I bought this cover at a stamp fair last week for £6, as I considered it a bit quirky.
Having just done a search on the 'interweb', I found this description in an eBay listing:
Lufthansa's Around The World Pre-Inaugural Press Flight, Jun 2 - Jul 26th, 1955
"Hermann Sieger identifies this as Lufthansa Flight # 34. The 1996 (latest) version of the Haberer/Sieger
German Air Post Catalog prices the cover at DM 275! It is identified as the private Global Air Odessy
"Fresh Air Fund" flight, and was carried jointly by Lufthansa, SAS, TWA, Air France & Northwest Orient.
The reverse shows numerous enroute cancels including Oslo, Dacca, Murree, Dambulla, Manila & Honolulu.
Extremely attractive and a must for "Around The World" followers!"
The cachet has got a small ding but I'm sure I can flatten that out with a firm hammer blow.
Still haven't a clue what this is all about though.
PS.
After messing up my last posting on this thread, I thought this had more of a connection with the US of A,
even though I was spoilt for choice,
Here is RE31 I won off EBay recently, it was listed as RE20, but by using my method of determining the perfs, I was able to determine it was a misidentified RE31!
Seems like a lot of dealers, and also collectors have trouble with the proper identification of Wine Stamps. I'm not a big Wine Stamp collector, but always looks for misidentified Wine Stamps.
By the way, this is the second RE31 I've found this way. The newest stamp (shown below) is mint, I prefer used, but I still bid on it. True enough it's badly off center!
I did a little research, and having grown up about 60 miles north of New York City, I remembered what the Fresh Air Fund was about. The fund was started by the New York Herald Tribune to give a chance for inner city children to get a chance to leave the city for a couple of weeks so that they could see a non-urban area. May sound silly, but it was found that many poor children had never traveled outside of the city and did not even know what a cow looked like. I remember collections taken up in school to help fund these visits for these children.
Anyway, here is a link that provides more specific information regarding the flight and Ernest A Kehr:
I wish i could show a Biafra collection that came into our club Thursday...it was put together by a Priest and given to a fellow in a nearby town. Going to be interesting to see where it ends up !!
Among my uncle's collection were these three covers. Each has a bonus feature: One has what looks like a Cuba cancel; the second, an inverted 3 in the date; and the third has a Hawaii cancel, which I look for.
This one showed up in my mail recently. It's a Cincinnati, Ohio precancel of Scott 300 on an interesting 1904 Worlds Fair cachet envelope. Back stamp is Butler, PA in 1905 so these must have been left over envelopes someone used for an unrelated commercial mailing.
I am collecting usage on Scott 300 so I am buying precancel usage.
Bought today at a local stamp fair, this German printed card states: "Visit the American nuclear cargo vessel Savannah in Hamburg". It was date stamped 25th June 1964. I think the bottom line of the slogan postmark reads: "Atoms for Peace".
The N.S. Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship and was built at a cost of $46.9 million, including a $28.3 million nuclear reactor and fuel core. It was launched on 21st July 1959.
In October 1962, I joined the U.S. Navy "to see the world" and, even more, to go to sea. I'd never seen an ocean, or a ship. I went to boot camp in San Diego, and on my first liberty I headed for the harbour and got on a water taxi which sailors used to get back and forth to their ships. One of the ships in in port that weekend was N.S. Savannah, and it was open to the public. I got pictures from a water taxi and from the wharf where the ship was tied up.
Savannah never met her potential. Labour problems and the public's general (and not unfounded) fear of nuclear power meant that she was in port much of the time, and banned from entering some ports abroad. She carried both passengers and freight for a few years, then just freight, and was taken out of service in 1971.
I forgot to mention that I purchased this from a dealer that does not have scans of his stamps, in his listings, which is fairly unusual in today's market place and I certainly won't be afraid to order from him again.
Mike
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"It's been three years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 22 Oct 2015 03:10:08am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Great cover, Tim!
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant 22 Oct 2015 03:15:48pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
At long last (thanks Michael for Scott 109), I have completed the Turkey Definitive series of 1901-1905. Actually, except for the 50pi 1909 (Scott 160, Esfila 285), the last stamp still missing, I could claim completion for the whole 1901-1909 sets...so I will throw in that scan as well. Next, to work on display and presentation!
Not a very pretty definitive series, Turkey can be tricky to identify and some of the higher valued stamps are hard to come by. But it is good to have it (almost) wrapped up! rrr...
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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
I generally won't buy postcards with a lot of writing on them. I actually prefer the "address side only" cards to the newer (1907 onward) split backs like the one above. I did grab this one for $3 or so since I have never seen a cancel like this one.
Support the Hobby -- Join the American Philatelic Society 22 Oct 2015 07:51:29pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
It is a steel handstamp postmarking device with the lettering and numbering in a straight-line format inside the circular dial with an attached integral grid killer. Handstamps in this style were issued to military installations beginning in 1898 during the Spanish-American war, but some were also used at domestic facilities, such as Presidio Station, San Francisco. These are discussed in Stehle & DeRoest, A Catalog of Non-standard US Postmarks 1900-1971, page 60.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 22 Oct 2015 07:55:20pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
I received this stamp (Scott #158) today after winning it at auction a couple weeks ago. It is one of the scarcer stamps from Venezuela. I was surprised to finally get one as I cannot remember ever seeing one before.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 23 Oct 2015 09:09:35pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Ernie & Tim, Thanks much. It is always good to see how other collectors can appreciate when someone else happens to nab one of the very hard to find items for his/her collection. I'm not really sure why these and some revenue stamps were overprinted "1900". It's interesting to see how the 1899 original set and the "1900" ovpt set are valued.
