SPLHCB - 40 years ago today

I think one of the greatest albums ever, in every possible way

You might enjoy this link as well,.. The Bulletin, June 1st 2007.

Best wishes.. Michael

my PO BoX

I went to the PO Box today.. oh dear am I a long way behind answering emails... well I am even further behind with my mail.. my own fault of course.. such bad time management ..or am I enjoying life too much. I don't have any stamps scanned to show tonight.. just been reading about the 40th Anniversary Machin issue on June 5th.. now there are some stamps and stamp presentation packs and formats to commemorate that.. if you want lots of details read Roy Simpson's blog MachinMania.. brilliant by the way.. not him of course .. ha ha .. but his blog.. he is better than brilliant I have to add

Apparently Arnold Machin's son has been interviewed about his fathers life and legacy............ not sure if I am going to be sarcastic and say, so what.. or polite and say how jolly good!!! but see for yourself.. in http://www.royalmail.com/stamps or somewhere around there.. ...must be honest and say I have not looked.. and probably won't.. Lets keep to the stamps eh??

and competitions.. will do some answers tomorrow.. and wow some of you know so many countries starting with Z.. and I thought I was smart .. but first two emails I read beat me.. well done....

Best wishes. keep spreading the word and enjoy your stamps.. Michael

Another India M/S

Hello everyone. I do hope you like this. It is quite wonderful in my view. And the subject of course is one of so much emotion and history, and particularily in India as it is in many countries. Makes me realise how lucky so many of us are.



But I won't get political or anything like that. Lets enjoy the stamps but quietly reflect on the progress made over many years when it comes to women and discrimination. Hopefully it doesn't exist where you are today, although I know it still exists in the world and we have a long way to go yet.

So would you like this M/S A lovely addition to any collection I think. Well here are your general knowledge questions ...no checking Google :-) although I have to say so many of you got the wrong answers to one of my recent set of questions maybe Google let you down... .. or maybe I was not clear in my questions .. I'll be publishing some answers soon.. when I get a more free time..

Ok.. for this M/S 1) who was Jawaharlal Nehru, 2) why am I asking about him for these stamps, 3) what school in England did he go to at the age of 15 and 4) what University and 5) college in England did he go to.

Five parts to this.. I hope you enjoy the research / reading... .

What are you collecting at the moment.. big question that, me thinks, as I am seeing so many new issues from country after country. Do write to me as I would really like to hear about your collecting and maybe I can do some articles reflecting the modern day collecting themes or views of collectors.

I look forward to hearing from you.. Best wishes.. enjoy your stamps.. Michael

when is enough enough

Yesterday I read, in a US news brief of all places, about the new stamps issue Royal mail has announced. To commemorate the release of the 7th Harry Potter Book. Apparently there will be 7 new stamps issued on July 17th, a few days before the release of the new Harry Potter book in the UK; July 21st I believe.

Apparently these stamps are to commemorate and I quote from the Royal Mail ….“social themes and important occasions in our way of life” .

….excuse me, I just vomited.. :-)
Ok, back again… but still laughing and gagging….. BUT, wait for it.. that is not all…. I read on the blog ( the blog of the authority on Machins in the UK, my dear friend Roy Simpson. Machin Mania), that there will also be a miniature sheet issued. The MS will consist of 5 x 1st class definitive stamps showing the Hogwarts crest and the crest of the 4 school houses - Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

You have to read Roy’s blog for more detail and further entertainment. I cannot take credit away from him.

Anyway, laughing and joking aside, hey maybe these stamps will get children into collecting… did someone say pretty stickers.. oh I hope not.. you are so cynical… but just maybe this will help children and youngsters get interested in stamps.. at the worst it will line the Royal Mail’s coffers me thinks.

Lets go back to those GB QE pre decimals and George V issues, and those wonderful early Canada and USA issues.. but, will we ever really know what people thought of them at the time. We must be opened minded even if we (and yes I maybe over the top at times) are cynics and skeptical of the motives of the worlds’ postal authorities these days. And I only add that bit about “the worlds'” postal authorities because I was reading a world new issue listing.. awesome.. so many stamps…. How busy must new issue services be.. well there is a 30 minute talk if ever I heard one. The Harry Potter stamps shown, with thanks to Ian at Norvics and the Royal Mail.. shown with no intent to breach any copyright

Enough is enough.. from me tonight.. enjoy your stamps and have a great weekend.. Michael

PS Both referred to sites are in my list of favoutires.. so have a look,,. both excellent sites.

Back in Sydney at last.

Hello, I am back in Australia. Well to be honest as I write this in the departure lounge of Hyderabad airport I am not in Australia, but by the time you read this I will be back. Of course I will as I will have uploaded it. Derrgghh.. :-)

So what is new in the stamp world. To be honest I really don’t know. One of the emails I got while I was away was about a GB Machin that was for sale on eBay. Really quite remarkable offering. Here is the stamp.
What do you think. It was being offered at a starting price of US $9.99.

and the listing was, and I quote... "Here is a stamp that I found in an old shoebox. It has been used for postage. I decided to post it here just in case someone collects old used postage stamps. Someone just cut the envelope around the stamp to it is still glued to part of the envelope just like the picture shows".

I think someone is on more drugs than me, and mine are only malaria tablets – honest

The stamp did not sell. But tell me, who is trying to sell this and who do they think they are kidding. Or does this just go to prove that anyone can try to sell a stamp on eBay, or should I say try to con buyers. Anyone know what I am going to say next. No I won’t mention the IPDA. Oops I just did :-) J you be the judge .

Now to my travels in India. I had just the one fleeting experience of a post office and I was able to buy some miniature sheets. Here is one of them.



This M/S actually has the Sandalwood fragrence.. lovely perfume.. I will show more over the coming days. I hope you enjoy these. I am giving these away. So if you would like this, or any of the others I have to show just answer the daily question correctly and I will take a winner form each days entry. No one can win more than one M/S so don’t give up. I have 5 or 6 different M/Ss to give away, and I think a cover or two.

Todays question – for this M/S .... trees of the sandalwood species can be found in Australia - true or false ? email answer to ne at cddstamps@gmail.com

If you have any stamp news you think others might like to hear please drop me an email at cddstamps@gmail.com and I will look to use your news in future blog writings. Enjoy your stamps… Best wishes… Michael

postcard from Bangalore

wonderful place.. really quite amazing.. and I found the GPO (Post Office) in the city centre I guess it was.. my driver knew where to go... and I will show pictures when I get back to Sydney.. so please keep reading.. or at least in ten days times.

I bought some lovely stamps.. some smelling of roses, and some smelling of sandlewood.. you may have heard of these.. I am thinking of competition questions so I can give these away... I know.,,, you send me a question I can use in my competitions and the one I select will win the roses stamps.. or if you prefer the sandlewood stamps just say so in your email.. .. email me at cddstamps@gmail.com

I bought some quite lovely miniature sheets and will show these when I return to Sydney and can scan them .. all for giveaways.. these will be stamps I doubt you have seen before.. and I think will make a nice addition to any collection. I also bought some covers and will be mailing these to a few winners of past competitions... yes I know I am behind in my mailings so this is my small way of catching up.

Am off to Chennai tomorrow; I have two full days of meetings but will try to get to a post office or stamp dealer.. and see what I can pick up from there.

Enjoy your stamps.. best wishes... Michael