Hello,   let's look at another from Ceylon today. Another rather attractive design.    Anything special about it?  

Well not really in this copy but if you have copies of it there is one thing to check.   The perforations. There are 6 different perforations listed in both the SG British Empire catalogue and the Scott standard catalogue 

This again from my friends British Commonwealth Album here -    you  might also check out his online store here - he is doing a  special 70% off -  much below cost  so he can turnover some stock before the New Year.  A small store but some nice stamps.  Check him out  the Used Stamp Collector.

  Happy New Year  see you soon   Michael cddstamps.com 

Hello,  Merry Christmas  I hope your weekend has been  lovely. 

This from Ceylon today, continuing my showing of my friends stamps from his website here -  This is a lovely George VI issue from the 1938 to 1949 definitive issue.

Nothing spectacular you might say and you would be correct in this case. But, if you have a copy (or copies) I would recommend studying it carefully as there is a rather  valuable  copy with a flaw.  The flaw is known as the "apostrophe flaw" and is noted by a tiny mark in the shape of an apostrophe just above the  letter N in COCONUT.

Have a great day   Best wishes  Michael  cddstamps.com 

Hello and Merry Christmas to  everyone. I hope you have a lovely festive season however you may be enjoying it.

Todays stamp is from the British Solomon Islands. as above, a George VI issue from 1939.  Rather nice;  and a tease in many ways; see what you think.

If you read the  SG catalogue it is SG 65  and titled Roviana Canoe.   This  type of canoe is particular to the Solomon islands I believe.   However  if you read Scott this stamp, Scott # 72 is titled View of Munda Point.  Why the difference in title?    To be honest I have no idea.  Perhaps because Munda Point was a place where there was a  somewhat famous battle in 1943 between the US and the Japanese?  

The stamp was issued in 1939 so the battle idea really should not apply, should it?  But, yes there is a but, this stamp issued in 1939 was perf 13½  but in 1951 there was another issue with perf 12.  So that would qualify going just by the date.

Now how about this. The same design was used on the QE II  stamp issued in 1956 and then again  - same design  but with a watermark - in 1964,  SG 83 and SG 103 -  Scott #90 and #113 (shown below), and  yes, the Scott title to the image is now Roviana Canoe.  

I welcome readers thoughts of course.   Have a lovely Christmas.   Best wishes  Michael cddstamps.com  and   Stamps of the British Commonwealth

 Hello, after a few very busy days I am back writing.   Hope this finds everyone well and looking forward to Christmas.

This is a lovely stamp showing St David’s Lighthouse in Bermuda. It was built between 1876 and 1879. and I believe is still a working lighthouse

Some trivia – we can enjoy stamps so much more I think if we know something about the images they show -  although of course this stamp was issued in 1938, way before the trivia I am going to mention:

In 1976, some scenes from the film The Deep were filmed in the lighthouse tower while a fake St. David's Lighthouse, built at Bermuda's Coney Island, was blown up as part of the movie's plot.  Author Peter Benchley had included the lighthouse as a significant plot point in his novel of the same name.

This stamp and more can be found here

 

Enjoy your  stamp collection   Michael cddstamps

 Hello, one more from Barbados from this website - .  Does this age you?  Do you remember the farthing.  This is Scott  90  (SG 135) from the 1905 issue of this design showing the  Seal of the Colony.  This issue has the watermark Multiple Crown C A   the earlier issue in 1896  (scot 70) has the Crown C A watermark. The C A standing for Crown Agents.

One of the nice features about this site is the catalog pages where you can see very clearly the different watermarks  as denoted in the Scott catalog

 Now, have a guess.  Which stamp, say as a good quality used copy, has the higher catalog value?  The 1896 issue or the 1905 issue?     

You would wrong if you thought the earlier printing, the older stamp - after all it was issued 125 years ago.  Just goes to show that because a stamp is old it is not always worth a higher value.    Scott 70 is catalogued at 25c  while the later issue is catalogued at $3.25.  Always check your watermarks.

There is also a copy issued in 1909 which is all brown ( Scott 91)  Just in case you are checking what  you have.

And one final plug for this website The owner sells on Hipstamp - a small store - but he is a  very good seller.  Check him out  here.

Best wishes    Michael cddstamps.com 

Hello,    Today Barbados.  The Caribbean island has been in the news lately as I guess everyone knows, with it declaring its complete independence from Britain by removing all Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and making Sandra Mason its president.  

This stamp from the  1935 Silver Jubilee issue, often called the Omnibus issue and an issue  which has some interesting  varieties. Always good to have a  respectable catalogue so you can check any copy you have - to see if you have a  pretty pricey stamp rather than the basic issue.   This is SG 243, but there is a copy SG 243m with a variety (flaw) known as the "bird" by turret variety  with a 2021 SG catalogue price of £400 used - this as the basic stamp used is catalogued at £6.50.

 Enjoy your stamps and especially at http://www.stampcollector.online/3a.html

Michael cdstamps.com

 

Hello, todays stamp, one from the Bahamas 1937 Coronation series.  This is nicely cancelled with a Nassau cancel of September of 1937.

Some trivia -  Interesting and rich history to the islands that make up the Bahamas.

The town that would be called Nassau was founded in 1670 by British noblemen who brought British settlers with them to what was first called New Providence. They built a fort, and named it Charles Town in honour of England’s King Charles II. 

During this time there were frequent wars with the Spanish, and Charles Town was also used as a base for pirates. In 1684 the town was burned to the ground  and rebuilt in 1695 and renamed Nassau in honour of William  of Orange, William III, the  King of England, Scotland and Ireland.  He belonged to a branch of the House of Nassau.

Don't forget you can see more British Commonwealth stamps  at http://www.stampcollector.online/3a.html