GB collector
specialising in
early booklet
panes, and
business is less than fully in areas have to travel some outgoing and incoming chief a newspaper
tune with the other. distance to buy stamps, renew a executives. During the columnist
In its seemingly never-ending passport or whatever. And it’s Christmas period, postboxes in
drive to cut costs, the Post precisely these areas that don’t some cities were engineered to I will fess up. I’m a bit of a
Office has been busy closing have access to superfast play festive jingles when you curmudgeon when it comes to
more branches, or relocating broadband, and still have to posted your mail. Christmas. I find it irritating
them to quiet corners of make do with dial-up internet. It’s one thing for someone to enough to hear Jingle Bells and
newsagents, where they offer So the very people who most come up with this level of idiocy Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
less than ever before. need a post office are the ones during a ‘blue sky thinking’ being played in every shop I
Meanwhile, Royal Mail has who are most likely to be denied marketing meeting. It’s quite enter from the middle of
been splashing out converting one. If you’re looking for another for everyone else to November to the end of
postboxes to offer more than reasons why the UK has never say, ‘You know what? That’s a December. So the last thing I
ever before, in a way you will felt more like a divided nation, brilliant idea,’ and for it to get want is to hear ring-ding-ding-
find either amusing or this approach to public services signed off at a national level. a-ding when I’m out and about
cringeworthy. is one of them. Now we know what Rico Back posting greetings cards. In fact,
Among the latest post office In the case of Royal Mail, gets paid the big bucks for. I’d walk an extra half-mile or so
closures is what to avoid posting my
used to be a flagship cards in a box that
branch, just off was about to
London’s Trafalgar overdose me with
Square. There was a schmaltz.
time when this used I fully accept that
to be open 24 hours, others may feel
with an excellent differently, and
philatelic counter. experience a surge
On the day when new of Yuletide joy every
stamps were issued, time they are
you’d even get a reminded that it’s
queue of eager December. Even so,
collectors forming I am certain there
just before midnight was precisely
so they could get nobody in the
their hands on the country thinking,
stamps as quickly as ‘I’m not going to
possible and send post any cards this
early morning first year if there isn’t a
day covers. But that ABOVE: Trafalgar Square post office is closing, while postboxes in various locations have been offering cheery messages singing postbox
feels like a long time anywhere nearby’.
ago now. On reflection, I’d prefer
We all know the reasons for
‘The last thing I want to hear is a postboxes that commiserate
post office closures. Fewer
people are sending letters, and
festive jingle when I’m posting my with self-employed people when
they have to pay their self-
more transactions and forms greetings cards. In fact, I’d walk an assessed income tax in the last
are being completed online. week of January.
Which is all very well, but there extra half-mile to avoid it’ I could live with a few tacky
was a time when post offices jingles if it meant that more
were considered to be an people in small communities
essential public service. WHAT DO YOU THINK? were going to keep their local
One of the functions of the post offices. Sadly, the season
biggest, busiest post offices was Do you rue the loss of post offices as community assets? of goodwill doesn’t extend that
to generate enough revenue to Did you feel the festive spirit when using a singing postbox? far. Singing postboxes are little
subsidise smaller branches in E-mail your comments to guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com use if you can’t find anywhere to
rural areas, so that everyone in buy a stamp. ■

Great Britain illustrated
Price List 1840 – 2015
Phone or write for your free copy of our latest 56 page list or visit our website
www.britishstamps.com
Swan Stamps
PO Box 501 Torquay, Devon TQ1 9FE
Phone: 01803 323430 email: steve@britishstamps.com
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eagle-eyed reader.
For your chance to win, simply take a
close look at the enlarged detail of a GB
stamp shown below, and see whether you
can identify it. All you have to do is tell us
the stamp’s face value, the name of the
set it is from and the year of issue.
Send your answer on a postcard (or
sealed envelope), with your name and address, to Spot The Stamp
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Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF. to give away to each of 12 lucky winners, courtesy of Royal Mail.
The closing date is February 7, 2019, and the first correct answer Issued to mark his 70th birthday, the six stamps (January issue,
drawn from our postbag will win the book. Good luck! page 22) offer contrasting images of heir to the throne and his family.
To enter, visit www.stampmagazine.co.uk/competitions, answer the
Terms & Conditions: Entry is open to UK question below and fill in your contact details. The closing date is
residents with a permanent UK address, except
employees (and their families) of MyTimeMedia,
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QUESTION
stated. The decision of the judges is final, and no
correspondence will be entered into. Please note In which year was Prince Charles first portrayed
that your data will be managed in compliance
with GDPR law. Our privacy policy can be found at on a British postage stamp?
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COMPETITION WINNERS
First World War

presentation pack
The answer to our competition question in the November issue was 1920, and
the 12 lucky winners whose correct answers were drawn at random were Paul
Thompson from Newbury, Ian Davenport from Nuneaton, John Lee from
Epsom, Graham Thomas from Rugby, Flip Middlemist from Haverfordwest,
Adrian Davis from Birmingham, Roger Stanley from Lincoln, Penelope Senior
from Stroud, Richard Manville from Hull, Trevor Linvell from London, Euan
Jardine from Galashiels, and Philip Boyle from Leeds.
Spot The Stamp

The Spot The Stamp winner from the November issue is R Burn from
Plympton, who correctly identified the mystery stamp (right) as the 3p value
from the 1972 Village Churches set, illustrating St Andrew’s Church in
Greensted-juxta-Ongar, Essex .

See me at:
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GB LONDON 2010 ISSUES
Gorgeous Georges
The spirit of King George V was resurrected, and St George rode into battle again.
What’s the story behind the attractive Festival of Stamps ‘retro’ issues of 2010?
■ Report by Peter Marren
ABOVE: Gerry Barney’s 2010 artwork of St George and the dragon (left) was based on that of the 1929 Postal Union Congress £1 stamp (right) but redrawn and rearranged
he London 2010 Festival of at the Guildhall, put on by the Place in history
T Stamps was the most recent

in a succession of
international philatelic exhibitions
British Postal Museum & Archive,
entitled Empire Mail: George V &
The GPO.
Named after its original London
address, just off Oxford Street,
Sedley Place was founded in 1978.
held at 10-year intervals in Britain. Secondly, there were two special It has designed a great many
Held in May, to coincide with the miniature sheets issued by Royal British stamps, including country
100th anniversary of the accession Mail, harking back to the stamps of definitives and postage dues, but
of King George V, the philatelist that reign, still considered by many is perhaps best known for its
king, it is an occasion remembered to be among the most beautiful special issues.
fondly by many collectors, for Great Britain has ever produced. In particular, the studio has been
several reasons. These new issues featured Royal Mail’s agency of choice for
Firstly, the Festival itself broke reproductions of old stamps, or many miniature sheets celebrating
with tradition in comprising a elements of old stamps, which royal occasions and philatelic
co-ordinated series of events. might have been expected to offer anniversaries, especially where
Besides the main trade fair and no great challenge to modern exquisite drawing skills have been
exhibition at the Business Design printing presses, but it turns out required.
Centre, there was a special display that this was not entirely the case. The two London 2010 miniature
of rarities from the British Library’s Another challenge was that they sheets were the responsibility of
collections, and a major exhibition featured some brand new the studio’s then creative designer,
illustration, redolent of the first Rupert Denyer, his fellow designer,
half of the 20th century, requiring Lilian Ng, and one of the firm’s
‘The image of St George and the the kind of artistic skills which founders, Gerry Barney, who
dragon on the Accession of rarely find a place in modern
stamps and are no longer taught at
retired from day-to-day work at the
studio in 1996 but remains a
George V miniature sheet is so British art schools. consultant.
The most intriguing details of the Denyer recalls that the brief was
similar to that of the 1929 PUC stamps were not fully explained at ‘to create new stamp designs
the time of issue. For the inside using elements from the original
£1 that it is natural to assume story, therefore, we spoke to the George V stamps’, and this delicate
that the original artwork was leading lights at the design balancing act between the old and
agency responsible for both issues, the new was to produce two eye-
used. But no’ Sedley Place. catching and memorable issues.

WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS FEATURES EVENTS | STRANGE BUT TRUE
SEDLEY PLACE DESIGNS ABOVE: 2010
Centenary of the
Centenary of Accession
Issued on May 6 (also the 170th
Accession of King anniversary of the Penny Black),
■ 1982 postage due series George V miniature the Centenary of the Accession of
(design by Gerry Barney and Stephen Barney) sheet, designed and King George V miniature sheet
illustrated by the contained two new stamps,
■ 1984 Centenary of the Greenwich Meridian
Sedley Place agency both with a whiff of nostalgia
(design by Howard Waller, research by Terence Griffin)
and printed in litho about them.
■ 1989 Food & Farming Year by Cartor The £1 value had a design very
(design by Nichola Dearne, decorative tiles by Simon Bradley, much in keeping with those of
photography by Graham Kirk) George’s reign, reproducing the
two different portraits of the King
■ 1994 postage due series
which were used for definitive
(design by Gerry Barney)
stamps: the three-quarters Downey
■ 2001 England country definitives head of 1911-12 and the profile
(design by Gerry Barney assisted by Rupert Denyer, Mackennel head of 1912-36.
bas-relief by David Dathan) These were accompanied by
design elements typical of the
■ 2005 50th Anniversary of the Castles Definitives period, such as the imperial crown
(design by Rupert Denyer and Gerry Barney) and scrollwork, and the laurel
■ 2006 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II wreath and crouching lion from
(design by Rupert Denyer)
■ 2008 50th Anniversary of Country Definitives

(design by Rupert Denyer and Gerry Barney)
■ 2010 London 2010: Centenary of Accession of King George V

(design by Rupert Denyer and Lillian Ng,
typography by Gerry Barney)
■ 2010 London 2010: The King’s Stamps

(design by Rupert Denyer and Lilian Ng,
typography by Gerry Barney)
■ 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

(design by Rupert Denyer, typography by Gerry Barney) RIGHT: Portrait of
Gerry Barney, the
■ 2015 175th Anniversary of the Penny Black co-founder of Sedley
(design by Gerry Barney and Jeremy Roots) Place in 1978, by
■ 2015 Long To Reign Over Us Rupert Denyer, its
(design by Gerry Barney) creative designer at
the time of the 2010
stamp issues

NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO

POSTAGE DUES
Sedley Place designed Britain’s last two series of postage due
stamps, in 1982 and 1994 respectively.
For the first of these, Gerry Barney was given a restrictive
brief. He had to use Royal Mail’s corporate ‘double-line’ font
for the value, and a gradation of tones from light to solid,
suitable for printing in photogravure by Harrisons.
For the second, printed lithographically by House of Questa,
the brief was more open and a more contemporary look was
required. Barney based the designs on an embossed St
ABOVE: 1982 2p postage due ABOVE: 1994 10p postage due Edward’s crown, with a computer-aided shadow effect.
Although this series was more attractive than its immediate
forebears, it was destined for a short life. Royal Mail began to
restrict the use of postage due stamps from 1995, and
discontinued them altogether in 2000.
ENGLAND COUNTRY DEFINITIVES

Barney was primarily responsible for the first regional stamps
for England, introduced in 2001.
They consist of four English symbols, turned into bas-relief
sculptures by David Dathan and photographed by Chris Ridley,
with oblique lighting from the right to give a three-dimensional
impression and soft shadows.
The three lions of the coat of arms feature on the 2nd class
design, a crowned lion supporting the shield of St George on
the 1st class, and an oak tree and the Tudor rose on two higher
values, which have had their denominations updated as postal
rates have increased.
The original designs, printed in gravure by De La Rue, bled
right out to the perforations, but Royal Mail added a white
border from 2003.
DIAMOND JUBILEE
Another fine example of Barney’s work was on the 2012
miniature sheet celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
One of the six stamps was his own modernised version of
one of the earliest definitives of the reign, Edmund Dulac’s
ABOVE: 2001 England country definitives
design for the 1s, 1s 3d and 1s 6d values using the portrait by
Dorothy Wilding. The ornamentation was redrawn and the
inscriptions and value amended as necessary, but the
character of the original was unchanged. ‘The stamp is new,’
says Barney, ‘but in keeping with what’s gone before.’
The crown, typography and background pattern in the border
were Barney’s doing too, inspired by the official Coronation
programme of 1953.
Besides a new Machin definitive, the other four stamps in the
sheet are based on effigies of the Queen from banknotes and
coins. Designed by Rupert Denyer, they are not simple
reproductions, because careful retouching was required to
ABOVE: 2012 Diamond Jubilee miniature sheet achieve legibility at stamp size.
LONG TO REIGN OVER US

The Long To Reign Over Us miniature sheet, issued in 2015 to
mark what had become the longest reign in British history, is
distinguished by more artwork by Barney.
In addition to his beautiful hand-crafted lettering, it includes
a redrawn version of the Wilding portrait in an elaborate oval
frame, plus elegant drawings of the badge of the House of
Windsor and the device from the Queen’s personal flag.
Unusually, the sheet was printed by ISP using a combination
ABOVE: 2015 Long To Reign Over Us miniature sheet of gravure and recess.

ABOVE: Original artwork for the 2010 Accession of King George V £1 stamp, incorporating motifs from the King George V definitives, not least the 1911-12 1d red
the 1911 1d red, but in an entirely was slightly rearranged so that the (still in use on railway tickets even
new large-format, double-frame shield, slightly enlarged, appeared though the state-owned enterprise
arrangement. to the left, instead of the right. no longer exists as such), and a
The 1st class value inevitably had It looked spectacular, but how version of the Guinness harp logo.
a more modern look, as it was the image produced? Barney is known for his uncanny
overlapped the Mackennal portrait ability to draw objects with near-
of King George with the Machin Traditional skills perfect accuracy. ‘He is the only
portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Even While Denyer was responsible for designer I’ve come across who can
so, it was suggestive of famous the 1st class stamp, combining the singlehandedly design a bottle
issues of the past, notably the 1940 various elements on computer, and with its label and all the associated
set marking the 100th anniversary Ng prepared the various elements typography and illustration,
of postage stamps, and the 1990 set that would go into the £1 stamp, entirely by hand,’ says Denyer.
marking the 150th anniversary, Sedley Place’s secret weapon was His rendition of St George and
both of which were double-head Barney, who would combine these the dragon is a vivid illustration of
designs. into a coherent piece of artwork. this skill. It is so close to the 1929
Yet it was the border, as much as Most designers have long since image that it is natural to assume
the stamps, which drew the eye. It thrown away their drawing boards, that the original artwork was used,
illustrated St George slaying the but Barney, now aged 78, is one of but no. In fact, it is based on a
dragon, very much in the style of the few still working today who freehand drawing, accomplished
the iconic Postal Union Congress £1 specialises in the more traditional without technical aids.
stamp of 1929, but obviously skills of typographic drawing. ‘I’m ‘I drew it at four times the
redrawn. one of a dying breed,’ he says. reproduction size,’ Barney
It had the appearance of a Without realising it, you will remembers, ‘first on tracing paper,
line-engraving, but did not have have seen his work elsewhere. and then I copied the layout in
the half-tones of the original Earlier in his career, he designed drawing ink. It seemed to take
artwork by Harold Nelson. Also it British Rail’s double-arrow logo forever, especially as I wanted to
use line only, without half-tones.’
It was also Barney who drew the
£1 stamp, by hand, from Denyer
and Ng’s design. Besides the
elements borrowed from definitive
stamps, it incorporated a further
subtle tribute to the PUC £1 by
adopting a similar value tablet.
The stamp was printed by
lithography, but from a computer-
engraved cylinder which gives the
impression that it was etched in
steel by acid in the traditional way.
The King’s Stamps

ABOVE: The 2010 Accession of King George V 1st class stamp had echoes of the 1990 150th Penny Black Anniversary set The King’s Stamps miniature sheet,
issued two days later on May 8,

