Posts Tagged ‘postal stamps’

Stamp collecting is considered to be one of the most popular hobbies in the world. This is despite the fact that there is not that much money that can be made from it even if the person has some of the oldest stamps dating back to the 19th century.

Even if there isn’t that much money that can be made, there are individuals who take advantage of it and buy a lot of stamps then sell it to people who want it for a little profit. It has made these people both collector and dealers of stamps.

Just like the regular hobbyist, the dealer has to be careful in handling these. Should any dirt, oil or any damage happen to the inventory, it will be difficult for the person to sell it at the desired price.

The dealer will need the proper tools to handle it. This includes the tweezers to transport the stamps from one place to another. It will really come in handy when the person passes it to the hobbyist who will pay some money so that it can be added to the collection.

Since the dealer has to get stamps from other people to be able to sell it again, this person also needs a magnifying glass so the true value of the stamp can be assessed and proper pricing for those want it can be made.

Storing the stamps till people come and buy it must be stored in an album. The dealer can get this from a variety of places and the nearest are those sold in the local bookstore and at some specialty shops. Since the contents inside are fragile, this should be stored in room temperature and away from direct sunlight.

Dealers need to practice how to use these instruments. Using an old letter with a stamp on it is a good exercise similar to the real thing. By practicing the proper way of handling it, the dealer can make a profit by selling these in good condition.

This begins by putting it the part of the envelope with the stamp in water. When the two begin to separate, the dealer should use the tongs to pick up the stamp. This should be dried using the air and no water must be present anymore when it is placed into the album.

Another place where the dealer can get stamps is at the post office. Since these are sold in rolls and some people are too lazy to go there, the person can buy it then deliver it to the collector with a little profit.

The collector and dealer of stamps can also be found at auctions and exhibits of these small goods. These people can sell a set or in bulk to those who are willing to buy it at the right price.

Another way to get customers will be to advertise in the newspaper by leaving some details and contact numbers. Since there is a demand for stamp collecting, calls will start coming in and deals can be made.

The internet is another venue where the dealer and collector can advertise to hobbyists.

By using everything at the person’s disposal to get in touch with those who want to expand the existing stamp collections, the individual will be making a good income that will be used to buy more stamps and make this cycle continue.

The dealer must have a price catalogue at all times. This will make it easy to get it from other suppliers and give the person an idea how much to sell it to the hobbyist. This can be bought at the local specialty store which gives its standard value in the market.

Stamps are easier to acquire now compared to how it was years ago. By knowing what the hobbyists want regardless if it is old or new and finding the means to get it, money can be made.

Stamp collecting will continue to flourish as long as people need to send parcels and documents to different places in the country and in the world. This will provide the dealer with something to buy and sell with and in the process make some money.

Philately can be described as the collecting and arranging of postal material i.e. postage stamps, postal routes, letters, covers and other material. This collection, be it stamps, covers etc. are usually documented to trace major historical events and other events.

It cannot be established when philately first started as a hobby as there is no known documentation. However, it can be ascertained that philately only started after the introduction of the postage stamp in 1840.

Collection of stamps adapted an approach with the introduction of stamps album. The first album was produced in England in 1852. Thus, when more postage stamps became available, the hobby of collecting stamps became quite common. More people began to take an interest in stamp collecting and philately began to develop. Many serious collectors emerged and one of the world’s largest and oldest stamp collections is owned by the Queen of England. DYTM Raja Muda of Selangor is also reputed to have a good collection.

The word “philately” is said to have been coined in France in 1864 by Georges Herpin. It is from two Greek words: “philos” meaning loving and “llateleiall” meaning free of payment. Originally philately was more confined to the study of labels, representing payment for postal services. From here its area was widened to include the study of the systematic collection of postage stamps, postcards, postal covers, postmarks and other postal material.

Rwanda had become a republic while still under trusteeship, and stayed thus until independence on 1 July 1962.

