Hello, complete change of topic today since I found this and thought I would share it.

So many stamps with Winston Churchill on. I have wondered if there is a country that has not issued a stamp commemorating him.

Anyone got a thought on this?    This MS free to the first reader with a correct answer.  email me your answer and mailing address to cddstamps@gmail.com.

have a great weekend   Michael       hey! why not visit cddstamps online store and pick up a few stamps to make the weekend even better.  :-)    just click this link then type the SG Number (for all stock listed) or the Scott number  (recent stock listed now includes Scott catalogue numbers) or the wording of the issue description  in the SEARCH KEYWORDS "search in this store" box to find the stamp you are looking for perhaps we have it.

Hello, continuing the theme of two stamps that look the same but are not. These two were issued in coils in 1971. They had two types, known as Type I and Type II.  Type I, the left hand stamp, has a much thinner typeface for the word Australia and a thinner 2 in the value. Quite easy to see. Which one do you have?   Type I is SG 465a with a catalogue value of just 20p (GBP) while Type II is SG 465b with a catalogue value of £1.25. Cat value is not everything of course but nice to know which is which I think, especially if you are in a stamp exchange. 

My apology,  a little plug for the cddstamps online store cannot be missed. We have a few pairs for sales in the store, at the time of writing, and the same goes for the Waratah stamps I showed the other day.   We also have some 8000+ Australia stamps from which we hope you might be able to fill a few gaps in your collection.  And, all new listing have both SG and Scott catalogue references and reason for issue description so it will be easy for you to find a specific stamp that you might be looking for.   

Enough said  just visit the store at https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps

Enjoy your stamps   Best wishes   Michael

Hello, two stamps tonight. I hope you enjoy seeing these. rather nice. Certainly a beautiful flower, a waratah, if ever you get the chance to see one growing in the wild. Why two copies? well one is SG 425 and the other is SG 425b. The left hand stamp has a much lighter white in the pink tones of the petals. I think it shows quite clearly. Looking for such differences adds to the enjoyment of collecting in my view.

Michael cddstamps.com

PS... don't forget cddstamps current special offer.. see previous post. :-)

In response to the last piece I wrote someone commented about how important it was to see the reverse of a stamp to ensure there was no rust (or “foxing”  or “toning” as some call it) when considering stamp quality. Some people also distinguish a difference between these but I will, for simplicity, just think of them all as rust spots on stamps.    

So a very simplified piece on rust. I hope the following is useful and the image shows clearly. As I said, this is a very simplified view and I recommend searching reputable philatelic sites and forums for more information.  For simplicity I will only use the word rust.

Rust is what it says it is, brownish rust like stains.  Rust can happen for various reason, but mostly because of dampness of some sort – climate dampness where stamps are not stored in a dry humidity or dampness from say perspiration from hands  / fingers when handling stamps. The type of paper, the chemical used in the stamp making process, for example with the gum, and the type of paper in the stock book. - all can be contributing factors to rust appearing if the stamps are not stored correctly.  

Again I recommend reading more if you need to learn more about storing and handling stamps.

Age of the stamp / stock album can also be a factor but we have stock books from 30 years ago with no signs of rust, yet one in which we found rust appearing in and the stock was only put into it 10 years ago. We moved all the stamps I might add and threw away any that had the slightest sign of rust because rust can spread if it is because of a mold or fungus which can be caused by some form of dampness.

I realise as I write that I need to write more, the more I say the more that needs to be said but I hope this simplified view and the images give you some insight into this aspect of stamp condition.

Keep your stamps from damps :-)  is my mantra    Enjoy your collecting     

AND, how important it is to use stamp tweezers when handling stamps. VERY IMPORTANT.   want a new pair, want a pair of cddstamps tweezers.  

A free pair will be yours - Visit our online store here and if you place an order -  any value no minimum spend  - between now and the 30th September and send me an email to cddstamps@gmail.com  or send a  contact seller message  saying you read this promotion on the cddstamps blog  then you will get a free pair of cddstamps tweezers with your order.  And your order will be mail from the UK after 12th October for faster delivery we hope, and with, as best we can get, nice GB stamps  

Michael  cddstamps.com

Hello, I know I have said this before but by chance I came across a few stamps today - offered for sale on a stamp selling portal. Again I was shocked once more about the quality some people seem to think is acceptable to be offering for sale. This stuff is garbage material. Plain and simple.  None of them were advertised as even spacefillers, which OK, while I do not agree because these are common stamps, at least that would have been sort of getting to acceptable.  Not one even had a "with faults" commentary.