RIGHT: 2010 The

King’s Stamps
miniature sheet,
designed by Sedley
Place and printed in a
combination of
intaglio and litho by
Enschedé
offered stamp-on-stamp were higher-value stamps, it is issue of 1934, which did not include
reproductions of four of the iconic worth bearing in mind that £1 in the £1 value.
issues of King George’s reign. 1913 equates to about £100 today. According to Douglas Muir,
A pair of 1st class values featured Curator of Philately at The Postal
the British Empire Exhibition 1d Modern techniques Museum, who was closely involved
red and 1½d brown of 1924, which Most intrguingly, though, the in the production of these stamps,
was significant in being Great Seahorses £1 depicted is a stamp the reason for this anomaly is that
Britain’s very first commemorative that never actually existed! The the 1934 dies were more suitable for
issue, while a pair of £1 values original design for this value, reproduction than those of 1913.
recalled the 10s blue and £1 green which was limited to a single The miniature sheet was printed
of the high-value definitive series printing in 1913, was engraved by Enschedé in a combination of
of 1913-34, better known as the with horizontal lines as the intaglio and litho, and the way in
‘Seahorses’. background to the King’s head; the which the original hand-engraved
Whilst it was perfectly reproduction has the cross-hatched die had to be copied and
appropriate that the latter pair lines of the re-engraved Seahorses reproduced to allow the stamps to
be printed using modern
intaglio techniques was a
painstaking process.
Ultimately, getting a crisp image
was considered more important
than accurately illustrating the
issued stamp. ■
‘The Seahorses £1
depicted on The
King’s Stamps
miniature sheet is a
stamp that never
ABOVE: On both £1 values in the 2010 The King’s Stamps issue (left), the portrait of George V featured a cross-hatched
background. This was something which the original Seahorses £1 green (right) never had, as it was not re-engraved actually existed’
GBandEmpireStamps.co.uk
GBandEmpireStamps is another website in my portfolio of philatelic websites dedicated to discerning and specialised collectors.
Through this site I sell vendors material on commission and also offer “invited” sellers the chance to sell their own material
themselves. If this option is of interest visit the “Set up a store” and “invited sellers” links on the site.
All items in BOYD COLLECTION now with “MAKE AN OFFER” option.
1965 COMPAC 1/6 (ord). MISSING BLACK. Fine unmounted mint. David Brandon certificate. SG 645a………………..….…….£4350
1967 Christmas 3d. IMPERF BETWEEN STAMP AND MARGIN AT LEFT. Only 8 recorded. Fine unmounted mint………..……£450
1968 Paintings 1/-. MISSING GOLD,PHOSPHOR & EMBOSSING. SG 772Eb. Fine unmounted mint……………………….…..….….£415
1969 Concorde 1/6. MISSING SILVER. SG 786a. Queen’s head now appearing in underlay colour. Unmounted mint. …....£450
GBStampAuctions.co.uk
A new addition to my portfolio of websites GB STAMP AUCTIONS will be online in January 2019
All items listed on GB STAMP AUCTIONS will be offered for auction. All items will have a starting price and no reserve. If at least
one bid is placed an item will be sold. The site operates a PROXY system of bidding therefore whatever bid amount you enter,
should you be the winner you will pay only 1 increment above the second highest bid.
Material offered will cover the whole range of Great Britain stamps and related material ranging from very basic to highly
specialised items. Starting prices will range from pennies to £000s.
There will always be items available with listing times ranging from 7 – 30 days. Regular checking may be rewarded.
Ian Lasok-Smith (Philatelist)

6 Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JG
Email: enquiries@gbphilately.co.uk
Visit the “About Us” section of any of my websites to sign up to my regular e-Newsletter
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EASTBOURNE, SUSSEX, BN20 9HR
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CITY HALL, SALISBURY 17th and 18th May 2019
MC334 MUSIC An awesome & valuable collection of Jersey stamps. If genuine the catalogue value, would CAM25 DAVID CAMERON A much sought after 2015
music stamps begins with an orchestra of musical be in excess of £570.00. ............................... Price £22 General Election cover. The cover bears the QEII “Pound
instrument stamps. The specialist classical section note stamp” with illustrated pmk. Dated 7/5/15 for
includes: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, EU.105 EUROPEAN COLONIES A specialised collection the shock election results giving the Conservatives an
Bartok. Also jazz and pop music stamps, with Louis of Spanish, Portuguese and French colonial stamps, outright majority. The cover depicts the Prime Minister
Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Oasis, Marlene Dietrich. includes stamps from over twenty different European David Cameron. Less than 65 covers exist worldwide
With G.B. Royal Mail stamps of Freddy Mercury, The territories and obscure colonies. Over 100 different meaning this is one of the scarcest political covers. .....
Beatles and Pink Floyd. A multiple of other issues for stamps with unmounted mint and used and early ................................................................. Price £18.50
Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Hendrix, Michael engraved stamps. .................................... Price £19.50
Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Elvis Presley and many more. GB11 WINSTON CHURCHILL A superb cover com-
Hundreds of stamps – mint and used with several CIND21 “CINDERELLA STAMPS” An amazing esoteric memorating the 75th Anniversary of Sir Winston
miniature sheets. The best music collection we have collection of worldwide Cinderella stamps: includes Churchill becoming Prime Minister. The cover depicts
ever seen.................................................. Price £29.25 unissued, bogus, forgeries, phantoms, reprints, essays, the great man and his quote: “All my past life has been
propaganda issues, proofs and printers progressive but a preparation for this hour and this trial.” The cover
EE543 EASTERN EUROPE Includes Russia, Romania, proofs. Also noted better local issues, postal strike bears the Winston Churchill Royal Mail commemora-
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Poland. Several stamps. From a multitude of countries plus spectacular tive stamp issue and illustrated Royal Mail Churchill
hundred different stamps. ........................ Price £13.25 GB KEVII one pound green imperforate unmounted mint postmark (from a limited issue of only 100 covers). .....
(faux), also India Queen Victorian four annas red and ...................................................................... Price £14
PARL92 GREAT BRITAIN SCARCE PARLIAMENTARY blue inverted head (faux). Spanish Civil War communist
COVER The scarce cover issued for the 750th Anniv. legion issue, private delivery company stamps, GB IN923 INDONESIA Super collection of this popular S.E.
of Simon De Montfort’s Parliament. Superbly illustrated unadopted designs (essays) plus other items. If only a Asian country dating back to 1945 to more modern
and bearing the Royal Mail De Montfort commemora- few of these stamps were genuine the catalogue value with only unmounted mint in blocks & singles. The col-
tive stamp postmarked with Royal Mail 2/6/15 official would be in excess of £20,000. But these are sold “as lection contains hundreds of mint Indonesia stamps. ...
Royal Mail illustrated postmark. Only 60 of this cover is” not guaranteed as genuine. The spectacular collec- ...................................................................... Price £18
are known to exist. .................................... Price £9.25 tion of Cinderella Stamps mint and “used” ....................
................................................................. Price £14.30 MM28 MARILYN MONROE A gorgeous collection of
STR58 GREAT BRITAIN SPECIALISED 1971 POSTAL Marilyn Monroe stamps. Few other actresses embod-
STRIKE COLLECTION Dating back to the short period HK145 HONG KONG A fine collection of used stamps ies the term ‘Hollywood Movie Star’ as much as the
in British Postal History when the Post Office granted of Hong Kong. Almost all the stamps pre date the legendary and iconic screen goddess, Marilyn Monroe.
licenses to private delivery companies to deliver mail handover to China. Including $ values and popular This collection contains many different unmounted mint
in the U.K. This important GB postal history collection Chinese New Year Commemoratives. Totally unchecked and used Marilyn Monroe stamps .................. Price £11
comprising of postal strike stamps in singles & blocks for catalogue value, over 100 old Hong Kong stamps. ..
also has scarcer multiples and “Tete-beche” stamps. ...................................................................... Price £11 SJ120 MEDICAL Stamps with specialised lot of Anti-TB
Used and unused with many unmounted mint (FOC and Red Cross stamps. Also Anti-Malaria stamps Red
noted). Well over 100 stamps ......................... Price £15 N-SH305 SUPER HEROES A spectacular collection of Cross STAMPS BACK TO THE 1940s or earlier up to
super heroes on stamps including several issues for: more recent. With nursing, doctors and all forms of
M37a MONKEYS A specialist colourful collection of Superman and Batman also includes Spiderman, X Men medicine. A most interesting subject rarely offered for
monkeys on stamps. Blocks & singles including mint & and the Incredible Hulk. Mostly unmounted mint stamps sale ideal for anyone with some medical knowledge to
used stamps. A multitude of monkey and ape stamps including several miniature sheets ............ Price £19.75 form a valuable collection ................................ Price £7
worldwide................................................... Price £7.50
EI.342 IRELAND A superior collection of only un- BE822 THE BEATLES A fantastic collection of Beatles
K.747 KENYA Scarce Kenya revenue stamps in superb mounted mint Irish stamps; includes older stamps with stamps. “The Fab Four” John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
unmounted mint blocks of four with high value 20/- and definitive commemoratives and postage dues. Also in- George Harrison, and Ringo Star. Contains various
30/- stamps (engraved) also includes other Kenya, cludes unusual stamps for the Fenian movement, these Beatles stamps including mint and used and miniature
Uganda and Tanganyika stamps dating back to King are imperforate and unmounted mint depicting an Irish sheets with catalogued and scarcer uncatalogued
George VI with used, and unmounted mint. ..... Price £8 harp and priced in “cents” understood to have been issues. Scarce Beatles FDCs included, with Royal Mail
issued circa 1860s. The Fenian stamps are offered “as Beatles official postmarks. The important collection of
MS561 GB MINI SHEETS A specialised collection of is” and without guarantee, but these form only a small Beatles stamps FDCs and miniature sheets from differ-
Great Britain Stamp Exhibition Miniature Sheets. Com- part of the larger collection of 100 plus stamps, which ent countries including GB Royal Mail issue. ................
prising of over a dosen mint miniature sheets issued are all guaranteed genuine. Entire collection ................. ...................................................................... Price £16
for British Stamp Exhibitions. Includes Stampex and ................................................................. Price £18.50
International Exhibitions with Royal Mail postally valid C545 WORLD COLLECTION A great starter lot, with
sheets and scarcer sheets with post office approval; EXP3 ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION A limited edition first mint & used stamps also noted: miniature sheets, PHQ
which were not available generally from the Royal Mail. day cover only 50 issued, to commemorate the Imperial cards and several FDC’s. Several hundred different
The whole collection ................................... Price £9.75 Trans-Antarctic Expedition by Ernest Shackleton. This world-wide stamps plus other items. Low price to clear.
superb illustrated cover bears the Royal Mail Endurance ............................................................................£9.75
SC455 SCOUTING A specialised collection of Scouts & Ship Commem. Issue with special Royal Mail Antarctica
Guide stamps from various countries over 80 mint & Map F.D. Postmark. ....................................... Price £15 SJ53a BARDSEY ISLAND (Welsh Local Issue) A superb
used scouting stamps and mini. sheets. .......... Price £7 specialised group of Unmounted Mint (complete sets).
KGVI23 KENYA, UGANDA & TANGANYIKA King George Stamps from this small Welsh Island rarely get offered
GB482 GREAT BRITAIN Impressive collection of over VI impressive stamp error. The 1c. Black & Red Brown for sale ............................................................ Price £7
500 British stamps dating back to K.G.V. including Wild- Flamingo definitive stamp with impressive colour shift
ing, Machins and commemoratives. Includes mint but of the black colour (King George VI head) shifted to NJB.30 JAMES BOND A fantastic collection of James
mainly used stamps also contains miniature sheets & the left revealing a white area on the right of the oval Bond stamps including sets, miniature sheets and
F.D.C’s. With decimal & pre-decimal G.P.O. & Royal Mail frames interior superb unm. Mint King George VI error. . singles with several scarcer unlisted. James Bond
issues ............................................................ Price £23 ................................................................... Price £4.75 stamp sets................................................ Price £19.25
J.208 JERSEY NAZI OCCUPATION World War II oc- N-MO27 MONACO A fine collection of Monaco RSA14 SOUTH AFRICA A large and valuable collection
cupation stamps ½d green and 1d red. SG 1c & 2c in stamps dating back to early issues of the 1920s of South African stamps containing only unmounted
unmounted mint imperforate pairs. Catalogue value through to the 1950s and on to more recent issues. mint stamps in superb condition; includes singles,
is over £500. However, we are not certain if these are Superior engraved stamps. The collection of over blocks, plate blocks, complete sets and miniature
genuine or faux, so they are being sold “as is” without 100 different only contains unmounted mint stamps. sheets. Hundreds of stamps plus miniature sheets all
guarantee. The stamps form part of a collection of mint ……………………………..…..………..Price £13 unmounted mint ............................................ Price £27
COMMONWEALTH CLASSICS
The odd couple

Belatedly issued to celebrate self-government, Malta’s definitive issue of 1922-26
offered a contrasting pair of allegorical designs, one meek and the other strident
■ Report by John Winchester
A
fter more than 100 years of
British rule, Malta was
granted self-government
on April 30, 1921, with local control
entrusted to the Maltese Parliament
while foreign affairs were dealt
with from London.
The Prince of Wales (the future
King Edward VIII) was due to visit
the island for the inauguration of
parliament in November, and a
new definitive stamp issue was
planned to coincide with this.
A design competition was

announced in June, and the
winners were Edward Dingli and
Gianni Vella, who produced two
contrasting images of the
allegorical figure of Melita.
In Dingli’s design, she stood
proudly on the Mediterranean
shore in patriotic robes, carrying a
ABOVE: Malta 1922-26
1s indigo and sepia,
‘The winners of the design competition
ship’s rudder to symbolise a showing Melita produced two very different images of the
country beginning to steer its own appearing supplicant
course. In the background was Fort to Britannia allegorical figure of Melita’
St Elmo’s lighthouse and a Gozo
fishing boat, while the Union flag ABOVE RIGHT: The £1 what appeared to supplication! placed on sale. Two more groups
and the badge of the colony were black and carmine, With the date in roman numerals, were made available before the end
displayed on two large shields at showing Melita the vignette was enclosed in an of the month, bringing the set up to
the foot of the design. looking confident angular frame dominated by 13 values, all with the Multiple
This image was allocated to the enough to go it alone Maltese crosses, with a Maltese Script CA watermark (in many
lower denominations, from ¼d to shield counterbalancing the cases sideways) and perforated 14.
6d, to be printed by typography in denomination in the lower corners. They received a mixed response
one or two colours on chalky paper, This design was allocated to the from islanders and collectors, and
but also to the £1 top value, to be five values from 1s to 10s, all to be even the designers themselves.
recess-printed on normal paper. printed by typography in two Dingli complained that alterations
Vella’s version of Melita was less colours on chalky paper. had changed the intention behind
strident and more languid, striking his original essay, while others
an awkward pose. The olive branch The authorities were keen to have bemoaned the way some colour
in her right hand suggested peace, the issue ready for the opening of choices made the images indistinct.
but her left hand was wrapped the new parliament, but they hadn’t
around the neck of Britannia in accounted for the heavy workload During the next few years, up to
of the printers, De La Rue. 1926, several additional colours and
It soon became apparent that the values were added to the series,
MARKET VALUES stamps could not be delivered in taking the basic set up to a total of
time, so a commemorative issue 17 stamps.
was created locally by diagonally Today the Melita designs are
The 1922-26 series is reasonably affordable up
overprinting the existing George V regarded as some of Malta’s finest,
to the 2s 6d denomination, which is catalogued
definitives with ‘Self-Government’. exemplifying a time when the
at £13 mint and £15 used. Higher values become
The new series eventually made former crown colony stood
more expensive, and both varieties of the £1
its appearance in clusters, confident and ready to face a self-
require a three-figure outlay, in either condition.
beginning on August 1, 1922, when reliant future. Full independence
the ½d, 1d, 6d, 1s and 2s were would follow in 1964. ■

ON SALE NOW!
YOUR
BEST-VALUE
STAMP PRICE
GUIDE
Order your copy at www.mags-uk.com
Or telephone 01795 662976
ONLY
› Fully updated to mid-2018 £12.99
› Handy, pocket-size format
MILLSTAMPS
See samples above of what we send out with many more available.
TO RECEIVE YOUR SELECTION CONTACT US BY POST, PHONE OR EMAIL.
Send to: Millstamps 14 Spinney Ivybridge Devon PL21 9TU. 07972 846242 millstamps@hotmail.com
ATTENTION OWNERS OF LARGE/ VALUABLE COLLECTIONS –
Are You THINKING of SELLING?