The majority Hutu population rebelled against the feudal Tutsi rule in 1959-62, leading to the massacre of thousands of Tutsis. Large numbers fled to Uganda. The first President of the republic was deposed in 1973 and was replaced by a military government under general Habyasima, who established a one-party state.

Armed Tutsi exiles repeatedly attempted to invade Rwanda in the 1960s and 70s but were always defeated by the Hutu army. Continued Hutu-Tutsi conflict left thousands dead over a period of 30 years.

In October 1990, Rwanda was invaded by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) of exiled Tutsis and some moderate Hutus, who were against the one party system. The invaders forced the one-party Government to introduce a multi-party Constitution in 1991. When the Government refused to honour the 1992 Peace Agreement, the RPF advanced on Kigali and forced the Government to begin negotiations again. This resulted in a peace accord in August 1993, known as the Arusha accord. This accord provided for a transitional period under a broad-based government including the RPF until the 1995 elections and a presence of United Nations forces in the country during this period.

President Habyarima who had retained the presidency during this period, died on 6 April 1994 in a plane crash, probably caused by a rocket attack by extremists of the Hutu army. This army and militia then carried out a pre-planned act of genocide against the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus. 500,000 preople were massacred in three months. The civil war began again and the RPF gradually re-established control over the country and forced the defeated government troops and 2 million Hutu refugees out of the country. Finally, on 18 July 1994, the RPF declared victory and established a government of National Unity.

Between 50,000 and 60,000 Hutu refugees died of disease in refugee camps in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in the summer of 1994. French troops with drew from their ’safe zone’ in the south-west of the country in September 1994 and were replaced by RPF forces that gradually returned most of the refugees in the zone to their homes. UN forces (UNAMIR II), which included British troops, were also deployed to deter revenge attacks by either side.
After November 1994, there was a gradual return of the refugees to Rwanda. It is estimated that 200,000 returnd from Uganda, but by December 1995, 500,000 refugees remained in Tanzania and over a million in Zaire. UN forces left the country in March 1996 and the killings by both sides continued and Hutu attacks in central and western Rwanda were frequent in the first half of 1998.

Rwanda has supported a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (qv) led by the Congolese Democratic Rally, a Congolese Tutsi Group. Rwandese troops have also been deployed in the Congo.

Local elections took place on 29-31 March 1999, the first for nine years and the transitional National Assembly was extended for four further years in June 1999.

On 1 January 1914 all the Nigerian territories came under one administration (British Crown Colony and protectorate). The federation became independent within the Commonwealth 1 October 1960. Northern Cameroons were joined to it in 1961 and a republic was declared on 1 October 1963. After two military coups in 1966, the eastern states seceded as the Republic of Biafra (see below). The rebellion collapsed in 1970, but further military coups took place in 1975.
In 1979, civil rule was restored after elections at national and state level. The military again took power in December 1983, though this regime was itself ousted from power in August 1985. The Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) was sworn in and governed the country until it was replaced by a National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) in January 1993. A subsequent Presidential election was declared invalid, and the military government resigned in August, handing over power toa Transitional Council.

A continuation of political instability led the Defence Minister, General Sanni Abacha, to launch a further military coup on 17 November 1993. A Military Provisional Ruling Council and a civilian Federal Executive Council were formed to govern the country, but pro-democracy demonstrations continued.

The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) was convened by the President in June 1994 and it was announced, in the following January, that General Abacha should have an unlimited term of office. An attempted coup was defeated in March 1995 and political activity was restored in June, when the NCC presented a draft constitution to the President. In June 1998, General Abacha died of a heart attack and was replecaed by General Abubakar. A continuation of the return to civilian rule was promised and the release of political prisoners began.

It was expected that Chief Abiola would be released, but in July 1998, he died of a heart attack while still in prison. News of his death led to widespread rioting throughout the country and the President announced that all elections held under General Abacha’s rule were considered to be null and void. A general election was held on 20 February 1999 and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) won a majority in both houses of parliament. A presidential election followed and the PDP candidate, General Obasanjo, was elected. The civilian administration assumed power on 29 May 1999.

