The Falkland Islands/Las Malvinas Dispute

A Brief Philatelic History

On March 10-11 2013, the Falkland Islanders will vote in a referendum on the following question:

• Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, YES or NO

It's doubtful that the referendum will end the dispute over sovereignty of the islands, as the Argentinian Government has already declared it illegal, and will not recognise the result. That response would suggest that they believe the Islanders will vote YES.

Information about the political history of the Falklands is available elsewhere. 

This blog is an attempt to provide a brief (and no doubt incomplete) philatelic history of the dispute. 

As far as I can ascertain, the Falkland Islands first appeared on a stamp in 1898. The famous Canada 2c Christmas stamp, SG168, showed a map of the world, with the Empire, including the Falklands, in red. Thus, the first illustration of the islands on a stamp was provocative!

I've found no other reference to the islands on a stamp between 1898 and 1933, when the Falklands themselves issued the Centenary of British Administration set. I think this is one of the most beautiful sets of stamps issued during the King George V period, and I use the £1 stamp featuring the King as my online avatar. 

The 3d stamp, SG131, showed a map of the islands

Collecting Postal History - A Brief Introduction

Part One of an Occasional Series

I've been collecting stamps for over 40 years, and covers for almost as long. While a postmark on a stamp can give an insight into what the stamp "did", only a cover can provide the full story. A postmark might tell you the where and when of postage, but can very rarely tell you the how and why.

This is the allure of postal history. The term was coined by Robson Lowe, and can be described as the study of postal systems and how they operate. The beauty of postal history is that it is a somewhat specialised field, so bargains really are everywhere.

The covers in the blog were all picked up for a song, because the people selling them didn't know what they were.

This grubby cover was sold as "Nigeria King on envelope". It's actually a First Flight cover, for the first direct flight from Lagos, Nigeria to Croydon, England. Addressed to Government House, Antigua, the airmail sticker has two pen marks through it. This is known as a jusqu'a cover (a French word which can be translated as "as far as"). The pen marks were  added on receipt at Croydon to indicate that the cover would not be conveyed by airmail from that point onwards, as there was no airmail service from Croydon to Antigua.

Franked with a pair of 1935 Silver Jubilees SG33 and 6d SG40.

Australia opened a number of Antarctic bases in the 1950's and the first Australian Antarctic Territory stamp was issued in 1957. Before that date, Australian stamps were used.

Collecting Stamp Literature

Books, Monographs and Pamphlets

Every collector has one or more catalogues on the shelf to use as their major resource. We can't avoid this, as reference to value is a human condition. However, the catalogues only tell a small part of the story behind the stamps we collect.

If a catalogue was meant to be an educational tool, the SG Commonwealth & Empire catalogue may run to 20 volumes, and none of us could afford either the cost or the shelf space. If we want to find more depth, detail and interest, accumulating specialised literature is a very rewarding and worthwhile sideline to constantly hunting down our next piece of coloured paper. 

Much of this literature is out of print, but can often be found at very low prices. I'm going to show a small selection of my favourite items, and none of them cost me more than $5!

Didn't we all have a basic stamp book when we were young? The one that was given to us by our parents or our favourite uncle, when they realised that we were doomed to a life of hunching over a desk with a glass to our eye......

This is one of the best primers I've ever seen. Published by the Philosophical Library, this is the 6th edition (1966) of a book first published in 1951, and it contains over 3,000 A-Z entries. If you're looking for illustrations of cork cancels, details of where Wolmaransstad is, or what P.K.W.N is an ebbrevaition for, this is the book to have

The German South Polar Expedition of 1911

Brave Men in a Very Small Boat

In early May 1911, the bark "Deutschland" set sail from Bremerhaven en route to Antarctica.

The goal of the second German South Polar Expedition was to map the continent via an overland route from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, and confirm that it was one piece of land.

The leader, and organiser, of the expedition was Wilhelm Filchner (1877-1957) who, at the age of 34, had already been involved in expeditions to Russia, Central Asia and Tibet.

Wilhelm Filchner

By any measure, the expedition was a failure. After visiting South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, they were beset by pack ice for nine months. The only real success of the expedition was disproving the existence of South Greenland, which had been included in maps since 1823.

During their visit to Grytviken in South Georgia, the crew were busy posting postcards home.

Although many cards have been on the market in recent years, and have achieved five-figure sums, this may be the ultimate postcard from the expedition.

The picture side, showing the "Deutschland", is autographed by ten members of the expedition. A total of thirty-five crew and scientists were on board.