This is
HOW THE STAMP TRADE WORKS
Philatelic Expert Lets You into his Selling Secrets so you can beneit from
a totally diferent (and New) Selling Experience
by Andrew McGavin
1 If You want to learn how the stamp
trade works, please read on… When I
was 15, I did. I wondered if there was some se-
…but did it really? What was the real reason?
How could a Dealer pay a higher price than a
Collector? It doesn’t make sense, does it? Col-
5 Why is that? Because, as the world
revolved the Stamp Market, imper-
ceptibly Changed, and incrementally –
cret source of supply? So, I bought my 1st stamp lectors are customers. Customers usually pay Massively
mixture, (wholesale I thought), broke it into 50 the highest price, unless… for a Collector, this So, although few will tell you this, it’s
smaller units, advertised it in Stamp Magazine was… clearly evident that the problem for most
‘Classiieds’, and waited for the orders to roll in… Wrong Presentation 7 Wrong Place 7 Sellers of Stamps today is no longer absent
I’m still waiting, 48 years later !... therefore Wrong Price7 stock – but absent collectors in the place
7 Wrong Price 7 Wrong Place 7 they choose to sell their stamps in. Simply
Wrong Ofer
(naïve seller4 = H me but I was only 15 at
the time!)
3 Fast-forward 48 years later
to a British Empire collection, lot #1 in
an International Stamp Auction – Estimated
put, other Dealers, Auctions, Stamp Fairs have
not invested in marketing to have a strong Cus-
tomer-core. To be fair, this is not true of all – but
2 Three years later, attending

irst public stamp auctions I wondered
how some bidders seemed to buy everything,
my at £3,000, but we were the highest bidder at
£21,000 – YES – some 7×higher. Including Buy-
er’s Premium in the extraordinary sum of £4,788
it is true of most – so that our nearest compet-
itor ‘Apex’ had 800 bidders in a recent auction.
In my most recent 20,000+ lot UPA 65th Auction
paying the highest price? It didn’t occur to we actually paid GBP£25,788= upon a £3,000 es- we had 2,261 different bidders from 54 different
me that they were probably Auction Bidding timate… however, we broke it down into sets, countries, 95% of whom were Collectors. Some
Agents, paid by absent (dealer) bidders to rep- singles, mini-collections etc. We made a proit. other well-advertised auctions only have 200
resent them. I wondered why two collectors sit- Some might say it found its price. Others may bidders (a high percentage of whom are dealers
ting side by side muttered to each other “he’s a say: – so that, essentially they are Dealer-dominated
dealer” as if that justiied him paying the high- 7
Wrong Estimate Wrong Presentation 7 auctions) – so that when you sell through them
est price… 7
Wrong Structure Wrong Protection of Price 7 – you’re paying up to 18% (including VAT) sell-
– Lucky for the seller that 2 well-healed er’s commission and the buyer is paying up to
About The Author � Andrew found his 25% and more in Buyer’s Premium, credit card
Father’s stamps at the age of 10. A year later at bidders saw the potential value that day
or it could have been given away… the seller fees, on-line bidding fee, delivery and insurance
Senior School he immediately joined the School etc… AND all of that so that your stamps
Stamp Club. He ‘specialised’(!) in British, but could easily have lost out couldn’t he? or she?
So, by un-peeling the layers of obfusca- may be sold, wait for it – TO DEALERS
soon was interested in Queen Victoria which he (and some collectors), but Dealers, that nat-
could not aford. The 2nd to last boy wearing tion, hopefully we can all agree:
urally must make a proit to survive…
short trousers in his school year, he religiously
The Secret is Simple –
bought Post Oice New Issues on Tuesdays
with his pocket money. He soon found that he
enjoyed swapping / trading stamps as much as
it’s ALL About: TIMING,
6 Now, let’s examine the cost
implications – Example: Your
stamp collection sells in public auction for
collecting them. Aged 19, eschewing University Plus the 3 Philatelic ‘P’s – £800. Upon a 25% buyer’s premium, the dealer
he quickly found a philatelic career in London, pays £1,000 and it could be more. He breaks
leading to creating his own companies in Presentation 4Place 4and Price 4 it into £2,000+ selling price (much lower and
stamps. Andrew has authored many interna- he’ll go out of business). The auction charges
tionally published Stamp ‘Tips’ articles, appear-
ing on Local Radio and National TV promoting 4 Understanding the problem…
I always remember the car trade had
their own little ‘bible’ – Glass’s Guide. I’ve no
you a seller’s commission of up to 18% (VAT
included) upon the £800 sale price. This is
GBP£144. Therefore you receive approaching
Philately with Alan Titchmarsh. Andrew’s area of
expertise is unusual – in so far as his grounding idea, I’ve not even looked - in this internet-dom- £656 – which is approximately 33% of the deal-
in collecting and wide philatelic knowledge has inated world, it may even have disappeared. er’s £2,000+/- retail selling price - BUT… now
given him a deep understanding of Philately. Well, there’s an insider Stamp Trade publica- that we have identiied the problem…
He has studied Philately for the past 45 years, tion for Stamp Dealers called “The Philatelic
in combination with Commerce and Marketing Exporter”. There’s nothing that special about Isn’t the Solution Staring us
Expertise, enabling him to create synergies in it – and you won’t learn much or ind massive- Right in The Face ?
‘lifetime’ interlinked Stamp Selling Systems, sell- ly reduced prices by subscribing – BUT – it is
ing unit-priced stamps through to handling col-
lections & Rarities up to £700,000 each. Today
Andrew is fortunate to be co-owner with his
a forum, a paper focal point, a last ‘bastion’ in
this on-line transparent world that we inhabit…
whereby dealers (and auctioneers) can try and
7 Why Pay an Auction to Sell
to Dealers: Sell to Collectors in-
stead ?In our example with buyer’s premium,
Wife, of Universal Philatelic Auctions (aka UPA) communicate with each other. I publish my own sellers commission, lotting fees, extra credit
– the Largest No Buyer’s Premium Reducing-Es- articles there… card charges, VAT and even insurance - you’re
timate System Stamp Auction in the World, cre- Recently I discussed the outcome of my 10 already being charged in different ways up to
ating records selling stamps to 2,261 diferent years’ simple research, asking dealers and auc- 40% of the selling price to sell, possibly or prob-
bidders from 54 diferent countries in his latest tioneers ‘what is your biggest problem?’ ably, to the wrong person.
auction. Andrew stopped collecting To a man, (why are we almost all men), they
replied – “my biggest problem is Why not direct that 40% cost you’re pay-
stamps aged 18 reasoning that his ing to sell to Collectors instead? Sounds
enjoyment of stamps would be in stock, if I can get more of the right
stock I can sell it easily” good, so why hasn’t this been done before ?
handling them and selling them…
Strange that, nobody ever asked
me the same question back – be-
cause my answer would have been
entirely different (and I don’t treat
8 Truth is, it Has been done be-
fore…Sometimes the ‘old’ ways are the
best ways aren’t they? But in today’s enthusiasm
it as a problem) – I seek to satisfy to obscure the obvious so that money may be
collectors taken, almost surreptitiously, in numerous dif-
This is the reason why my compa- ferent ways, (without us apparently noticing
ny has such massive advertising. This until we see the cheque in our pocket) – the
is the reason why we spend up to 8% transparent ‘seller pays’ has been deliberately
of turnover – up to £200,000 per annum ‘obscured’ – so much so that, amazingly, the
REQUE in marketing costs. (Most dealers don’t latest 2017 European Auction Selling Legisla-
ST MY
‘TIPS O
THE TR
A
F even sell £200K per annum). tion just introduced – now requires auctions
FREE B DE’
ANDREW PROMOTING PHILATELY ON OOKLE
THE ALAN TITCHMARSH SHOW ITV T
54
that charge ‘buyer’s premiums’ to warn the want to agree a speciic price and know that they
buyer in advance. Just imagine going into the are paid precisely this amount. No client is treated
petrol station, and being warned that the price like a number and no client is forced like a square
you’re paying to put fuel in you tank is not the peg into a round hole. M
real price, you have to pay a premium! Obvious-
ly, there would be an uproar…
15 OK, What Do I Do Next?
a). You contact UPA to discuss with
9 How can you cut out the
middleman and sell to Col-
lectors instead? Well, I can think of two
Andrew or a highly-qualiied Auction Valuer/
Describer what you have to dispose of and your
options bearing in mind your speciic interests
ways. 1). DIY - Do It Yourself selling on eBay. / requirements
That may be ine for lower grade material – but, b). If you wish, get a 2nd opinion, but
would you risk auctioning relatively unprotect- investigate what type of auction / dealer you
ed rare material on eBay ? We don’t and we’re are dealing with. Is it a Dealer’s auction with
professionals, so we should know what we’re relatively few collectors? Can you see where
doing. Or 2). Cut out the extra middle-man. Use / how the Dealer sells? If you can’t easily see
my company UPA, which reaches collectors any pricelists or high quality selling catalogues
instead. Here’s how it works: Continuing from – that Dealer may sell your stamps to other
our previous Example: dealers…
The auction sold your stamps to a dealer for c). Finally you ask U P A to collect your
£1,000 – but You received circa £656 stamps, insure in transit for an estimated re-
UPA sells them to collectors for you for up to placement retail value…C B S
£2,000 – even after 40% commission you receive
up to £1,200. Up to £544 more. Now that’s amaz-
ing, isn’t it? G 16 What Happens then? A mem-
ber of my Team telephones/e-mails
you to conirm safe receipt. ‘Overnight’ valu-
10 Sounds Good Andrew, but

Can You ‘Deliver’? Obviously,
nothing is as simple as that, and as we auction
Contact UPA: 01451 861 111
ations, unless simple, are rare. Valuing stamp
collections that have taken tens of years to
create takes time. Depending upon your priori-
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL:
stamps to collectors some collections may ties / timescale I, or an experienced member of
‘break’ to the example £2,000+/- but the stamps Dear Folk at UPA, my Team will contact you to discuss your re-
may be sold for more or less – especially as we I’ve dealt with the public for 37 + years, and as quirements and the options available to you for
reserve all lots at 20% below, (Estimate £2,000 both a consumer, and a businessman, I have the sale of your collection. Provided only that
= £1,600 reserve) and not everything sells irst created huge numbers of orders from all over you feel well-informed and comfortable do we
or even 2nd time so prices may come down… the world from a complete range of suppliers agree strategy T D
Naturally, it’s not that straightforward for a deal- from all aspects of our daily lives.
er either – he may sell at a discount to ‘move’
stock OR, like many dealers he may be sitting
on the same unsold stamps, that you see time
But I don’t believe I have ever encountered
such sensitivity, such kind thought, such
understanding as I have with you in our
17 How Strong is the Stamp
and Cover Market? Everybody
knows that the strongest areas are GB and Brit-
and time again, in dealer’s stocks years later initial meeting, our subsequent successful ish Empire. Post-Independence / QEII material
and still at the same unattractive prices… So, transaction, and now this. sells but if hinged at considerable discount.
I think it is more reasonable for you to expect I recall well the item you highlight, and Mint hinged material pre 1952 is regarded as the
up to 36% to 50% more, indirectly or directly via realise that this one item has such colossal industry ‘norm’ and therefore desirable – but
my Collector’s Secret Weapon: Universal personal value, I could never part with it. genuine never-hinged commands a premium.
Philatelic Auctions, which moves material more It has been an absolute pleasure dealing Europe sells but at reduced levels, Americas
quickly, by incrementally reducing estimate (and with yourself, and I am more than willing for is good, as generally is Asia but the ‘heat’ has
reserve) price in a structured selling system… you to use this e-mail as commendation to come off China which is still good – and Russia
others who may be thinking of disposing of which can still be good. East Europe is weak-
11 Q.❱ What is the Collector’s

‘Secret Weapon’?
their collection.
Many, many thanks for a memorable
experience, and I will try to emulate your
er. Overall, Rarities throughout
can command their own price
levels and real Postal History
A.❱ It’s called the has good demand.
Unique UPA Reducing thought and care in my own business sphere.
Estimate System... L
This is a rather long explanation, I don’t want
to bore you, but 17 years ago, when my wife and
Yours sincerely
D. E. B. Bath, UK
18 What Should I Do Next? Dis-
cuss your collection with U P A. Con-
tact Andrew or an experienced member of his
I set up Universal Philatelic Auctions I detected Team now… B C
that the stamp trade’s biggest problem then was In Hindsight Dealers warned me 17 years
not what sold – but what didn’t sell… So,
because I didn’t want to try to keep on offering
the same either unsaleable or overpriced stock
ago that my idea wouldn’t work. 17 years later
I think I’ve proven that it does. (Reader: Please
Request a complimentary UPA catalogue – us-
19 Guarantee: I want You to be
absolutely Sure So If You’re not
sure we’ll transport and return your stamps for
I created the unique UPA Reducing Estimate ing the contact details further below) FREE up to £200 in actual shipping cost at our
(and reserve) Selling System. Simply put, if a expense. It sounds generous (and it is), but it’s
lot doesn’t sell in the 1st auction we reduce the
estimate (and reserve) by 11% and unlike other
dealers and auctions WE TELL YOU – ‘US’
13 OK, Cut to the Chase
Andrew, what’s the offer? All
of my Selling Systems are based upon
far less than the cost of driving 100+ miles each
way and 3 to 6 hours in your home valuing your
stamps U
= once unsold. If unsold after the following selling to Collectors Globally, so that
auction we reduce by a further 12% and WE
TELL YOU ‘US2’, if unsold after a 3rd UPA
95% of stamps sold by UPA are sold directly
to Collectors. If you wish to beneit by
up to 50% or more, depending upon your
20 My
tee:
Double Cast Iron Guaran-
We can do a better job valuing your
stamps in our ofice than in your home. If you
auction we reduce by a further 13% and WE
TELL YOU ‘US3’ and so on till the lot inds its circumstance and type of material, by cutting don’t agree I’ll pay you an extra £50 for you to pay
somebody trusted to open the boxes and put your
price, is sold or virtually given away...4 out the middleman – then this offer may be
for you. Generally ‘time’ is the enemy in our albums back, in the same place, on the shelf they
came from. U U
12 Any Scientist will tell you
that combinations of ingredients can
lives, and for most dealers not being able to
sell stock. Now is the time to let ‘time’ do
produce powerful results. So we created the
unique combination of my UPA Reducing Es-
the ‘heavy-lifting’ and consider making ‘time’
work for you, so that at UPA you can make 21 Act NOW: Contact Andrew or
an experienced member of his Team
using the on-line selling form at our website, by
timate System, married (in stone), with UPA’s
fair ‘NO BUYER’S Premium’ policy, PLUS each
time your friend. I fax, telephone or by mail. We’ll work harder for
you not to regret the decision to sell all or part
lot carries my total ‘no quibble’ guarantee –
this formula is the reason why within the span 14 AND the SMALL PRINT? Some
lots are too small in value for us to offer of your collection…C B
A
of 4 auctions (one year)… 90%-95% of lots bro- this system. Other lots may not be suited to selling
ken from a collection have sold. This Unique in this manner (e.g. surplus mint British decimal
Philatelic Selling System Formula is the rea- stamps best used for postage) – especially if the
son why we are the largest stamp auction in market is heavily compromised by stock overhang Andrew McGavin, Philatelic Expert,
the UK today with 2,261 different bidders in in speciic areas. Some Collectors will not wish to Author, Managing Director
my recent auction.E use time and systems to leverage price, others will Universal Philatelic Auctions UPA
UNIVERSAL PHILATELIC AUCTIONS SM 02/19

4 The Old Coalyard, West End, Northleach, Glos. GL54 3HE UK
Tel: 01451 861111 • Fax: 01451 861297
www.upastampauctions.co.uk • info@upastampauctions.co.uk 55
new zealand 1963-73
Loco motivation
New Zealand’s most historic locomotives were celebrated in two stamp issues of
the 1960s and 1970s, reminding us how vital they were in opening up the country
■ Report by Christopher Moor
ailways had to overcome the
R ravages of war and the

obstacles of geography to
play a key role in the development
of New Zealand. Their importance
was underlined by two popular
stamp issues, 10 years apart.
The 1963 Centenary of Railways
issue celebrated the country’s very
first train service, while the 1973
Steam Locomotives set saluted the
iron horses of the age of steam.
early services
New Zealand’s first train ran from
the city of Christchurch to the
suburb of Ferrymead, in the South
Island, on December 1, 1863. The
4¼-mile service was operated by
the provincial government of
Canterbury.
It was a modest start to the
building of a national rail network,
but remarkable when you consider
that the first European settlers had ABOVE: A Ja-class peak in the 1860s, and were not crosses over itself in a tight circle
arrived in this area as recently as locomotive pulling a brought to an end until 1872. by means of two tunnels.
1840, and that the Canterbury goods train through In certain parts of the country,
Pilgrims who sailed from England New Zealand’s rugged difficult terrain also caused national network
in four ships had begun to terrain in the 1960s problems for railway builders, Following the abolition of
establish the city of Christchurch necessitating some impressive feats provincial governments in 1876, the
as recently as 1850. of civil engineering, such as the railways came under the control of
Canterbury Provincial Railways Rimutaka incline, with its average the central government, and most
soon began to build lines running gradient of 1-in-15, and the private lines were eventually taken
along the east coast, towards Raurimu spiral, where the line into state ownership.
Dunedin in the south and
Marlborough in the north. Initially
these had a broad gauge of 5ft 3in,
although a narrow gauge of 3ft 6in
was later adopted as the national
standard.
The North Island had no trains
until December 24, 1873, when the
first service ran between Penrose
and Onehunga, two suburbs of
Auckland, again operated by the
provincial government.
The delay in developing the
railways was caused partly the
Land Wars, a long-running series
of armed conflicts between the
British colonial government and
the indigenous Maori people over
the appropriation of land for
European settlers. These reached a ABOVE: Illustrated first day cover for the 1963 Centenary of Railways set, featuring the special Christchurch pictorial datestamp