During the period of General Abacha’s rule, Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth on 11 November 1995, following the execution of nine Human Rights activists. It was readmitted to membership on 29 May 1999 when the democratically elected government took over the control of the country.

Traders from Dieppe had trading posts from 1826, but the earliest French settlement, at St Louis, dated from 1659. In the 18th century the Senegal settlements were disputed between France and Britain, but were restored to France in 1817; Goree Island had remained French throughout. In 1854 penetration inland began and by 1891 Senegal was exercising control over a large area of West Africa from St Louis to Dakar.
The Vichy regime survived an abortive Allied attempt to take Dakar (23-25 September 1940) until November 1942 when it became Free French. On 25 November 1958 Senegal accepted independence within the French Community, but joined with French Sudan on 4 April 1959 to form the Mali Federation. Senegal withdrew from this federation on 22 August 1960 and on 5 September became a republic within the French Community.

In 1842 Goree was given the first postal service in French West Africa; it was not an integral part of Senegal until 1859. The first mainland PO was at St Louis (c.1856). By 19.15, there were 55 POs in operation.

Senegal issues were also used in the region known as Rivieres du Sud (after 1892, part of French Guinea) where known POs include Conakry, Benty, Boffa, Boke, Dubreka and Victoria; also at Kaedi and Rosso (after 1906 part of Mauritania), and at Kita and Kayes (later in French Sudan). Used stamps of French West Africa from 1944-59.

President Diouf was re-elected in the first round of Presidential elections in February 1993. In August 1998, the National Assembly voted to remove the restriction that limited the President to only two 7 year terms and Diouf who was originally installed in 1981 has remained President ever since.

Carl Einar Pelander was noted for his expertise on Scandinavian stamps and received a Fieandt Memorial medal in 1960 from the Finnish Philatelic Society for doing an original research on the stamps of Finland and for promoting Finnish philately.

Philip Ward Jr. was a world famous stamp dealer, known for buying and selling collectors stamps, including the rarest stamps which are classic issues of the world. He had an exceptional collection of match and medicine stamps and his widely known collection was the U.S. Revenues, which had the only complete set of inverted centers. He was the first person to recognize the importance of first day covers and then created the many of the rarest and earliest.

William Woodbury Hicks was a renowned specialist and founder of the Three cent 1851-1857 Unit of the American Philatelic Society. He built the largest and most complete collection of U.S railroad cancels from the 1830s to 1861.

Harry Weiss was an editor of the Weekly Philatelic Gossip in the 1930s and the most prominent philatelic columnist of his time. His column comprised stories on hobbies, new stamps, and hot tips. He organized the Midwest Philatelic Laboratory in 1946, which had technical equipments and offered a wide range of services for stamp collectors. Services include, stamp appraisals, expertization, mounting and even suggested ways for the successful outlook of collections.

George Ward Linn is a known stamp collector, journalist, dealer who own the George W. Linn Company and famous for his “Linn’s Weekly Stamp News”. Some of his stamp specimens have been among the rarest and most valuable among the philatelists. He traveled the world in search for old, rare and obsolete issues of stamps, even the ones with much historic interest.

Louise Boyd Dale is considered to be the most distinguished stamp collector in America. She was the first woman to be appointed as judge for an international philatelic exhibition. She became the first American woman to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelist and was also appointed to the jury of the London International Stamp exhibition.

Ad Indusophon, a known lady philatelist from Siam; was the wife of the late Prakaipet Indhusophon, a popular international philatelist of the 1970s to 1980s. Her greatest achievements in the field of philately include; the building of a foundation in Thailand to promote philately among youth; her “Cape of Good Hope Triangulars” stamps collection, won the International Grand Prix at Toronto in 1996; when her work was recognized and was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in Hereford last July 2001.

