only updated my website today....

Hello, had no time for stamps today .. although I did update the website and with some pictures from the A380 Antarctica flight this past weekend, and some flown covers
cddstamps.com

Enjoy.. Best wishes.... Michael

Burns Night

Hello, yes it is 25th January here (although not yet in Scotland as I write) but how could I not forget it is Burns Night.

I have shown some stamps commemorating this in previous years and see no reason why tonight should be any different :-) (you may recall Burns was commemorated last year - being the 250 anniversary of his birth - by Royal Mail, and also in 1966 and 1996)


Burns Night is celebrated every year on January 25, the birthday of the 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns. Burns Night 2010 is the 251st anniversary of the poet's birth.

Burns Night is typically celebrated with poetry recitation (including the famous Address to a Haggis), bagpipe music (including the piping in of the haggis), singing, traditional ceilidh dancing, whisky drinking, and a dinner featuring none other than haggis - a delight if you have never tasted it.. so my father told me!!. Personally I favour more of the whisky drinking than the ceilidh dancing, although the later is easier to do after the second bottle of whisky!!!!
OK the stamps.. so what are the stamps you saw at the beginning? :-) Look forward to hearing from you :-)

Have a great Burns Night.. Michael

rounded corner or damaged corner?

Hello, I was looking at an auction site.. saw this.. described as "rounded" perf.. you decide but in my view it is a damaged corner and makes the stamp worthless.. Quality is so important in my view, Yes most of us cannot afford top quality for those more expensive stamps we need to fill a gap in our collection but be aware - a space fill is a space filler what ever it might say on the auction listing. Here is an enlarged view Yes it is rounded corner, but again, in my view it is rounded to such an extent I would not pay for it, there are many better copies of this stamps available if you keep looking.

Enjoy your stamps .. Best wishes.. Michael

rare stamps Part III

Hello, sorry not written for a while.. doesn't time fly when you are busy... Hope you like this stamps.. beautiful in my view

The design was created by Joseph Barnard (1816-1865), whose initials are engraved on the neck of the queen on Post Office Mauritius Stamps. A copper plate of 3.25 inches by 2.5 inches was used to engrave the design. 240 pieces of this stamp was sold before it was realized that words on the stamp should be "Post Paid" and not "Post Office". Look carefully and you will see this error.

There are only 26 known copies of the Post Office Mauritius Stamps that have survived to this day. One Penny: 12 cancelled, 2 mint. Two Penny (the blue stamp shown above): 6 cancelled, 6 mint. They are mostly in the hands of private collectors, but are on display at the British Museum in London and the Blue Penny Museum in Mauritius.

Mauritius was the 5th British colony (and country) to issue postage stamps.

Most of the stamps were sent out in some ball invitation letters sent out by Mauritius' governer's wife (Lady Gomm)

Wish I had one, the approximate value is said to be about £1 million, nice retirement fund eh!!

Enjoy your stamps.. best wishes .... Michael

free stamps

Of all the sorting of stamps I have done during the past week I have found various blocks.. US, GB and others. Doubt I can sell them so if anyone wants a surprise I will send to you. First email.. I just want to clear some space..
If you want to donate my postage all the better.. send me a letter with a few dollar bills or some paper currency, or put a buck or two or equivalent into paypal for me.. cddstamps@gmail.com when you get what I send .... I leave it up to your kindness

Here is a sample


email me at cddstamps@gmail.com and include your mailing address.. no mailing address no stamps.. sorry I do not have time to search my emails for addresses if I know you and anyway I always wonder.. has the person moved homes / apartments etc?

and sorry :-) but one final reminder about my auction lots. At Stampwants or try this direct link Michael on Stampwants Or this eBay link Michael on eBay
User id at both auction sites is michaelatcddstamps
Enjoy your stamps …… Michael

