| Slovenia |
[May. 28th, 2009|09:31 pm] |
I got a postcard today from Slovenia and thought the stamps were beautiful!
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| Paper Coins |
[May. 24th, 2009|11:08 pm] |
From 1915 to 1917, during World War I, but before the Russian Revoultion, there was a shortage of metal for minting coins in Czarist Russia. To solve the problem, the government used some of the current stamp designs to print paper coins. These 'coins' were printed on cardboard, with inscriptions on the back explaining their use as currency. They were not intended for use as postage stamps, but their use was tolerated in the mail.
In April of 1918, Ukraine used the same idea to solve a coin shortage.
The last one is from Ukraine.
The backs of the 'coins'.
The Russian inscription translates as: "Having circulation on par with silver subsidiary coins." The last one says: "Circulates on par with coins." in Ukrainian. |
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| Caturday? |
[May. 23rd, 2009|03:20 pm] |
Caturday!
2004. This mini sheet of five self-adhering stamps came with stickers for the corresponding (get it?) envelopes or letters. Flowers for the two kitties out for a drive; a bell for the mischievous maneki neko. |
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| On the flip side |
[May. 16th, 2009|05:20 pm] |
In 1918, during the aftermath of World War I, there was a paper shortage in parts of Europe. The newly independant country of Latvia needed to issue stamps, but lacked a source for good quality paper. They solved the problem by printing their first issue of stamps on the back of German military maps.
Latvia's first stamps, imperforate, and perforated varieties.
The backs of the stamps ~ German military maps.( Two more scans ) |
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| Ceylon King George and Two Colors |
[May. 13th, 2009|04:35 pm] |
Older stamps for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) restoman, newest maintainer of this community.
I picked these up a few years ago when I was in Colombo.
The postmark on the first one is Colombo, 1926.
'64, '44, don't know, '49?
( detail )
Going back to Colombo in a few days. :^) |
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| The "State of Oman" won't let me get some sleep |
[May. 12th, 2009|11:15 am] |
I was digging way down deep in my collection, looking for Cameroon stamps or kitty cat stamps, when I found an unopened pack of canceled stamps. I must have had it since I was a kid. It was one of these:
(Don't click the image if you don't want to see a huge 6 MB scan.)
"All different. All genuine."
All stamps?
My eyes were drawn to the Siamese mother and litter, and the basket of kittens. These will be perfect for Caturday!
Unfortunately, these postmarks are terribly fishy:
Now that I look more closely, there's something strange about this postmark, too:
But maybe it makes sense, if the stamps were on the envelope like this:
But then I put the Sharjah stamps together, and... well, we have a problem.
Do you see that? And that? And that????
Now I'm looking at other Sharjah stamps (like in my Birds & Butterflies album), and while I'm relieved to see they aren't postmarked 28 December, 1972, I'm not liking their cancellations at all.
There's some interesting information on "State of Oman" stamps at http://www.oman.org/phil85.htm, and a list of references at http://www.ohmygosh.on.ca/stamps/dubai/article.htm. I haven't yet looked for answers about my Sharjah stamps.
To be continued... |
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| Counterfeit Fake / History wants you, they made a mistake |
[May. 12th, 2009|09:58 am] |
Weird.. I think I found some counterfeit stamps in my collection. The cancellations look fake, dotty, low-res, you know?
They're "State of Oman" stamps with cats on them. I don't understand why they would be faked, because genuine ones would be worthless.
Has this ever happened to you?
...ETA: Oh. Politics.
From http://www.oman.org/phil8.htm:
Many stamp collectors will ask: why should serious philatelists need a page about the bogus stamps, the propaganda issues, the illegal labels issued in the late 1960s and early 1970s for the non-existent, so-called 'State of Oman' plus its dependency Dhufar (i.e., Dhofar, in the south of the Sultanate of Oman). While some collectors would put these issues in one group with the so-called dunes or sheikhdoms (often denounced as Raubstaaten in German !), others would rather describe them as locals or private issues, or define them vaguely as cinderellas. None of these descriptions, however, is really appropriate. Now, after more than 30 years since the first issue of these stamps, it seems no longer inappropriate to bring this part of Oman's history into the limelight.
Question half-answered, I guess. But I'm still not satisfied...
To be continued... |
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| Cameroon |
[May. 6th, 2009|02:10 pm] |
I grew up in Cameroon and these are stamps I collected when I lived there. They're from around 1985 to 1995.
  
  
Sorry for the poor quality. I'm still trying to figure out my scanner. |
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| Sri Lanka stamps from the 1980's* |
[May. 6th, 2009|04:36 pm] |
Nothing to do with each other, except that I thought they looked good together.
( 1200x1200, if you're interested )
*Noticed after posting that the upper right hand stamp ("Commemoration of Totagamuwe Sri Rahula") seems to have a "77" in the postmark, which is probably 1977. Seems odd not to have the full year, but I'm looking at other Sri Lankan postmarks that abbreviate the year. |
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| 3D stamp from Bhutan, 1976 |
[May. 6th, 2009|03:34 pm] |
This is a neat "3D" stamp that looks better in person than in a scan. The silky looking fabric behind and in front of the mask move slightly, relative to the mask.
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| Unique Cancellation |
[May. 5th, 2009|11:25 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Office | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | WCFR | ] |
I have an offer which may be of interest to the stamp collecting community. Please visit my LiveJournal for details. Your sole chance at this will be on Thursday, May 7, and your deadline is 5 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow if you wish to participate.
Thanks,
Steve Seitz
Author, "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula" |
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| Eid Al Adha |
[Apr. 23rd, 2009|08:46 pm] |
First day cover. December 6, 2008.
Entire souvenir sheet on a first day cover. The calligraphy on the stamps, and above and below the stamps on the souvenir sheet, is actually gold foil. It appears black in the scan. The large numbers (1, 3, and 6) are also gold foil.
( big, but just the stamps, not the whole thing )
This was a birthday gift from dubaiwalla. Thanks!
*Wikipedia article on Eid Al Adha. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 22nd, 2009|02:51 pm] |
not scans, but eye candy nevertheless. ;) |
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stamp_scans