Anatoly Karpov was a former world chess champion, who is known for his stamp collection on chess and Olympic Games dated from the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896 to the Olympic Games in Amsterdam of 1928.

Cyril Harmer was the chairman and managing director of the “Hamers Auction House” from 1967 to 1976. He assembled what was without a doubt the finest collection of the Airmails of Newfoundland, “the Newfoundland overprinted stamps”. This collection was sold last February 26, 2002 for a total of £803,000.00.

Dr. Arthur Woo was known for his unique postage stamp collections of Classic Birds. Some of which are, the Western Australia Swan, the Guatemala Quetzel, the Colombia Andean Condor, and the USA 1869 Eagle.

Hiroyuki Kanai was postage stamp collector known for possessing 6 of the Greatest Mauritius stamp collection out of the 27 and it is the greatest number ever to be owned by one person in the world. The highly valuable Mauritius collection was printed in September 1847, under the instructions of the Governor of Mauritius’ wife, Lady Gomm, who wanted stamps for the invitations to her fancy dress ball. He received numerous awards in the field of philately but he is most proud of the award received in the National Grand Prix for his Finland Collection in Helsinki 1988.

Pichai Buranasombati was a top Great Britain postage stamp collector who formed great stamp collections such as “Straits Settlements” which won the National Grand Prix in Singapore 1995, “Burma” winner of the National Grand Prix in Indepex 1997, “Classic Siam”, which won a large gold medal at Bangkok 1993, and “Siam: middle period”, which won a large gold in Singapore 1995.

The easiest and cheapest method to store stamps is placing them in glassine envelopes and storing them in a box free from humidity, light, and heat. This obviously will be of no help when trying to go through the stamps for display or other purpose. Placing stamps in stamp albums helps in easy display of the stamp collection.

Hinges were used traditionally and many stamps have their value affected – up or down – by the size and nature of the ‘hinge marks’ on them. Mounts have come into common use over the last 30 years.

For decades hinges were used to place stamps into display notebooks or individual papers. Hinges are small, bent pieces of gummed paper that can attach to a page and to a stamp. That secures the stamp with a minimal amount of adhesive, while keeping it safely attached to the page.

Now a days, Mounts were developed much better.  Early versions exist from as far back as the 1930s though they are now used much more often.A mount may have a gummed edge in order to attach to a paper, but will provide a sleeve for the stamp.

Using a hinge is simple. You wet a narrow strip of the hinge and apply it to the display page. Then wet a narrow strip of the stamp and apply to the hinge. It narrows the area of adhesion. The hinge also allows the stamp to be secured while enabling the collector to view the back in order to see marks made there.

Older stamps will almost always have hinge marks or ‘remnants’, and sometimes this will actually increase their value. There’s no way to explain the evaluations of collectors, sometimes. A mount doesn’t suffer from the problem of adhering the stamp to the hinge, but they nonetheless need to be used with care. Mounts can produce marks or other types of damage.

Glassine, a special paper often used for mount material, isn’t an entirely acid-free paper and can damage the surface of the stamp. Trace amounts of sulfuric acid found in most paper can chemically destroy the cellulose.

For that reason, special archival paper is sometimes used to store and display stamps – not just for the mount sleeve, but the display page as well. Japanese rice paper is one of the more common alternatives, but there are specially made materials, as well.

Once mounted or hinged, most collectors will place stamps on one side of the page only. Though this requires using more pages and binders to display a large collection, the cost is generally justified. The risk of damage, from tearing or surface scratching, is greater with two-sided displays.

Ideally, glass or special sealed plastic envelopes will maintain a stamp in best condition over many decades. But, their cost is prohibitive for all except very valuable, unique items in the collection.

If you’re a stamp collector, then there may be stamps of different values in your collection. There are probably rare and valuable stamps that you’d like to own. But if you’re new to the world of stamp collecting, you may not be aware of the rarest and most valuable stamps. There are lots of them; however here is a list of some of the best:

Error Stamps: An error stamp is a stamp that has some kind of mistake. This could mean that it is unhinged or a detail on the stamp is incorrect. Stamps that aren’t usually valuable can become very much so if they contain errors.