‘New Zealand’s first steam train
ran in Christchurch in 1863,
only 13 years after English
settlers established the city’
frame were bought by South
Australian Railways; her boiler
ended life in 1892 at the NZR’s
Addington Workshops, built near
Christchurch to give the country
the capability of building its own
locomotives in future.
In complete contrast was the
ABOVE: 1963 Centenary of Railways 3d, illustrating the steam locomotive Pilgrim in 1863 and
English Electric DG-class A1A-A1A
an English Electric DG-class diesel-electric locomotive in 1963
loco, one of 30 which had gone into
service during 1955-56.
The inscription ‘Centenary of
Railways’ appeared on a yellow
scroll at the top of the stamp, with
an orange crown in the centre,
while the green frame carried the
dates ‘1863’ on the left and ‘1963’ on
the right. The denomination was
printed in the bottom corners.
The 1s 9d value had a more
modern-looking design, with no
scroll or frame, this time featuring
only a modern train. This was
pulled by an English Electric
DF-class diesel-electric loco,
ABOVE: 1963 Centenary of Railways 1s 9d, showing a train pulled by an English Electric DF-class brought into service in 1954-55,
diesel-electric loco, with Mount Ruapehu in the background with Mount Ruapehu in the
background.
‘Centenary of Railways’ was
The main trunk line in the North November 25, 1963. inscribed across the top again, this
Island, between Auckland and In contrast to the usual time against a white background
Wellington, was completed in 1908, procedure, in which various artists BELOW: Map of and flanked by the dates. The
and the networks of the two islands submitted designs for New Zealand’s denomination was placed to the
were linked in 1962 by the consideration, these stamps were railway network as left, in a design suggesting a red
introduction of the rail ferry designed by the Publicity & it looks today light at a railway crossing.
service across the Cook Strait from Advertising Branch of the New
Wellington to Picton. Zealand Railways Department.
The national network was at its Their appearance reflected that,
NORTH
largest in the 1950s, with about 100 with Laurie Franks commenting in ISLAND
branch lines carrying 25 million All The Stamps Of New Zealand that
passengers each year, although ‘The 1s 9d particularly looks rather • Tauranga
Auckland
large-scale closures of uneconomic
lines began in the 1960s.
like a poster found at a railway
station advocating travel by rail.’
••
Hamilton
New Plymouth
Today Auckland and Wellington
•
are the only two cities which still Ancient and modern •Napier
have suburban passenger services, The 3d value illustrated the steam Palmerston North •
but long-distance passenger engine that pulled New Zealand’s
services are important to the very first train, alongside a modern • •Wellington
Picton
country’s tourism. diesel-electric locomotive.
The railways were privatised in Built in England by Slaughter,
Greymouth
•
1993, but renationalised in 2008. Gruning & Co of Bristol in 1862,
Pilgrim was named in honour of the SOUTH
ISLAND
• Christchurch
1963 centenary issue Canterbury Pilgrims. With a large
Among the earliest of New smoke stack and open sides, she
Zealand’s truly multicoloured ran on 5ft 3in gauge track.
•Dunedin NEW
commemorative stamp issues,
the Centenary of Railways set of
When the gauge was changed to
3ft 6in after the passing of the 1870
•Invercargill ZEALAND
two stamps was released on Railways Act, her wheels and

new zealand 1963-73
STAMPS PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROSS DE ROUFFIGNAC

ABOVE: 1973 Steam Locomotives 3c, depicting W-class loco No192 ABOVE: 1973 Steam Locomotives 4c, depicting an X-class loco
ABOVE: 1973 Steam Locomotives 5c, depicting Passchendaele, the first Ab-class loco ABOVE: 1973 Steam Locomotives 10c, depicting No1274, the last Ja-class loco
Printing and usage bottom row, and plate numbers adopted a decimal currency, so
The stamps were produced by De under the third. The sheet value is these stamps would be
La Rue in Britain, by photogravure, printed in the top left selvedge. denominated in cents, not pence.
using black, blue, red and yellow Both stamps remained on sale at The Steam Locomotives set
inks. They were printed on paper post offices until February 29, 1964. would be the second in an annual
with the NZ & Star watermark, Total sales were 17,502,240 of the 3d series devoted to vintage transport,
which appears sideways on the stamp, which met the domestic which had started in 1972.
lower value and sideways inverted letter rate, and 968,380 of the 1s 9d, With the country’s last steam loco
on the higher value. which was used for airmail letters having been decommissioned in
BELOW: New Zealand Both designs came in sheets of to the United Kingdom. 1971, the four stamps issued on
Post Office first day 120 (10 rows of 12 in the case of the April 4, 1973, were intended as a
cover for the 1973 3d, and 12 rows of 10 in the case of 1973 steam locos issue tribute to the home-built engines
Steam Locomotives the 1s 9d), perforated 14. By the time New Zealand issued which had served the railways
set, with a A printer’s imprint is found another locomotive-themed set, faithfully over the generations.
Wellington postmark under the first two stamps in the 10 years later, New Zealand had They were designed by Maurice
Conly, who had been the official
artist of the Royal New Zealand
Air Force for 54 years and had been
designing New Zealand stamps
since 1955.
Four stars
Conly depicted the four selected
locos largely in black, with
coloured trim highlighting
elements such as livery, name
plaques and lights, against a plain
coloured background, with the
country name and denomination
added in red. A feature of the set
was the lack of a white border
around the designs.
On the 3c stamp, a pale green
background enhanced the image of

the W-class tank engine No192 of
1889, the first loco built by the
Railway Workshops at Addington.
When the stamps were issued, she
was being used by NZR for display
purposes; now she is owned by the
Rail Heritage Trust.
Against a pink backdrop, the 4c
showed an X-class loco, of the type
built at Addington from 1908.
Regarded as the most powerful
engine working in New Zealand in
its heyday, it was not phased out of
use until 1957.
With what looked like a large
blue sky behind it, the Ab-class
loco seen on the 5c was a versatile ABOVE: 1963 Centenary of Railways 3d missing blue, most obviously affecting the sky
engine, hauling both freight and
passenger trains, and 141 of them
were built at Addington between
1915 and 1946. Illustrated was
No608, the first to go into service,
which was named Passchendaele in
‘The 1973 issue was a tribute to

the home-built engines which
had served the railways faithfully
over the generations’
honour the railwaymen who fell
ABOVE: 1963 Centenary of Railways 1s 9d missing red, affecting the train and denomination
during World War I.
Leased by the New Zealand
Railway & Locomotive Society to
Steam Incorporated for restoration,
she has participated in World War I
centenary commemorations in
recent years.
Standing out against a chrome-
yellow background on the 10c was
a Ja-class loco, No1274, which was
the last of the 35 built by NZR at its
Hillside Workshops in Dunedin
between 1946 and 1956. Capable of
speeds up to 63mph, she is now on
display in a glass shed near
Dunedin Station, after the local
Ocean Beach Railway raised funds ABOVE: 1973 Steam Locomotives 4c with a double-print of black, affecting the image and inscriptions
to preserve her.
Printing and usage The stamps saw use mainly on first day covers, from the New
The Steam Locomotive issue was domestic mail, and the quantities Zealand Post Office and from
printed by lithography by Harrison sold were 6,532,200 of the 3c, private cover producers, in some
& Sons in Britain, on chalk- 6,353,520 of the 4c, 1,667,400 of the cases with special postmarks.
surfaced, unwatermarked paper. 5c and 1,030,100 of the 10c. They Moreover, the Handbook-Catalogue
Five colours were required to remained on sale at post offices of New Zealand Stamps, published
produce the 3c value, and four each until May 31, 1973, and philatelic by Campbell Paterson, lists several
for the 4c, 5c and 10c. outlets until March 31, 1974. varieties of these stamps. In the
All values came in sheets of 100 1963 set, these include the omission
(10 rows of 10), perforated 14.25. Appealing collectables of blue from the 3d value and the
The imprint and designer’s name Both the sets of stamps are very omission of red from the 1s 9d; in
can be found under the first three affordable, priced from about $6 the 1973 set, the 3c, 4c and 5c are all
stamps in row 10, and the plate (about £3) per set by dealers. recorded with double-printed
numbers below the fourth. They can be found on a range of colours. ■

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SA12 SOUTHERN RHODESIA A scarce Royal postal his- Machin stamps with official Royal Mail Brighton E.Sussex PAD.5 PADDINGTON BEARS’ 60TH BIRTHDAY COVER
tory cover bearing the complete 1947 set depicting King “K” post office postmark dated 29th March 2001. A full Depicting Paddington holding his favourite jar of marma-
George VI and Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother) as well 30 years after the stamps were decolonized, 150 of these lade. The cover has official Royal Mail Paddington Bear
as the two Princesses Margaret & Elizabeth. The stamps covers originally existed, now mostly in collectors hands, stamp issue postmarked with illustrated “Paddington
have a special ‘ROYAL TOUR’ Southern Rhodesia PMK in they rarely become available for sale .................. Price £18 Station PMK” dated 18/6/18 for the bears’ birthday. Only
addition to a red squared cachet with Royal Crown and the 60 of these iconic covers exist worldwide. ...... Price £9.50
King’s own G.R. insignia. A highly collectable cover rarely FE188 INDIAN FEUDATORY STATES An interesting refer-
available for sell. .................................................. Price £23 ence collection of forgeries of the Indian Feudatory States. R88A NAZI GERMAN Occupation of World War II various
Victorian period includes imperforates and stamps printed Croatia Bohemia and Moravia. Occupation of Poland
SF9 SCI-FI An impressive thematic collection of science on various white, coloured and buff papers. Noted: Simoor, General government (Theresienstadt and Lodz Ghetto
fiction stamps and covers, including several different Charkhari, Duttia, Fardikot, Indore, Rajpipla, Jammu & these may not be genuine) plus various other Germany
British “Dr Who” covers & PHQ cards. Also noted: Star Kashmir, plus others. Also some stamps unlisted in Stanley Nazi period Hitler issues. Mainly genuine unm. mint/used.
Wars stamps, Star Trek stamps and miniature sheets. Lot Gibbons Catalogue. If genuine the catalogue value would ............................................................................. Price £10
includes scarcer covers and “$” values with unmounted exceed £1000s (Thousands of Pounds) but these are
mint & used and mini sheets. All Sci-Fi. .............. Price £21 being sold “as is” as forgeries. The collection also includes BR.COL.388 KING GEORGE VI British & Colonial collection
genuine Indian stamps from Queen Victoria to George VI. .. mainly King George VI but includes earlier K.G.V stamps
WW1.3K WORLD WAR I LORD KITCHENER POSTAL ............................................................................. Price £15 mostly used but mint noted. Good range of countries. .......
HISTORY COVER An special cover for the centenary of the ........................................................................ Price £13.75
Gibraltar Garrison, The Staffordshire Brigade served under VIC.95 GREAT BRITAIN POSTAL HISTORY Historic Queen
Kitchener in the 2nd Sudanese War, then continued during Victorian 1d black stamp of 1840. An extremely scarce SJ.77 TRISTAN DA CUNHA Miniature sheet for Sir
World War I at the Garrison in Gibraltar. This scarce postal commemorative cover depicted Sir Rowland Hill. Only 50 Rowland Hill, depicting the famous “1d potato stamp”
history cover bears a British WWI commemorative stamp of this scarce cover were postmarked by the Royal Mail. designed during King George VI reign. The mint postally
with Lord Kitchener “Your Country Needs You” illustrated Bearing official Royal Mail 1d black stamp tied to the cover valid sheet has been personally signed by the designer
Royal Mail postmark. Unusually, the cover also bears a with black Maltese Cross anniv. PMK dated 6.5.2015 In of the “potato stamp”, Allan B. Crawford. Scarce with the
Gibraltar Garrison Centenary cachet in red. Only 100 cover addition, the cover bears an imperforate (4 margin) 1d designer’s signature............................................. Price £19
were ever issued and many in Gibraltar collector’s hands. . black stamp printed by the Royal Mail from official special
............................................................................. Price £15 sheet and tied to the cover with red Maltese Cross. Only a RS470 RACQUET SPORTS A specialised collection of
tiny restricted issues of 50 covers exist. ............. Price £26 blocks and singles includes tennis, badminton and table
AG23 BATTLE OF AGINCOURT The scarce cover issued tennis. Stamps depicting famous tennis stars; Chris Evert,
to commemorate the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of NE832 BRITISH LOCALS A phenomenal and valuable Steffi Graf, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Boris
Agincourt. The cover is superbly illustrated with the arms collection of British Local Island’s stamps. Only unmounted Becker, Billie Jean-King, Bjorn Borg, Virginia Wade plus
of King Henry V and bears the official British Royal Mail mint, including Lundy Island, Davaar Island, Cain Iar, Isle many others. Includes, several British colonial stamps in
Postmark, depicting King Henry V, dated 25/10/15, six of Easdale, Bemara Island, Staffa, Stroma, Isle of Pabay, mint blocks. 100+ world stamps mint & used .... Price £14
hundred years to the day of the historic battle. Only 50 of Bardsey, Herm, Calf of Man, Hildasay – Shetland Islands,
this scarce cover exist ......................................... Price £15 Jethou, Alderney, St Kilda, St Marys, Calvey Island, Gugh, GBX 13 GREAT BRITAIN Royal Mail presentation packs
St Martins. With blocks, multiples, singles and miniature and illustrated First Day covers. Also unmounted mint
CF12 STAR WARS Rare Star Wars commem. cover in sheets. This important and valuable collection with only commemoratives, definitives and miniature sheets. Not
memoriam of Carrie Fisher, lovingly remembered for her unmounted mint stamps and many high £ values. The counting mint stamps, the presentation packs and First
role as Princess Leia in Star Wars. The cover bears a normal face value is well over £150 .................... Price £33 Day covers have a combined catalogue value of over £160
special Carrie Fisher Royal Mail commemorative stamp ........................................................................ Price £41.25
with illustrated Royal Mail PMK dated 27.12.16. Only 50 of HRH7 RARE ROYAL COVER Extremely rare Royal cover for
this rare cover exist ............................................. Price £15 HRH Prince George. This superbly illustrated, Royal Baby, AUS49a AUSTRALIA A large specialised collection of Aus-
Official first day cover, bears a gutter pair originally printed tralian stamps with strength in modern used commemora-
RD32 IRAQ WAR Rare Operation Red Dawn Iraq War for Princess Diana’s 21st birthday, which was overprinted tives estimated at over 500 different stamps. A superb
Cover. Issued for the capture of Saddam Hussein. The for the birth of her son Prince William dated 19/07/1982, collection to build on, totally unchecked for catalogue
illustrated cover bears a Royal Mail Tower Bridge stamp the cover was re-posted with Royal Mail stamps of three value. 500+ stamps............................................. Price £19
with illustrated Tower Hill postmark, dated 13th Dec 2003. generations: Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles & Prince
The cover also bears an Iraq Saddam Hussein stamp tied William. Officially postmarked by the Royal Mail for Prince BWI.63 BRITISH WEST INDIES A superb collection of
to the cover with black cachet inscribed “Ad Dawr Iraq George’s christening on 23/10/13 at St James’ Palace B.W.I. comprising of mainly Grenada. Complete sets, with
December 2003” in English and Arabic. Originally the London. The cover has been signed by the stamp designer several top value “$” stamps. Also noted Trinidad and
cover issue was only 100 covers, but few are believed to - only 40 of this rare cover are understood to exist and are Tobago, Dominica, Jamaica plus other Caribbean Islands.
still exist outside collectors’ hands ...................... Price £21 designed to be vital to any future Prince William and Prince Mostly used, but includes unmounted mint, several
George stamp collections ............................... Price £19.75 hundred different British West Indies stamps . Price £17.25
EUR33 EUROPA A specialised European thematic col-
lection of Europe stamps, spanning from the 1950’s to PRC10 CHINA A glorious collection of stamps of China. HUTT4 HUTT RIVER PROVINCE A lovely collection of
more modern stamps. Includes Italy, France, Germany, Mostly People’s Republic of China, with an interesting unmounted mint stamps from the Hutt River Province. This
Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Netherlands, G.B., group of Hong Kong stamps, also China stamp booklets, collection includes complete mint sets including se-tenant
Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Swiss, Finland, Greece, Sweden. mint complete sheet noted some odd Macau, several pairs. Local issues from this Western Australian territory
Also scarcer local issues for Channel Islands and Isle of China miniature sheets and China First Day Covers. Noted which claims to be an independent sovereign state, rarely
Man. Hundreds of all different Europa stamps, mainly fine better overprinted stamps, East China 1949 Mao Tse Tung offered for sale. ................................................... Price £16
used, but mini noted ............................................ Price £17 & General Zhu. A highly recommended lot with hundreds
of China stamps not counting complete China stamp book- NCR785 CRICKET A valuable specialised collection of
CAN.815 CANADA An impressive collection of Canadian lets, miniature sheets and FDCs. ....................... Price £37 cricket stamps & scarce cricket covers, including signed
stamps. Dating back to Queen Victoria and following covers autographed by famous cricketers. Comprising of
through to King George V and King George VI, but mostly DJ98 DJIBOUTI A small but specialised collection of Dji- unmounted mint Great Britain and British Commonwealth
more Queen Elizabeth II issues. Comprises over 400 differ- bouti stamps, mostly used but mint noted. Contains many stamps in blocks of four or singles with several high value
ent stamps ...................................................... Price £18.75 better catalogued, high denomination stamps. .................. ($) Dollar values. Approx. 18 cricket covers including
............................................................................. Price £13 scarce autographed covers & a quantity of unm. Mint
Z43 GREAT BRITAIN SCARCE MACHIN POSTAL HISTORY cricket stamps ..................................................... Price £25
COVER Issued for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal B.56 MARITIME A superb nautical collection of ships,
Visit to Brighton, with a Brighton Pavilion illustration. Con- boats, and all types of sea-going vessels noted Cunard, SW86 SWITZERLAND A great starter collection to build
trary to normal postal regulations, 150 covers were post- Paquebot cover and hundreds of different ships stamps upon of fine used Swiss mainly commemorative stamps.
marked with a combination of decimal and pre decimal includes older stamps dating back decades. . Price £16.50 100 + All different...................................................Price £7
GREAT ENGRAVERS
Quit the day job!

