Hello,   nothing special    just a few stamps as I have been  clearing some boxes today... well to be honest over past few days  and I expect I need the next few years and more to get through everything :-)    and the really sad news I will get that I expect with this  bloody virus around us....   but it is so good to have stamps as a hobby isn't it?  and I hope  you have a  friend like I have!

 Enjoy your stamps and relax    Michael cddstamps.com

Hello,   Being in lock down gives me time to sort  envelopes and boxes that have accumulated over the years. Always the " I will do those tomorrow"   envelopes and boxes arn't they. Well today I  did a little of that sorting. The Machin is nice and will go into the online store of course, where it was meant to go 2 years ago.  The other stamps. Well,  just nostalgia and some I never even remembered I had.

Enjoy your stamps    best wishes and stay safe   Michael cddstamps.com

     commemorative definitive decimal stamps    no shopping reward stamps I am afraid :-) 

Hello, How is your weekend?   Good we hope.  We just loaded a few New Zealand to the store. Nothing too  special but maybe  a few that might fill a gap in your collection.  Also, something we try to do when we can, is list  varieties; well in this case one copy of each perforation difference, SG 1261 and 1261a.  And of course we describe them clearly.  Nothing worse than not being sure which perf is being listed is there.

 Enjoy your stamps   Michael  cddstamps.com

Hello,  yes finally  Ethiopia.  Just one stamp to show, the other 6 in the set are the same but different colours.  Really quite stunning  to my eyes. The set was issued in 1931 and was the second airmail set to be issued after the introduction of aviation and airmail services in Ethiopia in 1929. But, because the 1929 stamps were actually overprints this 1931 issue was technically the first air mail issue.

The designer was  Stephan Papazin and the engraver and printer was the Institute de Gravure in Paris and their name is included on the stamp as you can see.

The plane is a Potez 25A2 –   ok I had to look it up!!  – it was a  French twin-seat, single-engine bi-plane designed during the 1920s.  It operated as a multi-purpose fighter bomber, it was designed as a line aircraft and used in a variety of roles. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Potez 25 was the standard multi-purpose aircraft of over 20 air forces, including French, Polish and American and the Ethiopian Air force  which had six planes.

Enjoy your aviation and aerophilately.  Have a safe weekend

Michael cddstamps.com

Hello,   something a bit different as I found this while sorting  today. This is a cinderella from a set produced for Seven Seas Stamps in Australia. I thought be  interesting to see this. 

I found the following which readers may enjoy reading and learning more, especially if you ever come across any of these.

The 1954 Australian Expedition to Antarctica was the first full scale attempt by Australia to establish permanent bases in Antarctica, thus laying claim to a substantial part of the continent.

To mark the event a set of commemorative labels was prepared for attaching to maximum cards and other souvenir cards and covers taken to Antarctica on the expedition: the first occasion that the Post Office had co-operated with philatelists in handling mail from Antarctica.

The labels were designed by Sydney artist Monty Wedd in four designs:

(1) The Kista Dan, the Expedition vessel (aka "Ship"),
(2) Map of Antarctica with two Polar explorers (aka "Map"),
(3) A group of Penguins (aka "Penguins), and
(4) A Polar exploration plane over a base camp (aka "Plane").

The labels were immensely popular and large quantities were exported to USA and Europe for the stamp trade, involving several different printings.

As a result they exist in various shades with some perforated, some rouletted and some imperf.

I did find some listed on eBay.   Very nice.   They are cinderellas or some call them poster stamps.  I noticed some listed and some not correctly described.

Enjoy  your philately   Michael cddstamps.com

Ethiopia Part III

SG 324 from the 1942 

Independence Restored issue  Centimes

SG 328 from the 1942 

Independence Restored 2^nd issue

 - CENTIMES 

In 1952 Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia. A set of 9 stamps was issued to celebrate the Federations. This is the high value $3.

A coup d'etat on 12 September 1974 deposed Emperor Haile Selassie; the military took over the country and proclaimed a republic. This stamp showing Emperor Haile Selaisse was from one of the last issues of his rule.

References and for further reading:

Ethiopian Philatelic Society
The Ethiopian Philatelic Society (EPS) is a non-profit club with its membership open to anyone interested in collecting postage stamps, covers, and related material of Ethiopia. The major service to members is their medal-winning, 30-page or more quarterly bulletin titled Menelik's Journal.

Tomorrow  I will show some of the Airmails I have in my collection - if I can find them! 

 Michael   cddstamps.com  

Ethiopia Part II

Prior to the admission of Ethiopia to the UPU in 1908, international mail from Ethiopia had to be additionally franked with stamps of UPU members. The mail was generally sent via Djibouti in French Somaliland.

Postal Stationery postcards were first issued in September 1896. This printing lasted till 1906 including overprinting in 1901, 1903 and 1905.

French Post Offices operated in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, Harar and Dire Dawas, from 1906 and these were closed when Ethiopia joined the UPU on 1 November 1908.

