A Bad Case of Blogger's Block

So I Asked For Suggestions..........

After a couple of weeks of not finding time or inspiration due to work commitments, I started a competition on the Global Philately Facebook page, asking for suggestions.

What a creative group of "likers" I have!

Some of the suggestions not only created cold sweat, they would have required extensive research and a massive learning curve.  

However, as promised, I did the honest and honourable thing and put all of the suggestions in a box and pulled one out. I opened it with great trepidation and was extremely relieved to see that the subject is one that will not be too onerous! 

A word to the wise. It may be less stressful to fix the Bloggers Block yourself!

La Semeuse - The Sower

It Might Be Worth Checking Your Stocks

Following a recent "wanted" request on the GOMC forum, for a copy of France10c red-brown La Semeuse (The Sower) with ground under her feet, the members searched through maybe 600 hundred copies of the Sower issue and found absolutely none.

A search of online auctions only located a handful as well.

These are listed in all the major catalogues (SG325/326, Scott 155), with values only marginally higher than the "no ground" issue.

I'd suggest keeping a lookout for them, they surely can't be as common as the "no ground" issue!

Changes Afoot at Delcampe

A Business Responding to its Customers! - Whatever Next?

Delcampe has announced changes to it's fee structure, in a move to remove the hordes of minimum-value stamp listings caused by their no-listing-fee policy. 

They are introducing a fixed-fee charge for each item sold of €0.15, in addition to the monthly commission. I think this is a marvellous initiative. Do a search of any basic stamp on Delcampe and you will often find hundreds listed, at €0.05. While you can exclude them from your search, these listings are costing Delcampe money in bandwidth, and slow down searches due to overloaded servers.

Delcampe listings can be set to relist, for free, almost indefinitely. This is another area that they are looking into, along with the following:

• the possibility for a buyer to exclude the sales of a certain seller in a listing,
• automatic closure of sales which have not received any visits for a certain period of time,
• an automatic price reduction for items fulfilling certain conditions,
• the insertion of at least one picture,  
• changing unsold auctions to fixed price sales

Delcampe have created a Google doc for comments here. Why not express your opinion, as at least you know they are listening. I have suggested a minimum pixel size for pictures, to remove dross like this from their site (the seller, all of whose images are like this, had a starting bid of €2.00 on this)

I think Delcampe deserve the support of collectors the world over for responding to requests for change. 

Another global auction site would do well to respond to it's customers in a similar way!

(please note that I have no affiliation with Delcampe, other than previously selling on the site, and as a customer)

The 1935 Silver Jubilee - A New Discovery? UPDATE

Another Example of an Unlisted Variety?

In my blog of 22 June, I showed an example of a potential new discovery on Northern Rhodesia SG21, the 6d  Silver Jubilee issue. It takes the form of a "derrick" on the Round Tower, left of the flagstaff

I'm pleased to report that I've located another, very similar, example on a commercial site, which I've just purchased. However, this is on SG19, the 2d value.

I'm intrigued by this variety, which is far more visible than some of the listed varieties on the Silver Jubilee Omnibus issue

My search will continue for more, and I would appreciate any and all information for further research.

Specifically, as a sheet position would be needed to confirm this as constant, or semi-constant, it would be ideal if it showed in a positional block. If you have any holdings, please check them!