The Czech engraver Jindra Schmidt was half of one of the most successful artistic
collaborations in philatelic history, even when only working on stamps part-time
■ Report by Adrian Keppel
U
nlike many great
engravers, who were
encouraged into the craft
by their artistic fathers, Jindra
Schmidt had an aunt to thank for
pointing him in the right direction.
Born in 1897 in Bohemia, then
part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, Schmidt had a goldsmith
for a father, but was orphaned at
the tender age of three and raised
by his uncle.
When he professed an interest in
becoming a painter, he was given
no encouragement from that
quarter, but his aunt decided he
should become an apprentice at her
son-in-law’s wood engraving shop.
After a few years, Schmidt moved

on to a printing and publishing
house in Prague, which in 1918 had
become the capital of the new
nation of Czechoslovakia. He
stayed there until 1929, illustrating
books with his woodcuts and
engravings.
He was subsequently headhunted
by the National Bank of
Czechoslovakia, where he started
engraving banknotes.
He would remain with the bank
for 33 years, and outside his normal
working hours he would
eventually become involved in
stamp engraving as well.
His first piece of work was for a
small-format stamp in the 1942
definitive issue of the Bohemia &
Moravia Protectorate, after his
homeland had been occupied by
Germany during World War II. ABOVE: The 1948 It was in the post-war years that designs into beautiful steel
Having originally signed his Sokol Congress set of Schmidt became part of what was engravings again and again. They
stamp artwork using his full name, Czechoslovakia, perhaps the most powerful and were also close personal friends,
he decided after the end of the war showing athletes fruitful collaboration between a and every interview one can find
to abbreviate this to ‘Jindra S’. He paying homage to an designer and an engraver in with Schmidt is one anecdote after
later wrote that he had overheard allegory of the philatelic history. another about his work with
some casual remarks at the Republic, cemented He became the favoured engraver Svabinsky.
ministry about his and other the partnership of for Max Svabinsky, the well-known Their mutual respect was
engravers’ surnames, suggesting Jindra Schmidt and Czech artist, and professor at the cemented at the very beginning of
that people might think that the Max Svabinsky Academy of Arts in Prague, who their partnership, when Svabinsky
Germans were still in charge of was a prolific stamp designer. produced a design promoting the
Czechoslovakian stamp They were close colleagues, with 11th Sokol Congress in Prague in
production. Schmidt translating Svabinsky’s 1948, featuring athletes paying

homage to an allegory of the
Republic, and asked for it to be
engraved and printed in recess.
The head of the printing works
thought this could not be done, but
Svabinsky asked Schmidt to try it
anyway, and he managed to create
a beautiful engraving, which was
duly recess-printed.
The pair produced many

Czechoslovak stamp issues in the
late 1940s, throughout the 1950s
and into the early 1960s. While
Schmidt was always keen to
reproduce Svabinsky’s designs as
faithfully as possible, there was an
instance where he had to make
more than a minor change.
In 1957, when they were
preparing a set to honour the ABOVE: When Schmidt engraved this image of
17th-century Czech philosopher Svabinsky’s stained-glass window The Last
and educationalist Jan Komensky Judgement in 1973, it was signed with his full
(better known in the west as John name as his late friend would have wished
Comenius), a misunderstanding
over the size of the portrait stamp winner of the Engraver’s Best
meant that Schmidt found himself Interpretation of a Work of Art
having to add quite a few category, for his painstaking
millimetres to the design, by reproduction of Banska Bystrica
Market, a painting by Dominik
ABOVE: The 1961
‘As a multicoloured printing, the Butterflies Butterflies & Moths
Skutecky, as part of the annual
Art series.
& Moths set of 1961 required separate plates set was a
technological
He would win the same award
again in 1973, for his interpretation
for each colour. Schmidt was confident it triumph as well as an
of his old friend Svabinsky’s
artistic one
could be done, and proved it’ stained-glass window The Last
Judgement, and in 1976, for his
lengthening Komensky’s coat. exactly what he did, but no longer depiction of Cyril Bouda’s painting
Svabinsky didn’t notice this with his long-term collaborator by Oleander Blossoms. ■
until Schmidt came clean about it. his side, as by this time Svabinsky
After initially branding him a had passed away.
‘rascal’, he subsequently expressed
his approval. As a mark of respect to the
professor, who had always opposed
One of the last issues the two men Schmidt’s decision to not sign his
worked on together was the artwork with his full surname, he
ambitious Butterflies & Moths set now reverted to doing so. And he
of 1961. It was one of the first to be soon proved that he could remain
produced as a multicoloured an important engraver even
printing, which required the without his sidekick, producing
creation of separate plates for each many more exquisite stamps for
ink colour. Czechoslovakia throughout the
Accurate colour registration was 1960s and 1970s.
of the utmost importance, and You need only to look at the
Svabinsky was apprehensive about results of the annual polls
the project, but Schmidt was organised by the daily newspaper
confident it could be done. Sure Mlada Fronta to see that his stamps
enough, everything worked out frequently featured among his
fine, and the stamps were a beauty country’s most popular.
to behold. He won the Most Beautiful
Working on this challenging set Stamp category for his 1969
made Schmidt realise that he engraving depicting a detail from a
shouldn’t just be creating stamps as 16th-century mural of St Wenceslas,
a second job, but should make it his which was part of the annual
full-time occupation. On retiring Prague Castle issue. ABOVE: A newspaper poll named Schmidt’s engraving of St Wenceslas, from
from the National Bank, that was A year later, he was the inaugural a mural in Prague Castle, as the most beautiful Czechoslovak stamp of 1969

The World’s Leading Auctioneers
for China & Hong Kong
The Earliest Recorded Large Dragon Envelope
Brings World Record £1,830,000
1878 (5 Oct.) envelope from Peking to Shanghai

bearing Large Dragon 5ca. pair + single
Our 16 -18 June Auction Realises £7,625,000

The auction was a vivid afirmation of the strong and vibrant market for China and
Hong Kong stamps and postal history. Why not take advantage of Interasia’s unique and
unrivalled position as the preeminent auctioneer worldwide for China and Hong Kong
and consign today.
Our next auction will take place in December
For further information, please contact Jeffrey Schneider or Cecilia Vong

WATER POSTMEN
Pushing the
boat out
There are long traditions of mail being delivered by postmen in small boats, both in
Britain and abroad. They tend to involve eccentric characters in extreme locations
■ Report by John Wright
e usually think of
W postmen and women

delivering mail to our
homes by road, whether on foot, by
bicycle or in a van. But not
everyone resides in a conventional
street, with a typical letter box in a
© ROYAL MAIL GROUP 2018, COURTESY OF THE POSTAL MUSEUM

normal front door.
A different approach can make
sense for those who live or work on
waterways, on the remote shores of
large lakes, or on small islands.
Historically there have been, and in
some cases there still are, an
intrepid band of posties who
routinely deliver the mail by boat.
Several locations in Britain have a
tradition of offering this kind of
service, and there are interesting
examples in other countries too.
London calling
Domestically, the most important
example was the Thames River
Post, which was established on
February 10, 1800, and would last ABOVE: Promotional letters, which equates to about 100 more easily in the mist.
for more than 150 years. illustration of an per working day. Unfortunately, the jacket turned
It was set up to provide a postal intrepid river It turned out to be a dangerous out to be rather smarter than the
service to ships moored in the Pool postman doing his job, perhaps not surprisingly given man wearing it. According to Cliff
of London, the busy tidal port area rounds in the Pool of the way the postman’s small Evans, a descendant of subsequent
stretching from London Bridge London in the early rowing boat had to navigate its way generations of river postmen,
downstream to Limehouse (a 20th century, through choppy waters between writing for the Isle of Dogs Life
similar service was offered on the surrounded by large big ships. Within a few years website, Simpson Jr found himself
River Tyne, based at South Shields). ships in the shadow Simpson lost an apprentice, who on the run after ‘he stole various
The General Post Office hired of Tower Bridge drowned in the river, and in 1806 letters and £20 from a merchant in
William Simpson as its first river he himself died after falling down Whitechapel, a capital offence that
postman, and in his first year of a hatch left open on a ship. carried the death penalty’.
service he is reported to have It must have been with some A warrant poster was circulated,
delivered or received around 27,000 trepidation that his son, William offering a reward of £100
Simpson Jr, took over from him. (equivalent to about £6,000 today),
‘The Thames River Post, which led to his capture. Tried at
Capital offence the Old Bailey in 1810, he was
established in 1800 to provide a A rudimentary uniform was found guilty and condemned to the
introduced around this time, in the gallows.
postal service to ships moored in form of a bright scarlet jacket, with A reprieve was granted, but still
the Pool of London, would last an arm badge, so that these he was transported to a penal
posties could be recognised more colony for life, sailing to Australia
for more than 150 years’ easily as postal employees and seen on the convict ship Guildford. When

bursting point. ‘I have counted 300
sail of ships between Deptford
Creek and Deadman’s Dock,’ a
newspaper reported Winder as
saying in 1912. ‘When the Crimean
War was on, the Thames looked
like a forest with all the transport
vessels and their big masts.’
The weather didn’t do the
postman many favours, either. ‘So
hard was the winter of 1855 that I
was often able to do away with my
river boat and walk across the ice
to the transports, carrying the
COURTESY OF CLIFF EVANS
letters and mail bags.’
Health and safety

A tradition in the Evans family was
to name their boats after their
mothers, so George’s for example,
was named Jessie, and Herbert’s
was named Alice Maud. As you
he arrived in New South Wales in held it for 22 years from 1810-32. ABOVE: The scarlet might expect, they were very
1812, the authorities put him to In truth it was more of a vocation coat and arm badge attached to their craft, although
work on the ship that delivered than a job, as the longevity of his worn by London river these little rowing boats offered no
supplies around Sydney Harbour. successors proves. Frederic Winder postmen in the early home comforts and were
did it 30 years from 1840 (the year 19th century vulnerable to larger vessels.
Generation to generation the Penny Black was introduced), Herbert was featured in The Post
Back in London, Simpson’s job was George Evans for 29 years from Annual of the Union of Post Office
taken by the first in a five- 1885, and Herbert Evans for 38 Workers, as reported by the
generation dynasty of river years from 1914. London Daily Chronicle in 1924. ‘Mr
postmen, Samuel Evans Sr, who The port was often full to H L Evans...rows out to vessels in
mid-river every morning to
GERMAN PUNTER deliver letters. He cannot shelter

himself from the rain as can his
shore-going colleagues. Fog means
Some isolated wetland villages in eastern Germany have been groping about the river...and
receiving their mail by boat for 120 years, and still do, at least for avoiding tugs which may bear
part of the year. down out of the darkness at any
Lehde, a picturesque town at the heart of the Spreewald region, moment.’
with a network of 200 narrow canals but no connection to the road
system, benefits from this service between March and October,
with Andrea Bunar of Deutsche Post delivering letters and
packages to some 65 households by punt.
‘The sun smiles, everything is bathed in yellow colors, exactly
like our mail barge,’ she joked to the local newspaper, the Lausitzer
Rundschau.
The craft has no motor, and she nudges it along using a pole,
covering five miles a day. The pole can sometimes get stuck in the
mud, so she always carries a spare.
COURTESY OF CLIFF EVANS
ABOVE: The reward notice issued by the General Post Office in 1810
for the arrest of the errant river postman William Simpson Jr

WATER POSTMEN
ABOVE: George Henry Evans, Thames river postman from 1885-1914, in his boat, Jessie
IMAGES COURTESY OF CLIFF EVANS

ABOVE: £1.52 stamp the Zeppelin raids.’
issued in the 2016 Having been born in 1900, she
Royal Mail 500 set, was still a teenager throughout the
depicting Doris war years. By 1919, it was said that
Beaumont, who she had rowed 2,500 miles in
delivered mail to carrying out her duties.
houseboats on the In February 2016, a photograph of
middle Thames Beaumont in overalls and a straw
during World War I hat, with mailbags loaded and oars
in hand, featured on a £1.52 value
ABOVE: Herbert Lionel Evans, Thames river postman from 1914-52, in his boat, Alice Maud in the stamp issue commemorating
500 years of Royal Mail.
You can see footage of Herbert on War heroine
his rounds in The River Postman, a River postmen were generally men, Lomond launch
short Pathé newsreel film made in but not always. During World It wasn’t only on rivers that letters
1933, now viewable on YouTube. ‘In War I, when women were brought were delivered by small boat. A
fine weather it’s a nice pleasant job,’ into the workforce on an similar service was operated on
he says, ‘but when it’s cold and wet, unprecedented scale, Doris Loch Lomond, Great Britain’s
or worse still foggy, it’s both Beaumont delivered mail to largest freshwater lake, from 1948.
unpleasant and dangerous... houseboats along a seven-mile BELOW: The long- This was featured in another
Propellers you have to be careful stretch of the middle Thames serving Herbert Pathé film, Loch Lomond Postman,
of. You have to be nippy sometimes around Staines in Surrey. Evans delivering mail made in 1956, with an over-excited
to avoid them.’ Her grandson Nick Sutcliffe, to Thames bargees in and plummy narration describing
Indeed, the GPO decided in 1952 writing on the Hear The Boat Sing 1924 (left) and just how, ‘scattered over its
that working in these conditions rowing website in 2016, reports before the service breathtaking loveliness’, Lomond
was no longer safe, and that ‘She was born in east London, was discontinued in has ‘30 tiny islands, of which only
discontinued the service. and the family moved west after 1952 (right) four are inhabited’.
IMAGES COURTESY OF CLIFF EVANS