It saddens me because we all need to learn about quality, new collectors especially.  And by listing material like this the sellers are sending the wrong message about quality. They are saying this is acceptable quality when it is far from it. They are saying this is excellent used, or Used,  or sound when these are far from any of those descriptions.  Yes, I know, I am boringly repetitive but I think it is important to speak out on this.

Anyway, hope you find seeing this composite informative and a guide on what to look out for and avoid if you are adding to your collection or swapping with others.

Michael  cddstamps.com

Hello, A relaxing weekend, hope it same for everyone. Here is another from Hong Kong. This might interest Machin collectors as well. This sheet shows the progressive printing process of a $5 definitive stamp in the 4 different colours or light green, dark green, ultra-flourescent and black. SG MS 771 issued in 1994 to commemorate the opening of Hong Kong '94 International Stamp exhibition.

Best wishes enjoy your philately Michael cddstamps.com

Hello, I saw a small collection of Downey Heads on FB the other day and thought something on George V would be of interest. So perhaps you will enjoy seeing this MS from Hong Kong, SG MS745 issued in 1993.  It was the second in a series of Hong Kong Classics stamp sheetlets.  The background of the sheet  depicts a street scene on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of George V.  One interesting aspect of the stamp is the larger perforation hole in each corner of the stamp. Perhaps you had not seen this before. 

King George V was an avid stamp collector as I think many readers will know. He played a large role in building the Royal Philatelic Collection into what is considered by many to be the most comprehensive collection of United Kingdom and Commonwealth stamps in the world.

In 1893, as the Duke of York, he was elected honorary vice-president of what became the Royal Philatelic Society of London. On his marriage that year, fellow members of the society gave him an album of nearly 1,500 postage stamps as a wedding present. He expanded the collection with a number of high-priced purchases of rare stamps and covers. His 1904 purchase of the Mauritius two pence blue for £1,450 set a new record for a single stamp. A courtier asked the prince if he had seen "that some damned fool had paid as much as £1,400 for one stamp". "Yes," George replied. "I was that damned fool”

George V had his collection housed in 328 so-called "Red Albums", each of about 60 pages. Later additions included a set of "Blue Albums" for the reign of George VI and  "Green Albums" for those of the current Queen, Elizabeth II.

Enjoy your philately, and have a great weekend.  Michael    cddstamps.com

Hello, welcome to the weekend. I was in Manila again yesterday and fortunately found time to visit the Central Post Office and the Philatelic room. So many lovely stamps to see. Perhaps you will enjoy this miniature sheet which was just issued by PhilPost. Have a great weekend Michael cddstamps.com and for the first two orders received at cddstamps - go to this link for the online store https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps and fill a few gaps in your collection you will get this MS as a gift. no spend limit to get this gift and free postage over $25 spend. Treat yourself this weekend :-)

   

    

I have been in two minds about whether to write this or not. I decided yes. One can see so many lovely stamps on various social media forums, most of them anyway are lovely, but a few that are lets say, perhaps ok just for ones personal collection even if a bit shabby. There that is quite tame isn't it.

It occurs to me that many new collectors will not necessarily know the good from the bad. For many years in another forum I advocated strongly for quality of stamp, correctness of description and integrity when offering a stamp for sale, or swap.

All this because the 6 stamps shown with this writing fail miserably in all respects. These do not come from a collector showing their stamps to us all but from a seller on a major portal.

Actually I am embarrassed that this seller has the audacity to even list them for sale. I am actually angry that the seller does list them and can get away with listing them. I only hope no one has the stupidity to buy one of them. Yes I know, buyer beware.

Oh and this was a two minute viewing I might add and the first few I saw. I didn't want to see more. These are NOT spacefillers, that is, stamps you can use until you find a better copy. Most sellers, yes like me, have hundreds of these in very nice, clean, not creased or stained condition.

I hope everyone enjoys their collecting (and continues to share great pictures of their stamps) and if in any doubt about quality can read the excellent materials published in most catalogues I have seen, especially Stanley Gibbons.

And, if in doubt or if you are new and learning. lets ask each other, is this an acceptable condition for the issue and age etc of the stamp?

Have a great philatelic weekend .... grumpy Michael :-) but happy Michael if you visit cddstamps.com or click here to go to our online store You want find anything like these there but you will be able to fill a few gaps in your collection with confidence you are getting something nice.