Ethiopia was annexed by Italy on 9 May 1936. In May 1936, Italy issued seven colonial stamps inscribed "ETIOPIA" and depicting Victor Emmanuel. (image left) Ethiopia was then incorporated in Italian East Africa with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland until the territory was liberated in 1941.

The final piece with some interesting stamps will be in tomorrows blog. Have a good philatelic weekend ..... Michael cdstamps.com

Above SG 5 from 1894 issue showing Lion of Tribe of Judah

Below SG 3 from 1894 issue showing Emperor Menelik II, 1844-1913

Hello, Are you still in lock down? You should be to be safe. I have now done 27 days at home, and we were told we will be locked down until the end of April. Plenty of time for writing and stamps!!! Tonight lets have a look at Ethiopia. I will do this in a few parts as there is more to cover than suited to one post, and especially their Airmail issues which I will cover at the end in a separate post.

Hope you like this.

Ethiopia, also known in the past by the name Abyssinia, has always been an independent nation, apart from a brief period from 1936 to 1942 when it was part of Italian East Africa. In the 19th century it was the only African country to resist a European colonial power and retain its sovereignty.

The British established a field post office at Massawa (then a port of Ethiopia) in November 1867, using stamps of British India. The territory of Harar was taken by Egypt in 1875, and in the following year a post office was established; letters from there used Egyptian stamps canceled with a Maltese cross.

Ethiopia first issued postage stamps on 24 November 1894. These stamps were valid only for local mail and mail to Djibouti. The very famous Arthur Maury, the Paris stamp dealer, helped produce the issue and the 1896 postage dues and then sold the remainders at a discount in 1900.

Enjoy your stamps Michael cddstamps.com

Ras Alkhaima is one of 7 Emirates that make up the the Trucial States, better known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). You are probably more familiar with the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah for example. Ras Alkhaima was the last of the Trucial States to issue its own stamps. Stamps were first issued in 1964 and the last issue was in 1972.

This is one (of 6) from the 1972 Parrots issue. The stamps from Ras Alkhaima are generally collected by thematic collectors. In fact there were rather a lot of stamp issued over the 8 years and yes, for thematic collectors. Some sources say around 900, some say around 1000 and that excludes miniature sheets.

Any stamps dated after 1972 are not legitimate stamps. As stated by Stanley Gibbons, "in common with other states of the United Arab Emirates the Ras Alkhaima stamp contract was terminated on 1st August 1972 and any further new issues after that date were unauthorized".

And, if a bird stamp collector is reading this you will find this in one of the IPDA Dealer Shops here This dealer – bluecollarwrench - is an excellent IPDA dealer you can trust. You will enjoy visiting his shop.

Enjoy your stamps ……………… Michael cddstamps.com

Gibraltar Part VI and the last part I hope you enjoyed this series. write me if you did not? I have more to do on other countries.

It would not be too much an exaggeration to say that since about the mid 1960s the stamps of Gibraltar have basically been commemoratives with the usual definitive issues and as the years passed they were issued more for the thematic collector and revenue raising, one might say, than for postal needs, much as is now found across postal authorities worldwide. In 1965 there were two issues, the ITU Centenary issue with two stamps and the International Co-operation Year issue, also with 2 stamps. How things have changed; in 2015, there were 49 stamps excluding miniature sheets. This is the world over I suspect.

But I cannot finish without mentioning one issue from 2019, rather stunning. The 50th Anniversary of Concorde issue from April of that year. Surely just for the thematic collector, as I have yet to work out what Gibraltar had to do with Concorde!, even the Gibraltar Post website has no reference to why this issue, other than a 50th anniversary.

The post in Gibraltar is currently run by the Royal Gibraltar Post Office which in 2005 was granted the title of "Royal" by Her Majesty the Queen. Gibraltar is now the only Commonwealth or British Overseas Territory outside the United Kingdom that bears this distinction. The Gibraltar Post Office is now known as the Royal Gibraltar Post Office.

Gibraltar stamps can be bought direct from Gibraltar Post or from WOPA+ Stamps and Coins, the ecommerce platform for collectibles.

Enjoy your stamps michael cddstamps.com

Gibraltar part V

The beautifully designed and engraved 1938 George VI issue is a pleasure to collect, and one that includes many shades, perforation differences and watermark varieties. Again, an issue where study is required before listing for sale because getting the watermark wrong, for example, could be a costly mistake. The 3d Europa Point stamp SG 125b with perf 13 is listed by SG at £4.50 in mint unhinged condition, whereas the perf 14 copy is listed at £130 and if you have the missing A in the CA watermark that is listed at £2000. Not a listing mistake you want to make!

In 1953 the Queen Elizabeth definitive issue, using some of the same scenes found on the George VI issue was released. Another lovely issue and with just a few varieties for the specialist or for dealers to look for before listing for sale.

Tomorrow the final part and some more images I hope you will also enjoy. Michael cddstamps.com