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Philatelic publications and publishing

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The cost of running SCB - 2018 financial summary reviewed

Since my goal is to keep the operations of SCB  as transparent as possible, below is a financial summary for 2018.  Many philatelic organizations are obliged by their by-laws to release a public financial summary, but most stamp websites and philatelic publishers on the other do no such thing as they are privately owned. As such we collectors are usually struck by lightning when some website or publisher closes down because of financial issues.   I've been very open about any kind of financial issues SCB (or me) has faced over the years, and i wish that open financial report like this would open up the complexity and costs of  running a philatelic website like SCB for wider audience. ...(461 words, 2 images, 4 comments)

Follow the money - or what's wrong with philatelic publishing of today

Possibly one of the best (and worst) sides of being a stamp blogger is that you get to meet a lot of people.  Thus it should not come as surprise that I've learned to know a lot of folks in philatelic publishing: journalists, authors, editors and even few small publishers.  All in all I would consider these folks as one of the brightest minds when it comes to stamps and collecting. Unlike most of us collectors, these folks follow and study stamps and the industry around it for living, and can devote days and nights to their passion. ...(1173 words, 0 images, 2 comments)

How accurate are stamp catalogue perforation details - a study

Here's a question I want you think for a while: how accurate/creditable do you consider stamp catalogue given perforation data? Just pick any percentage you consider fair, and then proceed reading the result of below small study. Since I am now building the Stamp Gems database, I am not tracking down just catalog values of selected items, but also other metrics like actual perforation data - and how well it matches the (Michel and Scott) catalogue details. ...(1373 words, 3 images, 3 comments)

Sometimes old stamp catalogs are better than new ones (and vice versa)

Progress is a double-edged sword. Look no further than any stamp catalog at your bookshelf . Though a lot of things (like paper quality) have improved in stamp catalogues over the years, I am confident that you (like me) also miss a lot of things that publishers have wiped out in name of progress. As an example here I've chosen Algerian stamp from 1966/71 featuring Emir Abdelkader and two editions of Michel catalogs with 17 years in between. ...(1155 words, 4 images, 9 comments)

The Power of Few (in philatelic publishing)

Few weeks back I finished reading ‘The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History’ by Elizabeth Kolbert. It is Pulitzer awarded book about the ongoing sixth mass extinction of world’s flora and fauna, and the role of human actions upon the change.  True, it is not light stamp related reading, some might even consider it more scary than the books of Clive Barker, but the book got me thinking about the so said extinction of stamp collectors/collecting and the similarities between the events. ...(1261 words, 1 images, 7 comments)

About pricing of online stamp catalogs

Scott is releasing their range of digital stamp catalogues later this year, and I've been tracking with great interest any possible clues about the price it will become available. VSC is now having a poll where the editor of Scott catalogs, Chad Snee, is asking whether collectors would prefer to pay $99.99 - $124.99/year or $124.99 - $149.99/year for access to six-volume digital Scott Standard catalog. Not surprisingly, a lot of VSC members have chosen not to vote, and stated directly that neither of the given options attracts them. Is Scott asking too much? ...(442 words, 0 images, 49 comments)

eBooks are the future of stamp catalogs and other philatelic literature

Though I'm much in love with papery (printed) stamp catalogues, I have no doubts that sooner or later eBooks will triumph over printed matter. Right now one of my largest annoyances is the fact that though eBooks seem to be this seasons hottest gift ideas, there is nothing but few oddball philatelic publications available. Nothing from Amos (publisher of Scott), nothing from Schwanberger (publisher of Michel), and nothing from SG (publisher of Stanley Gibbons). Why? ...(242 words, 1 images, 39 comments)

Article categories

• Generally speaking about stamps, philately and collecting
• Learn the basics of stamp collecting - advice on how to get started
• How to preserve and build a stamp collection
• Philatelic knowledge base
• Stamp forgeries, philatelic fakes and other counterfeits
• Stamp collecting software (inventory programs and databases, online stamp catalogs etc)
• Straight talk about stamp values (both catalog and real world)
• Back of book stamps and other unusual stamp-like items
• EFO-stamps: errors, freaks and oddities on postage stamps
• Q & A - Ask anything about stamps and collecting
• Article index by country and topic
• SCB's Digital Perforation Gauge