The Benjamin Franklin 1908 Stamp: This rare one cent stamp, when found unused and hinged in perfect condition, can be worth $100,000!

1868 Canadian Stamp: This two-cent ultra rare stamp features a picture of Queen Victoria. There are only two of these stamps that are known to be in existence today!

Hawaiian Missionary Stamps: These stamps are the state of Hawaii’s very first stamps and are known as Missionary Issue. There were four stamps originally issued, with three values: two cents, five cents, and thirteen cents. It is almost impossible to find these stamps in undamaged condition.

1911 25c Vin Fiz Airpost Stamp: There are only 12 of these stamps recorded to be in existence. The only example shown to go to a foreign destination fetched $88,000!

British Guiana One Cent Magenta Stamp: This amazing rarity is probably the most valuable stamp in the world. It was first discovered in 1873, and auctioned to millionaire John Dupont for over $900,000. There is only one other known copy of this stamp in the world, which is currently undergoing tests for authenticity.

Swedish Three Skilling Banco: These stamps were normally made in green, but in 1885 a yellow stamp was found that was deemed to be a printing error. In 1996, this stamp sold for over two million dollars!

You may never get your hands on one of these rare stamps, but there are many others that are accessible to most every stamp collector. By reading stamp catalogs and magazines, you can learn more about them. Do some research and find out which rarities you’d like to pursue. You never know what you may find!

Varieties in Stamps are many. Some of them become quite valuable. These varieties may range from color differences, shades of colors, perforation differences, to whether the stamp was printed on a flat-bed press or a rotary press. There are also plate differences, those caused by damage or wear on a plate causing a slight change to be made. The change was usually not deliberate, but was the result of two different engravers working on the same plate. If a nick was suffered on a plate, for example, an engraver, other than the one who originally did the plate, might have been assigned to repair it. The slight differences that showed up in the subsequent printing of that stamp made it a collectable variety, sometimes a highly priced rarity.

Some times a printing plate will crack, and several sheets of stamps run off and issued before the crack is noticed. These are immediately in great demand among variety collectors since the supply is limited. As soon as the crack is detected the plate is either with drawn or repaired.

Varieties also exist in the kind of paper used to print the stamps. Sometimes the paper was thick, sometimes thin. Some papers were soft and porous, others hard and non-porous. All these things contribute to the creation of varieties which are the delight of specializing collectors, and sometimes the bane of those general collectors who do not recognize the interest or additional value in the differences.

Such things as a missing perforation will reduce the value of an otherwise good stamp when you sell it. This is especially true of corner perforations. There may be a crease in the paper of the stamp, so small as to go unnoticed unless you examine it closely or use a glass. Be certain, if the stamp is of any great value, that the buyer will use a glass, and the crease will not pass unnoticed. If the perforations are very uneven, it will lower the price. If the colored design of the stamp is unevenly centered within the perforations that is another point against the ultimate selling value. A stamp, normally perforated, having one edge without perforations, is of less value than a perfect copy. These stamps are called straight-edged stamps. Avoid them if at all possible.

Mint stamps without gum are of less value than regular gummed specimens. Usually such a stamp was glued to an album page or in a stock book by humidity. Or it may have become stuck to other stamps, making it necessary to soak them apart, thus loosing the gum. Make no attempt to re-gum a stamp to restore it to good condition. First, you cannot duplicate the gum used by the government. Secondly, you cannot spread it evenly on the stamp. Thirdly, you cannot know the exact thickness to apply the gum. If you lose the gum on a mint stamp, you should just try to accept your loss as philosophically as possible.

The same with parted perforations in blocks of stamps. If you have a block on which some of the perforations have parted, you merely have four stamps. No longer can you value it at the premium price of a block. The best thing to do is to part the stamps, saving an intact pair if possible, and make two separate singles.