Once Upon a Time in the Good Old Days - Part 1

The Way Philately USED To Be

I'm a sad traditionalist and far too sentimental. I embrace change (see me blogging?), but I yearn for the past and what I perceive to be the better and less hectic life it offered. Of course, anyone who lived through the "better" times knows that they actually weren't better, but it's how sentimental people like me like to think.

So much has changed in our hobby, especially in the internet era, that it might be fun to time travel back to a more genteel time for our hobby. 

It was a time when there used to be strange places called Stamp Shops, where collectors could see the wares in albums, windows and wall displays, and were served by men in suits. 

Shops like this one. The premises of W.S. Lincoln of Oxford Street, London. The picture was found in an old Lincoln album. Note the caption - "The Largest Stamp Shop in the World". That's the kind of advertising that wouldn't be allowed today without proof!

The inside of the shop was a veritable Aladdin's cave. 

Are You Interested in Cape Triangles?

If So, You Must Have This Handy Reference!

The Cape of Good Hope triangulars are one of the truly iconic issues of classic British Empire stamps. 

Issued from 1853 to 1864, they were revolutionary in design and were produced in four stages, by three printers on four papers with numerous shades

Stanley Gibbons famously purchased a sack-full of Cape Triangulars from two merchant seamen in 1863. He reputedly paid them £5! 

They are a little more valuable now, with catalogue values ranging from £190 - £100,000 for mint stamps, and £80 to £30,000 for used stamps. The major colour varieties can range from £40,000 used to £160,000 mint.

These catalogue values provide enough incentive for fraudsters to ply their trade, and with today's internet auctions, they have found a ready outlet for their fakes.

What can you do to minimise the possibility of losing your money by paying for fakes? 

The Christmas Island Local Stamps 1916-1938

Where on Earth is Kiritimati?

There are two Christmas Islands, or at least there used to be. One, an Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean, still issues stamps. The other, in the Pacific Ocean, issued local stamps from 1916 to 1938, when the stamps of the Gilbert & Ellice Islands came into use.

The Pacific Christmas Island is a member of the Line Islands and, according to Wikipedia, is to be found 6,700 kms from Sydney, and 5,360 kms from San Francisco.

In 1913, the island was leased by Great Britain to the Central Pacific Cocoanut Plantations Ltd. In 1919, the island became part of the Gilbert & Ellice Islands, but no post office was opened. To defray the cost of transporting mail, the Central Pacific Cocoanut Plantations Ltd issued a 5c stamp in 1916, featuring one of their boats, Ysabel May.

There are four printings of the stamps, two for each value, all on unwatermarked paper according to Bill Hornadge's "Cinderella Stamps of Australasia":

First Printing  (probably 1916) - 5c value perf 12½
Second Printing (1924) - 5c value perf 11½
Third Printing (1926) - 10c value perf 11½, corner figures and value in red
Fourth Printing (1934) - 10c value perf 11½, corner figures and value in greenish blue

The stamp covered local delivery, but additional stamps were required for any delivery beyond the local area.

Marcophily - The Study of Postmarks - Part 2

When The Postmark Makes ALL The Difference - GB Used Abroad

The postmark on a stamp usually indicates where the mail originated from, and is typically found on a stamp of the relevant country.

When the stamp and the postmark don't originate from the same country, the stamp is known as a "used abroad".

British colonialisation presented a multitude of reasons why stamps were used abroad, including the establishment of British postal agencies in foreign countries by means of a commercial treaty, satisfying the postal needs of colonies with no local stamps yet produced, and carrying military mail during foreign military campaigns.

These stamps are in my collection, and, again, all were found in bulk lots and not purchased for what they are.

This stamp is Great Britain SG94 4d vermilion Plate 12, issued in 1870. It bears a part duplex A25 of Malta. Although Malta issued stamps in 1860, Great Britain was responsible for the external posts until 1884, hence the use of British stamps until that time