Major color shift on Ajman stamp

Here’s another recent addition to my Middle East albums: a major color shift on Ajman stamp. As Michel does not illustrate all the (gazillion) stamps issued under the name of Ajman, I feared I might have some hard time identifying this one properly. Based on the looks of stamp as well as the 1 Rial face value, I decided to limit my search to year 1973 and work from there backwards. And boy, was I lucky. I found a match almost immediately.

Published on January 25th 2012 | Read more.... | 3 Comments »

Unlisted perforation variety on 1969 Dubai stamp – real or fishy?

Whilst adding some new stamps to my Middle East stockbook, I noted something funny on 1969 set of Dubai fish stamps. The stamps have two very different perforations. According to general catalogs I have, this series should exist only in perforation of 11. But I also have a set in perforation of 14 :shock:

Published on January 23rd 2012 | Read more.... | 14 Comments »

Slurred printing on modern Brazilian definitive stamps

One final post about Brazilian stamps (at least for the time being)… Way back in late 2009 I wrote about a Spanish stamp having doubled impression. Well, here’s few new similar additions to my stamp collection, but this time on Brazilian definitive stamps. I believe these are examples of slurred printing (also known as kiss print), where the dragging of the wet ink has caused the dots to elongate in the direction the press travel.

Published on January 19th 2012 | Read more.... | 4 Comments »

A Sweet Bite of Brazil

Every time I find something a bit more special, I enjoy a feeling of excitement and pleasure. Below is a modern (1999) definitive stamp from Brazil that put a big smile on face. From top it’s like most modern definitive stamps, but there’s a twist (like in all good stamp stories).

Published on January 16th 2012 | Read more.... | 4 Comments »

My stamp exchange begins for 2012

I’ve been receiving quite a many questions regarding the state of my stamp exchange, so I decided to deal with the issue before things get too heated. So yes, it’s now officially back!!! Before you jump out to sent me a big pile of stamps for exchange, I’d like to again highlight few minor changes in exchange rules for this season.

Published on January 10th 2012 | Read more.... | 8 Comments »

Possible plate flaw on Brazilian 1961 Ouro Preto stamp

During the long weekend I finished organizing my collection of Brazil,and here’s one particular item I’d like show up. It’s a 1961 commemorative for 250th anniversary of city of Ouro Preto. But as usual with items I display, there’s a twist: notice the crack on left side of the nominal value I’m not sure if this one is a plate flaw/variety, or just some print abnormality (caused by dust or similar).

Published on January 9th 2012 | Read more.... | 4 Comments »

Série vovó: Brazilian definitive stamps of 1920-1941

As long as I remember, I’ve been afraid of sorting Brazilian definitive series of 1920-1941 (also known as ‘Série vovó’). The facts for the series are quite frightening: 11 designs, 44 face different stamps (incl.overprints), 13 different papers. Depending on catalog used, there are 145-168 major numbers to collect. And that’s just the big picture. These stamps have a mountain of different perforations, color variations etc. These make a daunting identification challenge indeed! Anyway, I made myself a new years promise to get all the duplicates (as well as those already in my collection) properly organized.

Published on January 2nd 2012 | Read more.... | 14 Comments »

State of my stamp collection 2011/2012

Yet another year has gone by, and it’s time to look back for the year 2011 and what’s ahead in 2012 for my stamp collection. In 2011 my collection grew with over 6,600 stamps, and my worldwide collection contains now 70,519 stamps (listed with major catalog number in Michel).

Published on January 1st 2012 | Read more.... | 15 Comments »

Hermes and Iris definitive series of Greece

During Christmas I worked my way through a small collection of Greece I had acquired earlier. At the same I put the specialized Hellas stamp catalog I have into proper use for the first time. All in all it was a very enlightening experience, as the specialized catalog had somewhat different view and lots more details than general catalogs. So let’s begin a journey into stamps of Greece with attractive ‘Hermes and Iris’ definitive postage stamps of 1911-1927.

Published on December 28th 2011 | Read more.... | 6 Comments »

Guatemala Spring Fair of 1960 perforation varieties

Recently a reader of the blog asked if (pre-printed) stamp album pages provide spaces for all the issued stamps and (essential) varieties. My response to question was negative: if catalog editors can’t agree on simple facts on what to list as major/minor numbers, then how could those making album pages manage better on deciding what spaces to include on album pages? Here’s a simple example to prove how messy things can get: a 1963 Guatemala airmail stamp to commemorate the Spring Fair of 1960.

Published on December 28th 2011 | Read more.... | 3 Comments »

Search blog contents

View blog in your language

Latest comments

View more...

Subscribe newsletter

Stay tuned with latest entries on Stamp Collecting Blog. You can choose between a daily RSS feed or weekly email. Click here to subscribe the weekly newsletter.

Popular articles

  1. How much is my stamp collection worth?
  2. Why most stamp collecting / inventory software solutions suck?
  3. Review of Michel online stamp catalogue
  4. Keeping track of stamp collection
  5. Early Austrian/Austro-Hungarian postage stamps
  6. DIY stamp album pages
  7. Best free stamp catalogs
  8. US First man on the moon stamp
  9. DDR Five-year plan definitive stamps
  10. Review of Linn's Stamp News Digital edition
  11. Best storage method for worldwide stamp collection is?
  12. Damn unsoakable stamps (or if you can't soak them...)
  13. Is a complete all-era worldwide stamp collection possible?
  14. How to soak kiloware
  15. A french mystery stamp
  16. USA stamps - Non-inverted Jenny
  17. US precancels
  18. Lundy puffin postage stamps
  19. Swedish coil stamp mystery
  20. Beautiful La Semeuse (the Sower)

And of course you can browse all posts/topics or use Search-functionality (on top of the page) to see even more articles that might be of interest.

Other popular pages

  1. My stamp exchange
  2. My stamp collection
  3. Articles archive

Tools

Customize the colors of the blog or visit philatelic link directory. Read more...

Show that You Like Stamp Collecting Blog

Clicking the Like-button below promotes this blog on FaceBook:
Clicking the +1 button below promotes this blog on Google and GooglePlus.

Every click counts. Thanks for your support!



For chronological listing of all posts, see archives

All Content and Intellectual Property is under Copyright Protection | Privacy
Stamp Collecting Blog's design by © KK Mediat