Australia inverted Black Swan stamp

Hello, a rare stamp from Australia today. Before the discovery of Australia, it was believed that a black swan was impossible. However, after people discovered the existence of black swans in Australia, it soon became the symbol of the continent.
The design of the Black Swan Stamp was by Horace Samson using lithography. A different frame was used for each value of the series of stamps. The 4 cent value is printed in blue.
In January 1855, one of the printing presses was damaged and had to be replaced. However, the component that etched the frames was replaced upside down, and 388 errors were printed and sold before being discovered, creating the Inverted Swan Stamp. Only 15 complete copies are known to exist today.
And just to remind you of my auction lots. At Stampwants or try this direct link Michael on Stampwants Or this eBay link Michael on eBay
User id at both auction sites is michaelatcddstamps
Enjoy your stamps …… Michael

Rare Stamps Part II

Hello, first, I hope you saw my "advert break" yesterday :-) and second, while this might not be that rare - I actually have no idea how rare it is - I thought I would show you anyway. While sorting stamps for my auction listings yesterday I found this. A nice find I thought. Anyone know anything about this? It is not listed in any of my SG catalogues.

First the block of 4, pretty ordinary eh!!

But on closer viewing you will see the right hand lower stamp has the T missing


So what am I offered :-) just kidding, or until I find out what it could be worth. My rare stamp ... for a while maybe :-)



enjoy your stamps and the search for that rarity ... Michael

second advert break :-)

Hello, will be back to stamps tomorrow but unless I tell you you wont know that I have now listed over 50 lots on Stampwants as well as on eBay.. user id at both sites is michaelatcddstamps

Please have a look if you want some bargains or are looking to complete some GB MUH for example. You may find this link works for Stampwants click Michael on Stampwants

or try advanced search and type my user name in select by user field - same applies to eBay for advance search or maybe this link will work Michael on eBay

Prices start from low of US 15c, multiple lost incur no extra postage until my postage cost is greater than the minimum I have to charge, which if you are winning single sets is highly unlikely ever to happen.

Go on, have a browse :-) best wishes, and enjoy your stamps ..... Michael

advert break.. :-)

Just listed on eBay - see my lots at michaelatcddstamps - most lots starting at 99c - often at 5% of cat selections include GB, Samoa, Fiji, Christmas Island, Australia and more. Multiple lots purchased only pay one postage.

Rare Stamps - Part I

Hello, something different for a few days. Please write if you enjoy or if you don't. I thought I'd talk about rare stamps. I have none in this league and it is always nice to have a dream to own one. Tonight a Cape of Good Hope stamp. The Cape of Good Hope is in South Africa as I guess you know although the development both politically and philatelic of South Africa and its many areas is complex so I will pass on that here. Amazing history to the area but lets leave that to your own readings elsewhere.

In 1861 some stamps were issued as local provisional stamps. These were referred to as the Wood-block issue. These stamps were engraved in London and were printed from stereotyped plates that were mounted on a wooden block and thus the name Wood-block. or Woodblock as is more frequently printed. The stamps were created by a Cape of Good Hope surveyor and were supposedly designed in a triangular shape so locals would know they were local stamps, with the design of a female figure sitting on top of an anchor, which is resting on top of a rock, symbolizing the Cape.

The Woodblock Stamps were printed in 1861 in both 1 penny and 4 penny values. The 1 penny Woodblock Stamp comes in the color vermillion while the 4 penny Woodblock Stamp comes in the color pale milky blue with various shades. However, the 1 penny stamp was accidentally printed with the color pale bright blue (shown below) and the 4 penny stamp with the color vermillion.










Just over 24,000 of the One Penny and 20,000 of the Four pence Woodblocks were printed. At most there are believed to be 220 errors in each case. The rarer shade of the one penny in pale bright blue is valued at £30,000 in sound used condition in my copy of the 2009 SG Commonwealth & British Empire catalogue. The vermillion 4 penny error is listed at £40,000

It's nice to dream don't you think?

Enjoy your stamps .. Michael

where do you put the stamp on an envelope?

Hello and Happy New Year to you all. I keep finding odd envelopes, well at least in respect to where the stamps goes, as in this cover. Close to 30 years ago and someone had a sense of humour maybe?


Am looking for topics to write about. Please send suggestions to me at cddstamps@gmail.com

Best wishes... Michael