cddstamps on stamps

my thoughts on stamps, stamp collecting, philately in general and maybe a few other topics !

Monday, March 26, 2012





















Hello, isn’t it good to know someone is reading my blog :-) I got an email from a philatelic colleague, one Adrian Keppler. I always enjoyed his personal blog. He now writes for the STAMP magazine and does a great job there as well. So do have a look at STAMP Magazine) but only after you read the rest of this piece. I have added Adrian’s column to my list of favourites to make it easy for you to access his writings.

Adrian writes to tell me there are three sources of the stamp I showed last night. Normal sheet (traditionally gummed), prestige booklet (traditionally gummed), retail booklet (non-soakable self-adhesive gum).

So my copy (and all the rest of them) is from a retail booklet. Above is another from a retail booklet, obviously, since it too is non soakable self-adhesive gum.

He also reminds me that I should look at Ian Billings web site and blog, which I do regularly as Ian is a great source of information. His website (and blog)is of course already in my favourites but here again FYI Norvic Philatelic

Best wishes ...Michael

PS Thanks Adrian for adding my blogs to your favourites.

Sunday, March 25, 2012



Hello, something just a bit different today since I was sorting some stamps this afternoon. So many recent (2009 onwards) GB Commemoratives do not soak off the envelope. Really annoying when one is throwing 100 plus stamps into hot water to find some still on the envelop backing. Here is one. I have many from this 2009 British Classic Design issue. Many soak off and are fine. Many are like this, and not only for this particular issue. Trouble is you dont know until you have tried to soak them. I have checked the catalogue I have, but nothing mentioned about different printings or gums. Anyone have any details. I'll get an updated SG Concise one day, maybe that has details. So after drying those that don't soak I'll try to start a section for non soluable gums. Will need even more album space.

And you thought you had issues and challenges in your life hahahahahahahaha - maybe I better get a life LOL

Hope you had a great weekend. Michael

Thursday, March 15, 2012


hello, just something I saw and was nearly going to bid on.. nothing expensive of course. But then I thought hmmmmmmmmmmm how come the franking does not show on the paper ... the stamp seems to have a frank but it does not extend to the piece that the stamp is on. Struck me as odd.. something not genuine about it me thinks.... views please.

Michael

Friday, March 09, 2012



Hi, 10th March as I write and just could not let this day go by without remembering Alexander Graham Bell ... "Mr. Watson,come here,I want you." .. he is reputed to have said. The first discernible speech transmitted over a telephone when Bell summoned his assistant, who was in another room at the time. Some stamps and some of the history. I like the Canadian stamp the best.


Interesting story... some here for your enjoyment... sourced from here Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1847, was the son of Alexander Melville Bell, a leading authority in public speaking and speech correction. The young Bell was trained to take over the family business, and while still a teenager he became a voice teacher and began to experiment in sound. In 1870, his family moved to Ontario, Canada, and in 1871 Bell went to Boston to demonstrate his father's method of teaching speech to the deaf. The next year, he opened his own school in Boston for training teachers of the deaf and in 1873 became professor of vocal physiology at Boston University.

In his free time, Bell experimented with sound waves and became convinced that it would be possible to transmit speech over a telegraph-like system. He enlisted the aid of a gifted mechanic, Thomas Watson, and together the two spent countless nights trying to convert Bell's ideas into practical form. In 1875, while working on his multiple harmonic telegraph, Bell developed the basic ideas for the telephone. He designed a device to transmit speech vibrations electrically between two receivers and in June 1875 tested his invention. No intelligible words were transmitted, but sounds resembling human speech were heard at the receiving end.


On February 14, 1876, he filed a U.S. patent application for his telephone. Just a few hours later, another American inventor, Elisha Gray, filed a caveat with the U.S. Patent Office about his intent to seek a similar patent on a telephone transmitter and receiver. Bell filed first, so on March 7 he was awarded U.S. patent 174,465, which granted him ownership over both his telephone instruments and the concept of a telephone system.

Three days later, on March 10, Bell successfully tested his telephone for the first time in his Boston home. In May, he publicly demonstrated the invention before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston, and in June at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In October, he successfully tested his telephone over a two-mile distance between Boston and Cambridgeport.

In 1877, he formed the Bell Telephone Company with two investors, and the first commercial applications of the telephone took place.

have a great day .. Michael



Hi, am back in Hong Kong after a visit to Sydney and Brisbane. Picked this up in Sydney.

Hope you enjoy seeing it. Transport, mostly aviation related of course, is an interest of mine as you may know, so I thought even if no planes it was still an interesting set. You would think with the theme of capital city transport a plane would have made the grade. Wouldn't you? After all intercity / capital city transport is by plane these days, is it not? Had this been RM they would have issued 10 stamps to the set so I guess in Australia we are still lucky we don't have such excessive stamp issuing policies. Well done Australia Post for not including monorail, taxi, plane, various types of buses, or water taxi. :-)

Have a great weekend...... Michael

Friday, March 02, 2012


Hello, I am back in Australia for the weekend. Came back to lots of mail as always and a few nice additions to my, eclectic it seems these days, collection. This on a cover sent to me by Royal Mail. Very kind of them. Especially as the 68p stamp is a security printing with Code P 11. A stamp I did not previously have, which I guess is not surprising since it only exists on the Roald Dahl Sheet I believe. Actually it exists on the Roald Dahl sheet in the Presentation Booklet and as this MS. This MS is not from the booklet it is a MS in its own right. And I did not know it was available until I saw the cover they mailed me. So two types of this MS. Is that right?

If you want to see more of my Security collection please visit CDDSTAMPS Security Exhibition Frame

Enjoy.. Michael


Hello, I am back in Sydney for a few days. A very wet Sydney I might add. Found various piles of mail for me on my arrival and a few auction catalogues included. When these are sent to me the auction houses here in Australia use old stamps.

So what is your old mint collection worth. Probably more if you use the stamps on your mail :-)

Argh, the joys of buying mint stamps and thinking they will be worth something in years to come.
These were issued in 1975 / 1976 yes true.. and for those of you without a calculator LOL that is 36 years ago and they are worth nothing more than postage. In fact if you look around you will see $1000 face value selling for up to 25% less.

I must study the 75th Anniversary of nationhood copies as there was a variety - the emu's leg without toes, although not worth that much I believe. Then again that issue also had some interesting colour omissions and if you have one of them you will be very happy. So it might not be all bad news after all.

Have a great weekend Michael www.cddstamps.com

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