LEFT & ABOVE: Stills from the Pathé newsreel film Loch Lomond Postman (1956), showing Alexander
MacFarlane delivering mail to island residents in Waterwitch, flying a Royal Mail pennant
from which the islanders (and in ‘He was a post office messenger
one case a hotel) can collect it. boy two years ago. Then he took
over as water postman 696 when he
Poole postie was just 18.’ Although he was
Yet another Pathé film, made in casually attired, a ‘GPO 696’ metal
1964 and entitled Water Postman, badge adorned his brown jacket to
focuses on the teenager who confirm his official status.
delivered mail, as well as fresh Setting off on his 15-mile round
milk, bread and newspapers, daily trip at 7.30am, six days a week, the
Visiting these to distribute the to the residents of four islands in postman’s job involved emptying
mail to isolated residents, ‘twice Poole Harbour, Dorset. the lone postbox on Brownsea
weekly in winter and three times a ‘Alan Marsh does his three-hour Island, as well as exchanging
week in summer’, was the job of round in his own motor launch,’ bundles with householders and
Alexander MacFarlane, smartly trumpets the narrator, over images nature reserve wardens.
dressed in a blue uniform and of the fresh-faced youngster Today, the mail is carried across
peaked cap, in his traditional confidently handling his wooden to Brownsea Island by vessels
wooden motor launch Waterwitch, motorboat Blue Bayou amongst the operated by the National Trust,
flying a red-and-white Royal Mail harbour’s tricky sandbanks. which runs the nature reserve, or
pennant from its flagpost.
In true Local Hero fashion, it is
revealed that MacFarlane was not INACCESSIBLE OZ
only the local water postman but
also the registrar, church session
Australia has its fair share of
clerk and boat hire operator. ‘Not
remote communities, and many
once since the service began has he
people living alongside the
missed a sailing, despite fog, ice
meandering Hawkesbury River,
and winter gales,’ according to the
north of Sydney in New South
narrator, delivering more than
Wales, still have their mail
3,000 letters and parcels a year.
delivered by boat.
On the largest island, he would
On their website, the operators
announce his arrival by ringing a
cheerfully advertise their
large bell near the jetty, so that
services as ‘about a hundred
residents could come to pick up
years behind the times’.
their correspondence from him and
The Hawkesbury mail boat is
hand him outgoing letters.
also a passenger cruiser, though,
These days, mail is carried to the
as the site makes clear. ‘Enjoy the
islands of Loch Lomond on regular
magnificent scenery as we deliver
passenger boat services which have
the mail and other essentials (the
a contract with Royal Mail, every
odd bottle of whiskey or rum) to
day in summer and three times a
the river-access-only
week in winter, weather
settlements upriver.’
permitting. It is not delivered in
person, but deposited at a point

WATER POSTMEN
ABOVE: Alan Marsh and Blue Bayou doing the same rounds two decades later, from
ABOVE: The Poole Harbour water postman mooring his boat to a jetty in 1947 the Pathé newsreel film Water Postman (1964)
‘The water postman in Poole Harbour

delivered not only the mail but also fresh
milk, bread and newspapers in his
wooden motor launch’

ICEMAN OF THE YUKON
At least one river postman in North America was almost
indistinguishable from a polar explorer.
During the Klondike gold rush in the 1890s, steamboats would
carry mail from Dawson City, in the Canadian province of Yukon,
down the Yukon River to Tanana in Alaska, USA, but only in the
summer months. For much of the year, the route iced over.
In 1897, Ben Downing landed a US government contract to
deliver the mail up and down the frozen river in winter, using cargo
sleds pulled by teams of dogs. It was probably the world’s
loneliest and most dangerous mail route, involving travelling up to
40 miles a day in unpredictable conditions.
‘Once, when Downing’s sled was pulled under the ice into the
water, he had to travel several miles to the next roadhouse with
his clothes frozen solid,’ according to America’s National Park
ABOVE: Water the John Lewis Partnership, which
Service. By the time he reached Dawson, his face and feet were
postman delivering leases a holiday hotel for its staff.
frostbitten, and he lost four toes.
the mail from the
Not that such selflessness was always appreciated. The
slipway at Highland crossing
Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington DC holds a
Badluarach across Scotland’s north-western coastline
letter from one local resident complaining that mail kept getting
Little Loch Broom to has always presented problems for
lost when mail carriers were drowned.
the isolated postal deliveries, nowhere more so
peninsular village of than the remote settlement of
Scoraig in 1972 Scoraig, on the peninsula between
Loch Broom and Little Loch Broom
in Ross & Cromarty.
No vehicles are used there, so the
village has traditionally received
its mail via a water postman,
crossing the two-mile wide sea
loch from Badluarach, where the
mail van pulls up at a slipway.
This is still the case today, with a
community boat service running
three times week. ■

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GB THEMES
Blowing in the wind

Vexillology has long been a busy theme in philately. As far as British
stamps are concerned, there is certainly no sign of it flagging!
■ Report by Jeff Dugdale
C
ombining philately with
vexillology (the study of
flags) could get you looking
at British stamps more carefully
than ever before.
Even when you disregard
non-symbolic flags, from festive
bunting to golf course pins, you
will find many issues which
incorporate national flags, and
those of major organisations. In
some cases, though, you need good
eyesight or a magnifying glass.
It would not be hard to predict
which are the most common. You’d
be right in supposing that the
Union Flag leads the way, followed
by England’s Cross of St George,
Scotland’s Cross of St Andrew’s
(Saltire) and Wales’ Y Ddraig Goch
(red dragon).
But you might be surprised to see
how frequently they occur, often as
ABOVE: 2012 Gold
Medal Winners
such as the Tower of London,
Buckingham Palace, Hampton
‘Versions of the
incidental details, and how many 1st class, showing Court Palace and Edinburgh Union Flag appear
other types of flag can be found. sailor Ben Ainslie Castle, also show one of these two.
celebrating with the The sets which feature the most in sets celebrating
The first British stamp to show a Union Flag after his examples of the Union Flag,
flag was the 1955 £1 definitive, victory in the men’s however, are the 2012 issues seagoing ships, by
where something can be seen
fluttering on a pole above the
Finn class
competition
featuring Gold Medal Winners at
the London Olympic and
way of the White
Round Tower of Windsor Castle, Paralympic Games. More than a Ensign, Red Ensign
although it is such a tiny detail that dozen happy champions were
you cannot tell whether it is the photographed waving the flag or or Blue Ensign’
Union Flag or the Royal Standard. draped in it.
Many of the stamps featuring Versions of the Union Flag also The St George’s Cross has
other royal and historic buildings, appear in various sets celebrating appeared most prominently on
seagoing ships, by way of the stamps celebrating English
White Ensign (flown by Royal participation in sporting events. In
Navy vessels), the Red Ensign the 2002 miniature sheet for the
(flown by the Merchant Navy) or Football World Cup, for example, it
the Blue Ensign (flown by official was gloriously spread across four
organisations such as the police). se-tenant stamps in a composite
The 2001 issue marking the design.
Centenary of the Submarine The Saltire first appeared in the
Service illustrated not only the British Army Uniforms set of 1983,
‘Union Jack’ (the Union Flag flown accompanying members of the
on a ship’s flagstaff) and the White Royal Scots Regiment, while the
Ensign, but also the flag of the Welsh flag was featured
LEFT: 1969 Investiture Chief of Defence Staff. Amusingly, prominently as long go as 1969,
of the Prince of there was also the Jolly Roger, flying above the towers of
Wales 5d, illustrating traditionally flown by pirate ships Caernarfon Castle in the set
the Welsh flag flying but adopted by some British celebrating the Investiture of the
over the King’s Gate submarines to boast of their Prince of Wales.
at Caernarfon Castle successes during both world wars. All three flags were squeezed

CHECKLIST
DATE ISSUE STAMPS
1955 High-value definitives 1
1958 Scotland country definitives 1
1965 Salvation Army 1
1967 European Free Trade Association 2
1969 First Flight of Concorde 1
1969 Anniversaries 1
1969 Investiture of the Prince of Wales 3
1970 Anniversaries 1
1973 European Communities 3
1978 British Architecture 1
1979 Elections to European Assembly 4
ABOVE: 2001 Flags & Ensigns 1st class, featuring the White Ensign, flown by ships of the Royal Navy
1979 Metropolitan Police 1
1982 Youth Organisations 2
1982 Maritime Heritage 3
1983 British Army Uniforms 2
1984 London Economic Summit 1
1987 Order of the Thistle 1
1988 Bicentenary of Australian Settlement 2
1988 Spanish Armada 5
1989 Lord Mayor’s Show 5
1992 International Events 2
1992 Civil War 1
1995 Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre 5
1999 The Settlers’ Tale 1
1999 Scotland country definitives 1
ABOVE: 1969 Anniversaries 1s 6d, marking the 20th anniversary of NATO
2001 Flags & Ensigns 4
into small-format stamps in the representing prominent 2002 Football World Cup 4
2000s, initially in miniature sheets, organisations, such as the Salvation 2003 Extreme Endeavours 1
allowing them to be used Army in 1965 and the Girl Guides
2003 50th anniversary of the Coronation 4
extensively in subsequent Smilers in 1982, those fluttering above
generic sheets. Elizabethan theatres in 1995, and 2003 Rugby World Cup 1
those being used to send 2004 Ocean Liners 4
The flags of foreign countries have semaphore messages between 2005 Trooping the Colour 1
been shown more often than you ships in 2013. ■
2005 Battle of Trafalgar 5
might expect on British issues.
Both designs in the 1967 2006 Celebrating Scotland 1
European Free Trade Association 2007 Celebrating England 1
(EFTA) set featured the flags of the 2007 Beside the Seaside 1
eight member nations lined up
2009 Celebrating Wales 1
across the bottom, while a stamp in
the 1969 Anniversaries set, 2009 Age of the Tudors 1
marking the 20th anniversary of 2011 A-Z of the UK 2
the North Atlantic Treaty
2012 Age of the Windsors 2
Organisation (NATO) suggested a
single flag made up of those of the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal Winners 7
15 members stitched together. 2012 Paralympic Gold Medal Winners 7
These precedents were followed 2013 Merchant Navy 7
by designs noting the First Direct
2014 Buckingham Palace 2
Elections to European Assembly in
1979, the London Economic 2014 Commonwealth Games 6
Summit in 1984 and the Football 2018 Hampton Court Palace 1
World Cup in 2006. 2018 Captain Cook & Endeavour Voyage 1
ABOVE: 1982 Youth Organisations 29p, showing
2018 Prince of Wales’ 70th Birthday 1
Among the most interesting flags representatives of the Girl Guides and Brownies
found in other sets are those with the flag of the guiding movement

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The Grandstand YORK Racecourse
The Racecourse - YORK - YO23 1EX
95+ Stamp Dealers and 60+ Coin, banknote and medal Dealers
18th - 19th January 2019

Friday (11am to 6pm) - Saturday (10am to 4pm)
List of dealers attending YORK
STAMP DEALERS East Europe Philatelics Ray Watts COIN DEALERS K & M Coins
Embassy Philatelists Richardson & Copp KB Coins
AfricaStamps Empire Collectables Richard Walker A.H. Baldwin Ltd Knightsbridge Coins
ALLWORLDPH.COM Eric Hinchliffe Robert Uden AMR Coins Lindum Colonia
Andrew G Lajer Ltd Eric Wilding Robstine Stamps Anthony Halse Lloyd Bennett
Andrew Vaughan Philatelics GB and Royal Naval Roger Jackson B. Frank & Son Lockdale Coins
Anthony Baker Covers Southport Stamp Auctions Bedrock Collectables Ltd London Coins
Argyll Etkin Ltd Grunal Moneth Stanley Gibbons Ltd Bill Seese M. Veissid & Co
Arun Stamps Hendon Stamp Co Stanley Gibbons Bonhams Michael Beaumont
Avery Stamps Howard Hatton Publications British Banking History Michael McAndrew
BB Stamps Ian Perry Stephen Holder Society Mike Vosper
BBFILA.com John Auld (Barndance) Bucks Coins Moore Antiquities
Bill Barrell Ltd John Curtin Ltd Stephen Sayer Chris Dixon Pam West
Bob Lee Liz Ashield & Stephen T. Taylor Coin Cabinet Paul Davies Ltd
Buckingham Covers Andy Faulkner Stewart Harris Colin Cooke Paul Revell
Candlish McCleery LoveAuctions Thames Themes Colin Rumney Peter Morris
Cavendish Philatelic MW Stamps Tom Hamilton DD Coins Richard Gladdle
Auctions The Magpie Trevor Chinery DRG Coins & Antiquities Rick Coleman
Chaomo Wang Mark Bloxham Tristan Brittain David Craddock Rob Davies
Charlie Rudge Mint GB Stamps Valelink Ltd David Turner S & J Mitchell
Chris Rainey Mulready Philatelics Vincennes Philatelie Den of Antiquity Saltford Coins
Corbitt Stamps Ltd Nigel Steen Westgate Supplies Dix Noonam Webb Scot Mint
Cover Collecting - Northern Stamps Windsor Philatelics Ernie Brooks Silbury Coins
Richard Park North Staffs Stamps Yorkshire Coast Stamps GM Coins Simon Monks
DG Stamps PZH 1840 The Yorkshire Philatelic George Rankin Coin Co Sovereign Rarieties
Dave Foster Paper Heritage Association Ian Davidson Tim Millett
David Duggleby Paul Jones Ian Gradon Token Publications Ltd
Auctioneers and Valuers Paul Kirkwood J Ruijs Tony Spink
David Feldman SA Peter Mollett John Cummings Victory Coins
David Morrison Philangles John Mann Numistatist Weighton Coin Wonders
David Shaw QV Pennies (A.G.Chappell) John Newman Wessex Coins
Derek Fulluck Ramsdens John Vatche
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Superlative city break

An entire of 1763 describing a Scotsman’s city break in London is replete
with Italian superlatives, and some shameless name-dropping
■ Report by Norman Watson
P
hilatelic philavery abounds
in a letter which describes in
delicious language the
delights of 18th-century London,
and seeing at close quarters the
Queen of England, the Prince of
Wales and the king of theatreland.
Dated January 1763, it is
outwardly rather grubby with age
but curiously has no postal
markings, so presumably was
carried privately.
It was addressed by R Liston in
Twickenham, Middlesex, to
Alexander (Sandy) Liston in
Overtown, North Lanarkshire, who
was probably the writer’s brother.
‘I am in extreme good length and

health, I mean, I have been in
London. I am going again. ABOVE: Cover of January 1763, from Middlesex to North Lanarkshire, with no postal markings so presumably carried privately
‘I have seen a Latin play at
Westminster, the Abbey there, with this, that I am in good plight
Mr Michael Ramsay, and I’ll see of state of mind...’
him again.
‘I have seen Garrick three times This is the 18th-century equivalent
(excellentissimo), St Paul’s Church of giving a city break a star rating
(grandissimo), wild beasts, the on TripAdvisor, while name-
House of Commons (simillimo to dropping a host of celebrities
the General Assembly), Mr Adam’s spotted in the capital.
people, etc, etc, Richmond Hill, Garrick must refer to David
Hampton Court and famous places Garrick, the kingpin of
in this neighbourhood, the Royal 18th-century British theatre, who at
Family, the little Prince of Wales as the time was leading actor,
near as you are to Henry at the co-owner and manager of the
fireside, or in the easy-chair when Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
he is opposite to you. ‘Mr Adam’ may be the Scottish
‘I am in love almost with the architect Robert Adam, who at the
Queen. She is about as near a time was Architect of the King’s
beauty as Mrs Wilkie at Works, and the ‘wild beasts’
Ecclesmachan, and has her easiness presumably refers to the menagerie
and frankness in her face. I am at the Tower of London, which at
very cosh [comfortable] here. various times included lions, tigers
‘Mrs Murray and I are in very and polar bears.
tolerable friendship. I think I gain Queen Charlotte was the German
rather than lose upon the family. princess who had arrived London
But I have not more to tell you how as a 17-year-old in August 1761 to
well I am — you must be content marry King George III, and had ABOVE: Part of the already borne a son. The five-
letter written to month-old Prince of Wales was the
‘This is the 18th-century equivalent of Alexander Liston,
presumably by his
future King George IV.
Comparing the Queen to the wife
giving a city break a star rating on brother, describing of an Edinburgh minister could
the many attractions perhaps be described as
TripAdvisor’ of London treasonissimo! ■

ON SALE SOON!
2019
From the publishers of
YOUR
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MAGAZINE
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ISBN: 978-0-9955249-5-8
GUIDE
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Or telephone 01795 662976
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› Fully updated to mid-2018 £11.99
› Handy, travel pocket-size guide
ALL WORLD Buying
British Stamps
NEW ISSUES Current Market Values
COUNTRY OR THEME
FREE MONTHLY LISTS BUYING & SELLING

