At times it is bit of a shame that stamp catalogues do not cover the historical backgrounds of selected stamp issues in more detail. One such example are the East German (DDR) officials. I know a lot of stamp collectors consider these stamps either as toxic waste not worth their time, or alternatively they are very much afraid of their complexity. As so often in this common hobby of ours, a lot of it comes down to what kind of knowledge collectors favorite stamp catalogue provides.

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Lately I acquired a Spanish collection of about 2,000 different stamps (about the same size as my collection, except this was mixture of used and mint). For 33€ (all fees included) it was yet another cheap auction buy. But with only three blurry images to describe the contents of it all, it was also a bit of a gamble. I assumed that 80-90% of the 2000+ stamps would be the same as in my collection, and at least 10% of the stamps would turn out to be faulty. So all in all I was expecting to add 180-360 stamps on a good day; making the acquisition cost 10-20 cents per stamp.

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I think most of us stamp collectors have got love/hate-relationship with long running stamp series with consistent theme and appearance. As such Spanish Post did strike a home run in the 1960s and 1970s when they launched not just one, but actually eleven(!) annually running long stamp special series – many of them with engraved designs. In total these series contribute approx. 750 stamps to collect. The reason I use approximation is that there are some not so hard definitions on what to include/exclude with count, but it comes down to personal preferences where to draw the line on the sand.  Since these stamps make up over one fourth of all Spanish stamps issued between Second World War and Euro-era, knowing the elementary details and boundaries of these series can make sorting Spanish stamps significantly easier.

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Do you own any of the 1940s Brazilian stamps with three green lines on the background? If you do, then you may have read from any of the major stamp catalogs that the lines are control marks. But do you know the specifics why this control mark was put into action, and whats the difference between stamps with or without these lines?

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Possibly the most common and interesting of all Bahraini stamps is the definitive stamp series of 1976/80. These are a classic example of stamps where catalogue listings are incomplete and lagging behind discoveries. The series consists of four low values (5 to 20 fills) showing Bahraini flag, eight middle range values (from 40 to 200 fills) displaying map of Bahrain, and six high values (from 300 fills to 3 dinars) depicting a portrait of the Emir, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The low and mid range stamps were printed in lithograph by Oriental Press of Bahrain, the high values were recess printed at De La Rue of London.

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Moving forth with last weeks post, here are some random notes and observations about stamps of modern day Algeria. Once again I unfortunately have more open questions than answers about these varieties.

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When it comes to general worldwide collecting, one of my pet peeves is that there are so many unanswered questions with less popular areas.  For example I recently moved all my Algerian and Tunisian stamps into a new stockbook, and while in the process I tried to re-study some of the varieties I had collected over the years.

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Have you ever wondered all those British stamps with bluish star or letter D on the back? Only recently did I learn that they come from rather shortlived experiment with discount stamp booklets and discount folders, and the backprint (or underprint as Stanley Gibbons calls it) was to ensure the discount stamps were not sold over the counter at full face value.

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Possibly the hardest and most fun part of of collecting worldwide stamps is perceiving the moving boundaries and definitions of the world in proper historical context. Fortunately modern technology has gifted us collectors with some very cool solutions, that provide tons of information in very easy-to-digest manner. Below are five YouTube-videos that every (worldwide) stamp collector (not to mention map-fanatics and history buffs) should watch.

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At times I am amazed how one can still learn new tidbits of stamps even after 30 years of collecting.  While I was browsing through a philatelic dictionary on hot summer day, my eyes spotted something I had noticed on stamps every now and then, but never knew the official term or meaning behind the practice.  I’m talking about the printmaker’s abbreviations, and after a quick read I was more than intrigued to dig out some examples from my collection.

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