DISCOUNTED GB POSTAGE DAILY
BUYING GB DECIMAL MINT STAMPS 1971 to 2018
STANDING ORDER (We always require GB postage but some values are more popular than others so please
SERVICE AVAILABLE contact us by email or telephone where the sale value is £2000 or over).
Buy %
FACE VALUE (FV) of FV Criteria
IAN OLIVER Stamps 1p to 49p

Stamps 50p tp 99p
Stamps £1.00 to £1.99
55%
60%
68%
Sorted by value
Sorted by value
Sorted by value
5 BEECH ROAD STIBB CROSS Stamps £2.00 to £10 80% Sorted by value
TORRINGTON DEVON EX38 8HZ First (1st) Class NVI Stamps (lick and stick) 60% Commemorative
First (1st) Class NVI Stamps (self-adhesive) 67% Commemorative
First (1st) Class Christmas Stamps 60% All Christmas Stamps
TEL: 07941 39 14 66 First (1st) Class NVI Stamps (lick and stick) 60% Definitive Queen's Head
First (1st) Class NVI Stamps (self-adhesive) 70% Definitive Queen's Head
FAX: 01805 601111 Second (2nd) Class NVI Stamps 67% Commemorative Stamps
Second (2nd) Class Christmas Stamps 65% All Christmas Stamps
E-MAIL: iansnewstamps@gmail.com Second (2nd) Class NVI Stamps (lick and stick) 67% Definitive Queen's Head
Second (2nd) Class NVI Stamps (self-adhesive) 72% Definitive Queen's Head
First Class LARGE NVI (self-adhesive) 70% ALL TYPES (£1.01)
First Class LARGE NVI (lick and stick) 70% ALL TYPES (£1.01)
Second Class LARGE NVI (self-adhesive) 70% ALL TYPES (79p)
Second Class LARGE NVI (lick and stick) 70% ALL TYPES (79p)
1st Class Signed For Delivery Stamps 75% All types (£1.77 and £2.11)
Special Delivery Stamps 80% (£6.50 >100g and £7.30 >500g)
Europe & Worldwide NVI Stamps 50% Up to 40 grams
Europe & Worldwide NVI Stamps 55% Up to 10g, 20g, E, 60g & 100g
Presentation Packs & Year Books 52% from 1971 to 1998
Presentation Packs & Year Books 67% 2016 & 2017
Presentation Packs & Year Books 75% 2018
Prestige Booklets 55% up to 1998
Prestige Booklets 60% 1999 to 2016
Prestige Booklets 70% 2017 to 2018
Booklets with Stamps up to 26p 50% folding & retail etc
Booklets with Stamps from 27p to 68p 55% folding & retail etc
Smiler Sheets 60% Lick & Stick Gum
Smiler Sheets 65% Self-adhesive Gum
•Top Rated Internet Selling Service

•High Prices Realised! •Low Commission Fees
Contact Dave Waldie for Details or Visit
www.philatelink.co.uk
Email: philatelink@btinternet.com
 LANDLINE: 01896 759703 MOBILE 07510 312271
DAVID WALDIE (PHILATELINK LTD),
13 REDPATH CRESCENT, GALASHIELS,
BORDERS, TD1 2QG, UK.
3December2018

WHAT’S ON: EXHIBITIONS To include an event in this listing, we need at least two months’ notice.
Send details to What’s On, Stamp Magazine, MyTimeMedia Ltd,
Suite 25, Eden House, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF.
UK & WORLDWIDE EXHIBITION E-mail: guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

February 13-16 St Hanshaugen, N-0131 Oslo, Norway
uK mail@nordia2019.no
Spring Stampex www.nordia2019.no
Venue: Business Design Centre,
52 Upper Street, Islington, London SepteMber 11-14
N1 0QH. uK
Contact: Philatelic Traders Society, Autumn Stampex
PO Box 290, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 9AX Venue: Business Design Centre,
Tel: 01342 830225 52 Upper Street, Islington, London
info@thepts.net N1 0QH.
www.thephilatelictraderssociety.co.uk Contact: Philatelic Traders Society,
PO Box 290, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 9AX
March 28-31 Tel: 01342 830225
SLOVeNIa info@thepts.net
Slovenija 2019 www.thephilatelictraderssociety.co.uk
Venue: Mekinje Cloister, Polceva Pot
10, 1241 Kamnik. NOVeMber 28-30
Contact: Slovenija 2019 Organising MONacO
Committee, Ptujska 23, MonacoPhil 2019
SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Venue: Musée des Timbres et des
Ipirc711@gmail.com Monnaies, 11 Terrasses de
www.alpeadria.eu/exhibitions Fontvieille, 98000 Monaco .
Contact: Office des Emissions de
aprIL 12-13 Timbres-Poste, 23 Avenue Albert II,
uK 98050 Monaco
ABPS Northern National Exhibition Tel: +377 98 98 41 41
Venue: Dewars Centre, Glover Street, oetp@gouv.mc
Perth PH2 0TH. www.oetp-monaco.com ABOVE: Picturesque Kamnik is the venue for Slovenija 2019 in March
Contact: Association of British
Philatelic Societies
exhibiting@abps.org.uk
www.abps.org.uk
ITALIA 2018
May 29-JuNe 2
The city of Verona attracted an international comprising 44 exhibits from around Europe, and
SWeDeN
Stockholmia 2019 gathering in November for Italia 2018, the an exhibition of philatelic literature, featuring
Venue: Waterfront Congress Centre, largest stamp fair in Italy and an event which more than 250 books and journals.
Nils Ericsons Plan 4, Stockholm. celebrated the centenary of the Italian Thousands of visitors packed the trade stands
Contact: Stockholmia 2019 Federation of Philatelic Societies. across the three days, for an event which is
stockholmia2019@meetagain.se
info@stockholmia2019.se There was a national exhibition for Italian regarded by dealers as one of the most
www.stockholmia2019.se entries only, a Great War international exhibition important fairs in Europe.
JuLy 6
uK
Midpex
Venue: Warwickshire Event Centre,
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
CV31 1XN.
Contact: Steven Harrison, 56
Woodberry Drive, Sutton Coldfield,
West Midlands B76 2RH
sharrison500@btinternet.com
www.sites.google.com/site/midpex
JuLy 31-auguSt 4
SINgapOre
Singpex 2019 International Stamp
Exhibition
Venue: Suntec Singapore Convention
& Exhibition Centre, 1 Raffles
Boulevard, Suntec City, Singapore
039593.
Contact: Association of Singapore
Philatelists
Tel: +65 6261 6688
aspsingapore1989@gmail.com
www.singpex.com
NORMAN WATSON
auguSt 23-25
NOrWay
Nordia 2019
Venue: Quality Hotel, Grålum,
Sarpsborg.
Contact: Nordia 2019, Postboks 2700,
Every care is taken to ensure the details published are accurate, but we cannot be responsible for any errors or cancellations. You are advised to check with the event organisers before setting out.

WHAT’S ON: AUCTIONS To include an event in this listing, we need at least two months’ notice.
UK & WORLDWIDE AUCTION E-mail: guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com

January 9 January 18-20 January 23-24 Venue: Holiday Inn, Hinckley Road,
engLiSH-Language
aJH StampS Spink cHina SparkS Coventry CV2 2HP. poStaL SaLeS
Venue: The Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa, Lam Man Yin collection of Small Great Britain Squared-Circle Contact: Tony Lester Auctions,
Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire Dragons, Dowagers & 1897 Cancellations Unit 2, The Sidings, Birdingbury Road, county
BB5 5JP. Surcharges Venue: 1770 Woodward Drive, Marton, Rugby CV23 9RX county@stampauctions.co.uk
Contact: AJH Stamps, The Laurels, Venue: 4/F and 5/F, Hua Fu Suite 101, Ottawa, Tel: 01924 270107 www.stampauctions.co.uk
Manchester Road, Accrington, Commercial Building, 111 Queen’s Ontario K2C 0P8, Canada. tonylester@btconnect.com
mayFair
Lancashire BB5 2PF Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Contact: Sparks Auctions www.tonylester.co.uk
info@mpastamps.com
Tel: 01254 393740 Contact: Spink China Tel: +613 567 3336
www.mpastamps.com
Fax: 01254 382274 Tel: +852 3952 3000 www.sparks-auctions.com February 13
sales@ajhstamps.co.uk Fax: +852 3952 3038 aJH StampS moWbray
www.ajhstamps.co.uk china@spink.com February 9 Venue: The Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa, mowbray.stamps@xtra.co.nz
www.spink.com cambriDgeSHire Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire www.mowbrays.co.nz
January 11-12 Venue: The Maltings, Ship Lane, Ely, BB5 5JP.
DutcH country January 22 Cambridgeshire CB7 4BB. Contact: AJH Stamps, The Laurels, SaJaL pHiLateLicS
auctionS toovey’S Contact: Cambridgeshire Philatelic Manchester Road, Accrington, brian@brian-reeve.com
Venue: Auction Gallery, The Stamp Venue: Spring Gardens, Washington, Auctions, 27 Fore Hill, Ely, Lancashire BB5 2PF www.brian-reeve.com
Center, 4115 Concord Pike, West Sussex RH20 3BS. Cambridgeshire CB7 4AA Tel: 01254 393740
SanDaFayre
Wilmington, Delaware 19803, USA. Contact: Toovey’s Tel: 01353 663 919 sales@ajhstamps.co.uk
stamp@sandafayre.com
Contact: Russell Eggert Tel: 01903 891955 bobcarr@cpa-ely.co.uk www.ajhstamps.co.uk
www.sandafayre.com
Tel: +1 302 478 8740 auctions@tooveys.com www.cpa-ely.co.uk
Fax: +1 302 478 8779 www.tooveys.com February 14-16 univerSaL
auctions@dutchcountryauctions.com February 9 eaStern auctionS info@upastampauctions.co.uk
www.dutchcountryauctions.com January 20-24 SoutH WeSt Highlands Collection of British www.upastampauctions.co.uk
Spink LonDon pHiLateLic auctionS North America, Part 2
January 12 Pegasus collection of New Zealand Venue: 2nd Floor, The Watermark, Venue: The Lord Nelson Hotel & vance
SomerSet Stamp Lionheart collection of Great Erme Court, Leonards Road, Suites, 1515 South Park Street, mail@vanceauctions.com
auctionS Britain & British Empire, Part 9 Ivybridge, Devon PL21 0SZ. Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2L2, www.vanceauctions.com
Venue: Hill Farm, Hemyock, Venue: 69 Southampton Row, Contact: SWPA Canada.
Cullompton, Devon EX15 3UZ. Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4ET. Tel: 01752 698089 Contact: Eastern Auctions,
Contact: Somerset Stamp Auctions Contact: Spink London richardswpa@outlook.com PO Box 250, Bathurst, New Brunswick engLiSH-Language
Tel: 01823 681358 Tel: 020 7563 4000 www.swpa-stamp-auctions.com E2A 3Z2, Canada onLine SaLeS
Fax: 01823 681375 Fax: 020 7563 4066 Tel: +1 506 548 8986
shirley@somersetstampauctions.com info@spink.com February 10 easternauctions@nb.aibn.com DaLkeitH
www.somersetstampauctions.com www.spink.com tony LeSter www.easternauctions.com www.dalkeith-auctions.co.uk
DeLcampe
LOT TO BE DESIRED www.delcampe.net
mccuSker
www.jamesmccusker.com
Mayfair Philatelic Auctions will hold its Hong Kong University, franked with the $1
moWbray
inaugural postal sale on January 17. It stamp missing gold.
www.mowbrays.co.nz
promises to be a grand affair, with thousands of Only one sheet of 50 is thought to have been
lots, and among the highlights is this Hong sold with this error, which results in the pHiLatino
www.philatino.com
Kong cover of 1961. inscription at the bottom of the design being
It’s a privately produced first day cover for the absent altogether. raSmuSSen
stamp issue marking the Golden Jubilee of This lot has a pre-sale estimate of £1,000. www.bruun-rasmussen.dk
regency
www.regencystamps.com
rogerS
www.michaelrogersinc.com
SammarineSe
www.filsam.com
SanDaFayre
www.sandafayre.com
SkanFiL
www.skanfil.no
Stamp center
www.thestampcenter.com
StampFair
www.stampfair.com
StanLey gibbonS
www.stanleygibbons.com
torreS
www.antoniotorres.com
traFForD bookS
www.traffordbooks.co.uk

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WHAT’S ON: FAIRS To include an event in this listing, we need at least two months’ notice.
UK STAMP FAIR E-mail: guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com

January 11 Venue: Belmont Community Shepherd Hall, 272 Dyke Road, Contact: Richard Stenlake
London Hall, off Tan Bank car park, Hove, BN1 5AE. Tel: 01290 551122
(stamps, postal history) Wellington, TF1 1HJ. Time: 10am-4pm
Venue: Royal National Hotel, Time: 10am-3pm Contact: M J Perriman January 26
Bedford Way, Russell Square, Contact: Richard Camp Tel: 01903 244875 addLestone
WC1H 0DG. Tel: 01952 405458 (stamps, postal history,
Time: Friday 9am-4pm dover postcards)
Contact: Kate Puleston January 13 (stamps, postal history) Venue: Community Centre,
Tel: 020 8946 4489 WokinghaM Venue: Biggin Hall, Garfield Road, KT15 2NJ.
(stamps, postal history) Biggin Lane, CT16 1BD. Time: 10am-4.30pm
January 12 Venue: St Crispin’s Centre, Time: 10am-4pm Contact: David Milton
derby London Road, RG40 1SR. Contact: Keith & Jan Tel: 01895 637283
(stamps, postal history) Time: 10am-3pm Shepherd
Venue: Nunsfield House Contact: T Brittain Tel: 07729 967206 bexhiLL on sea
Community Hall, 33 Boulton Tel: 07957 158299 (stamps, postal history)
Road, Alvaston, DE24 0FD. huLL Venue: St Martha’s Church Hall,
Time: 9.30am-3.30pm January 16 (stamps, postal history, Cooden Sea Road, Little
Contact: H V Johnson & Co east grinstead postcards) Common, TN39 4SL.
Tel: 01909 562927 (stamps, postal history, Venue: St James Centre, Time: 10am-4pm
postcards) 169 First Lane, Hessle, Contact: M J Perriman
eastbourne Venue: Chequer Mead Arts HU13 9EY. Tel: 01903 244875
(stamps, postal history, Centre, De La Warr Road, Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
postcards) RH19 3BS. Contact: H V Johnson & Co bristoL
Venue: St Mary’s Church Time: 10am-3pm Tel: 01909 562927 (stamps, postal history,
Hall, Decoy Drive, Contact: Malcolm Green postcards)
Hampden Park, BN22 9PP. Tel: 01342 327554 January 20 Venue: Shirehampton
Time: 9.30am-3pm dronfieLd Public Hall, Station Road,
Contact: Chris Rapley January 18-19 (stamps, postal history) Shirehampton, BS11 9TX.
Tel: 07711 677760 york Venue: Coal Aston Village Time: 9.30am-4pm
(stamps, coins) Hall, Coal Aston, S18 3AY. Contact: Kevin Noble Fairs
Manchester Venue: The Grandstand, York Time: 9.30am-3.30pm Tel: 07599 001102
(stamps, postal history) Racecourse, York YO23 1EX. Contact: H V Johnson & Co
Venue: Sale Grammar School, Time: Friday 11am-6pm, Tel: 01909 562927 chichester
Marsland Road, Sale M33 3NH. Saturday 10am-4pm (stamps, postal history, eaLing MorLey
Time: 10am-4pm Contact: Kate Puleston gLasgoW postcards) (stamps, postal history) (stamps, postal history)
Contact: George Wewiora Tel: 020 8946 4489 (stamps, postal history, Venue: Donnington Parish Venue: Polygon Complex, Venue: St Mary’s Church
Tel: 0161 427 2101 postcards) Hall, Stockbridge Road, Ealing Parish Church, Hall, Commercial Street,
January 19 Venue: Bellahouston Leisure Donnington, PO19 8QR. St Mary’s Road, W5 5RH. LS27 8HZ.
teLford brighton Centre, 31 Bellahouston Time: 9.30am-3pm Time: 9am-1pm Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
(stamps, postal history, (stamps, postal history) Drive, G52 1HH. Contact: Chris Rapley Contact: T Brittain Contact: H V Johnson & Co
postcards, coins) Venue: Church of the Good Time: 9.15am-4pm Tel: 07711 677760 Tel: 07957 158299 Tel: 01909 562927
northaMpton
(stamps, postal history)
Venue: The Abbey Centre,
East Hunsbury, NN4 0RZ.
Time: 10am-4pm
Contact: T Brittain
Tel: 07957 158299
January 27
brackneLL
(stamps, postal history,
postcards)
Venue: British Red Cross
Centre, 21 Martins Lane,
RG12 9EN.
Time: 9am-1pm
Contact: T Brittain
Tel: 07957 158299
doncaster
Venue: Park Social Club,
Eden Grove Road,
Edenthorpe, DN3 2LS.
Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
Contact: H V Johnson & Co
Tel: 01909 562927
peterborough
postcards)
Venue: The Holiday Inn,
Thorpe Wood, PE3 6SG.

WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES EVENTS STRANGE BUT TRUE
WOKINGHAM Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
(stamps, postal history) Contact: H V Johnson & Co
Venue: St Crispin’s Centre, Tel: 01909 562927
London Road, RG40 1SR.
Time: 10am-3pm MONTROSE
Contact: T Brittain (stamps, postal history)
Tel: 07957 158299 Venue: Hillside Village Hall,
Dubton Road, Hillside,
FEBRUARY 16 DD10 9HB.
BRIGHTON Time: 10am-3pm
(stamps, postal history) Contact: Chad Neigbor,
Venue: Church of the Good North East Fairs
Shepherd Hall, 272 Dyke Road, Tel: 01674 832823
Hove, BN1 5AE.
Time: 10am-4pm SITTINGBOURNE
Contact: M J Perriman (stamps, postal history,
Tel: 01903 244875 postcards)
Venue: Carmel Hall, Ufton
DOVER Lane, off West Street,
(stamps, postal history) ME10 1JB.
Venue: Biggin Hall, Biggin Time: 9.30am-3pm
Lane, CT16 1BD. Contact: Chris Rapley
Time: 10am-4pm Tel: 07711 677760
Contact: Keith & Jan
Shepherd FEBRUARY 17
Tel: 0772 9967206 AMERSHAM
EXETER Venue: Jubilee Scout Hall,
(stamps, postal history) Rectory Hill, HP7 0BT.
Venue: America Hall, De La Time: 10am-4.30pm
Rue Way, Pinhoe, EX4 8PX. Contact: David Milton
Time: 10am-4pm Tel: 01895 637283
Contact: Michael Hale
Time: 10am-3pm MAIDSTONE Newland Street, CM8 2AZ. (stamps, postal history) Tel: 01749 677669 DRONFIELD
Contact: Richard Lewis (stamps, postal history, Time: 10am-4pm Venue: Ridgewood Village (stamps, postal history)
Tel: 01945 700594 postcards) Contact: Witham PS Hall, New Road, Ridgewood, HULL Venue: Coal Aston Village Hall,
Venue: Royal British Legion btwphilatelic@btinternet.com TN22 5TG. (stamps, postal history) Coal Aston, S18 3AY.
FEBRUARY 2 Hall, British Legion Village, Time: 10am-4pm Venue: St James Centre, Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
HUDDERSFIELD New Road, Aylesford, FEBRUARY 10 Contact: M J Perriman 169 First Lane, Hessle, Contact: H V Johnson & Co
(stamps, postal history) ME20 7NL. UCKFIELD Tel: 01903 244875 HU13 9EY. Tel: 01909 562927
Venue: St Thomas Community Time: 10am-4pm
Centre, Manchester Road, Contact: M J Perriman
Longroyd Bridge, HD1 3HU. Tel: 01903 244875
Time: 9am-4pm
Contact: A Campbell FEBRUARY 8
Tel: 01484 681559 LONDON
LEICESTER Venue: Royal National Hotel,
(stamps, postal history) Bedford Way, Russell Square,
Venue: Derby Room, The WC1H 0DG.
Holiday Inn, St Nicholas Contact: Kate Puleston
Circle, LE1 5LX. Tel: 020 8946 4489
Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
Contact: John Suschitzky FEBRUARY 9
Tel: 0116 235 0441 DERBY
RUISLIP Venue: Nunsfield House
(stamps, postal history, Community Hall, 33 Boulton
postcards) Road, Alvaston, DE24 0FD.
Venue: Methodist Church Hall, Time: 9.30am-3.30pm
Ickenham Road, HA4 7BZ. Contact: H V Johnson & Co
Time: 10am-4.30pm Tel: 01909 562927
Contact: David Milton
Tel: 01895 637283 TWICKENHAM
FEBRUARY 3 postcards)
BOTLEY Venue: Methodist Church Hall,
(stamps, postal history, Percy Road, Whitton, TW2 6JL.
postcards) Time: 10am-4pm
Venue: Women’s Institute, Contact: M J Perriman
North Hinksey Lane, Tel: 01903 244875
OX2 0LT.
Time: 9am-1.30pm WITHAM
Contact: T Brittain (stamps, postal history)
Tel: 07957 158299 Venue: Royal British Legion Hall,

WHAT’S ON: SOCIETIES To include an event in this listing, we need at least two months’ notice.
SELECTED UK PHILATELIC SOCIETY E-mail: guy.thomas@mytimemedia.com

January 10 Auction Time: 7.30pm The President Entertains february 6 Kettlethorpe, WF2 7NP.
burnLey & Venue: The Frasier Room, Contact: Brian Stonestreet Venue: Bostonway Community benfLeet & Time: 7pm
district ps Gosberton Road, Tel: 01622 675784 Centre, FY4 4YB. district ps Contact: Philip Reynolds
President’s Night Surfleet, PE11 4AB. Time: 7.30pm Auction Tel: 07805 509469
Venue: Central Methodist Time: 7.30pm february 4 Contact: David Bond Venue: Jubilee Hall, St
Church, Hargreaves Street, Contact: Derek Pollard petersfieLd & Tel: 01253 767763 Barnabus Church, Church february 7
BB11 1DU. Tel: 01778 426904 district ps Road, Hadleigh, SS7 2EJ. burnLey &
Time: 7.30pm 16-Sheet Competition & royaL sutton Time: 7.30pm district ps
Contact: Dr Barry Evans January 23 Members’ Displays coLdfieLd ps Contact: Laurence Gardiner Trains, Boats & Planes
Tel: 01282 616156 broMLey & Venue: Petersfield Community Morocco Agencies by laurencewgardiner1 Venue: Central Methodist
beckenhaM ps Centre, Love Lane, GU31 4BW. Malcolm Hughes @hotmail.com Church, Hargreaves Street,
January 14 Bromley & District Postal Time: 7.30pm Cherifien & Local Posts of BB11 1DU.
teLford s&cc History by Robin Tapper Contact: David Allen Morocco by John Smith spaLding & Time: 7.30pm
Display by Bob Hemmings Venue: Public Hall, Bromley Tel: 01730 261244 Venue: Sutton Coldfield district sc Contact: Dr Barry Evans
& Mastermind Quiz Road, Beckenham BR3 5JE. Methodist Church, South Members’ Displays: Tel: 01282 616156
Venue: Belmont Community Hall, Time: 7.30pm taunton sc Parade, B72 1QY. Letter K
off Tan Bank Car Park, Contact: David Rennie Members’ Displays: Nine Time: 10.30am Venue: The Frasier Room, Maidstone &
Wellington, Telford TF1 1HJ. Tel: 020 8778 7001 Sheets, No Commentary Contact: Steven Harrison Gosberton Road, Surfleet, Mid-kent ps
Time: 7.30pm Venue: Kilkenny Court, Tel: 0121 313 0671 PE11 4AB. Visit from Royal Tunbridge
Contact: Richard Camp January 24 Clifton Terrace, TA2 7QL. Time: 2pm Wells Society
Tel: 01952 405458 bristoL ps Time: 7.30pm scarborough ps Contact: Derek Pollard Venue: Mote Park Indoor
President’s Evening Contact: Chris Catley President’s Night Tel: 01778 426904 Bowls Club, Willow
January 16 Venue: Redland Park United Tel: 01884 798370 Venue: Scarborough Library, Way, Maidstone,
griMsby & Reformed Church, Vernon Road, YO11 2NN. WakefieLd ps ME15 7RN.
district ps Whiteladies Road, BS6 6SA. february 5 Time: 7pm Flora & Fauna Time: 10.30am
Booklets by Dave Davenport Time: 7.30pm bLackpooL & Contact: Chris Phillips Venue: Standbridge Lane Contact: Brian Stonestreet
Venue: Grimsby Central Hall, Contact: Mike Breward fyLde ps Tel: 01723 368475 Community Centre, Tel: 01622 675784
Duncombe Street, DN32 7EG. Tel: 01179 567853
Time: 7pm
Contact: Trevor Smith
Tel: 01469 572354
January 26
great britain ps
KING GEORGE VI COLLECTORS SOCIETY
GB High Values Used on
January 18 Cover by Edward Klempka Stanley Gibbons hosted an open day for members of the King George VI
herne bay ps Time: 11am Collectors Society at its Strand premises in London in October, with more than
One-Page Competition & Society Competitions
Bourse Time: 2.15pm 20 members attending.
Venue: Herne Bay United Venue: Royal Philatelic Daphne and Robert McMillan came from East Yorkshire, bringing Daphne’s
Church Hall, High Street, Society London, extensive large gold medal-winning display, King George VI: His Family, Life & Reign.
Herne Bay CT6 5NG. 41 Devonshire Place, Imaginatively arranged in sections, this covered the King’s childhood, his
Time: 7.30pm London W1G 6JY.
Royal Navy career, his marriage, his surprise accession to the throne, his
Contact: John F G Mills Contact: Phil Waud
Tel: 01227 787070 Tel: 07484 629171 wartime activities and his deteriorating health, some of which was within the
memory of members present.
January 21 January 29 Displays were also mounted of military honour envelopes by Rod Vousden, the
south MidLands sc royaL sutton Royal Visit to Southern Africa by Roger Harrison, and Bohumil Heinz’s engraving
Uprated GB Postal coLdfieLd ps
Stationery by John Gledhill Stratford on Avon Postal of the King for the stamps of Kenya Uganda & Tanganyika by Brian Livingstone.
Venue: Barford Memorial History by Bryan Jones For further details of this very active society, visit www.kg6.info
Hall, Church Street, Venue: Sutton Coldfield
Barford, CV35 8EN. Methodist Church, South
Time: 1.30pm Parade, B72 1QY.
Contact: John Gledhill Time: 7.30pm
Tel: 01789 842112 Contact: Steven Harrison
Tel: 0121 313 0671
taunton sc
Club Competitions January 30
Venue: Kilkenny Court, Clifton WakefieLd ps
Terrace, Taunton, TA2 7QL. Hull Postal History
Time: 7.30pm by Robert McMillan
Contact: Chris Catley Venue: Standbridge Lane
Tel: 01884 798370 Community Centre,
Kettlethorpe WF2 7NP.
January 22 Time: 7pm
soLihuLL ps Contact: Philip Reynolds
Belgian Congo Revisited Tel: 07805 509469
by Gerald Marriner
Venue: Solihull Cricket & January 31
Tennis Club, Marsh Lane, Maidstone &
B91 2PF. Mid-kent ps
Time: 8pm Ethiopia from Italian
Contact: Paul Woodness Invasion to Liberation
Tel: 01564 776879 by B Lardner
Venue: St Paul’s Church ABOVE: Daphne McMillan with her display on the life of King George VI
spaLding & Hall, Boxley Road,
district sc Maidstone, ME14 2AH.

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Royal Collection Trust The Golden Colour Error H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018 3 Skilling Banco Yellow Photographer: Anna-Lena Ahlström, royalcourt.se
Photographer: Ian Jones
WELCOME TO STOCKHOLMIA 2019
The International Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of
The Royal Philatelic Society London
• The Royal Philatelic Society London, the With capacity of 2,100 frames, the exhibition
oldest philatelic society in the world, was is the largest Society exhibition ever held. In
established in 1869 as The Philatelic Society, addition, more than 50 Trade Stand Holders,
London. In 1896 HRH The Duke of York, son from 13 diferent countries are participating.
of King Edward VII, became President of the
• His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Society, an oice he continued to hold until
has graciously agreed to be Patron of
his accession to the throne as HM King George
STOCKHOLMIA 2019 when it takes place
V in 1910. Permission to use the preix Royal
at Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre,
was granted by His Majesty King Edward VII
Nils Ericsons Plan 4, Stockholm.
in 1906. Following his accession King George
V acted as its Patron, and in 1924 granted the • One of the world’s most famous postage
Society permission to use the Royal Arms on its stamps, The Golden Colour Error, 3 Skilling
stationery and publications. The Royal philatelic Banco Yellow, will be presented as part of the
tradition has been maintained and today the exhibition’s Court of Honour.
Society is honoured by the Patronage of Her
• Tickets and all other registrations and bookings,
Majesty The Queen. At STOCKHOLMIA 2019, a
including accommodation offers, are here-
selection from The Royal Philatelic Collection,
with presented in this Destination Ofer.
will be presented as part of Court of Honour.
• The exhibition opens for Early Birds with the
• STOCKHOLMIA 2019 is an International Philatelic
Vernissage on 28 May at 3.00 pm., followed by
Exhibition with exhibits and displays from
ive public days from 29 May until 2 June.
members of the Society from all over the world.
Tuesday 28 May 2019 3.00 pm. – 7.00 pm. Vernissage The exhibition concepts,
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Thursday 30 May 2019 10.00 am. – 6.00 pm.
Friday 31 May 2019 10.00 am. – 6.00 pm.
continuously presented online at
Saturday 1 June 2019 10.00 am. – 5.00 pm. www.stockholmia2019.se.
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FOREIGN
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2018
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POSTAL HISTORY 15 0 0 – 19 2 0 Write or telephone:
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WORLD NEWS | AUCTIONS | GB COLLECTOR | LETTERS | COMMENT | COMPETITIONS | FEATURES | EVENTS STRANGE BUT TRUE
STRANGE BUT TRUE
Trial and error

When stamps in the United States’ 1901 commemorative set were found with inverted
centres, the public knew they were worth something. But how much, exactly?
■ Report by John Winchester
T
he United States’ six-stamp set for it. After writing the ripping yarn
commemorating the Pan- How I Made A Fortune On The Pan-
American Exposition, the American Stamps, he ended up with a
world’s fair held in Buffalo in 1901, total profit of around $300 (equivalent
was printed in two colours, which to $8,500 today).
carried the inherent risk of sheets Even more fortunate was Fred
being printed with inverted centres. Schoenberg, a Sunday school teacher
Sure enough, such errors were created from the same borough of New York,
in the production of several values, who purchased an entire sheet of 100
and the philatelic value in these inverts but didn’t realise until one of
proved beyond the imagination of the his colleagues spotted the error.
lucky few who discovered them. A few days later he received a visit
When Frederick Davis, a company from a man who announced himself
secretary in Brooklyn, asked for a as a ‘postal inspector’ and demanded
half-sheet of the 2c to be purchased for ABOVE: USA 1901 Pan-American Exposition 2c with inverted centre the return of the sheet in exchange for
office use, a sharp-eyed junior spotted a regular sheet. After Schoenberg
that the vignette of the Empire State Express locomotive had refused, the man returned the following day offering $100; he
been printed upside-down. Davis soon found himself hawking kept returning on subsequent days, increasing the offer until it
the stamps up and down Nassau Street, where most of New reached £1,000, which Schoenberg accepted. When the
York’s stamp dealers were based. ‘inspector’ paid up with a motley selection of used notes, it gave
He sold singletons initially at $1 each and then, as demand away his true identity as an agent for a cartel of dealers.
increased, at $5, then $10 and finally at $12.50. He kept one for Davis and Schoenberg would no doubt be astonished to see
himself, and just a year later he was turning down offers of $75 that a single 2c invert can achieve $90,000 at auction today. ■
NEXT MONTH
PLUS
Happy days? ■ Stamps and postal

history of the pioneering
Greetings stamps reassessed, trans-Pacific flights
30 years after their introduction ■ St Helena’s first
commemorative
■ Thematic guide to
fingerprinting
■ Art of Yves Beaujard
MARCH ISSUE
IN SHOPS FROM
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7

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TELEPHONE..................................... E-mail ................................................................................. GUERNSEY POST OFFICE..................41 STAMPEX 2019 ................................65
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THE WORLD’S BEST PHILATELIC MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019

Malta’s 1922 Stamp-on-stamp

Icons revived How the

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