Of the 5 stamps that were overprinted "1900" here are the cat value for the original non overprinted stamps of 1899: 5c $1.00/0.25, 10c $1.25/0.40, 25c $1.50/0.55, 50c $1.75/0.50, and 1B $1.25/1.00. The cat value for the "1900" overprinted set are 5c $200.00/200.00, 10c $200.00/200.00, 25c $375.00/175.00, 50c $23.00/1.60, 1B Black $1.25/1.00. The 1B "1900" overprint was not issued in the original color of Orange but in the later Black. The Black was issued in 1904 without overprint with a catalog value of $4,000, go figure?
There are also two other issues with different overprints on the same set in 1900 but their values are all low. One was issued before the "1900" overprint and the other as an additional overprint on the "1900" overprinted stamps in the following values 5, 10 and 25 cent.
This raises a big question mark for me. If it were not for the last double overprinted set one would assume that there were not many 5, 10 and 25 cent stamps left for the "1900" overprint but as is typical there were many of the higher values which did not get used previously. I can't seem to make sense of it and would be glad to see any info that could explain it.
I still need to get the 5 and 10 cent "1900" overprints but as the 25 center I can't remember ever seeing either. They are good examples of stamps you can not just go out and buy at any price.
Venezuela is one of my Favorite Latin American countries and is rather difficult to make a nice showing of. You can see all but a very few of it's stamps HERE
Hey Vince,
Thanks for posting those. Awesome strip of three! I love used multiples of classic US stamps (who doesn't right?). It's been my experience that they are EXTREMELY fragile. Many already have perf seperations and/or hinge reinforcements. I've found that getting them unpacked, into a mount and mounted into an album intact can be a harrowing experience. I've had one or two that were already weak come apart on me. Luckily they weren't of great value but I was still disappointed. Anyone else have a similar experience? My apologies upfront if this is too much of a sidetrack. If so, maybe one of our moderators can slide it over to a better slot. Thanks
-Ernie
Hi Ernie,
That was not a hijack. I come across the same problem. If the perfs appear weak I will reinforce them with a hinge. For my cancel collection I mount them on Hegner stock sheets so not a problem with mounts and easy to rearrange when I add new items.
Agreed! I've had some Ben Franklin plate strips pop apart, especially when wrestling them free from the over packaging of some eBay sellers! I've received eBay lots completely encased in non see through tape, so you are hesitant and worried as you try to get through it without damaging the stamps inside!
A few nights ago I was perusing the ending auctions on ebay and came across an auction that had no bids for 5 stamps. The photo showed the stamps in a manila stock page. You could only see the top half of the stamp... no Scott numbers just "5 Old Stamps Estate find" as the title basically. When I opened the auction I got a bit excited and sniped them for the opening bid of $5.00. They did have a photo of the backs of the stamps but no good photo of the fronts so I was a bit worried that they would not be good when I got them. They came today and I was very pleasantly surprised:
The 1c trans Mississippi was used but lightly canceled
I collect everything listed in the US Scott Specialized catalog (that I can afford) including test stamps. Got a good deal for this nice pair of TD53 Friden-Multipost-Mailmaster test coil stamps.
I am guessing the guy on the stamps is running fast to show how quickly the stamps can be applied to envelopes.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 04 Dec 2015 02:07:34am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
The other day, I received a lot that had the stamps shown below plus a few others.
They are from the Pacific Steam Navigation company. Two values; the 1R Blue and the 2r Red Brown were used as Peru's 1st stamps. There has been a lot written on these but there seems to be confusion which is not helping me figuring out their story. PSN supposedly printed the same values in several other colors, all of which are represented on the page below. Scott says these were not put into use but another article I found states that they were in use for a couple of months before the first two fell out of use completely. There were also forgeries made of these, which I believe most of the ones I have, are. There is also much debate on what cancels were officially used on these stamps which does not help rule out the forgeries. One thing I found interesting is that the 1R shows the ship pointing left and the 2R pointing right. These corresponded to the direction the ship traveled and it's corresponding rate. I'm not sure if all of the 2r's that were printed by PSN in the new colors had the ship pointing to the right. If so the Brown one shown is probably the only genuine 2r I have. The printing is also much finer than the rest. Needless to say I need do more studying on these. I've seen s great many of these being sold on Ebay over the years but can't remember if I have ever seen one that I could trust as being genuine.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 04 Dec 2015 08:07:38pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Antonio , Thanks! I was wondering about that cancel as it is different from the rest. I'll make a note of it. I just noticed that the 3rd stamp on the black card looks to have a French cancel #4498. I can't find the place where that cancel was used in my Ceres catalog nor in Scott. One article I read said that the later issues printed in different colors were used in different countries in South America for that short period of time but have no clue how it received a French cancel of the period.
Support the Hobby -- Join the American Philatelic Society 04 Dec 2015 11:38:13pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Are any of these Pacific Steam Navigation Co. stamps actually engraved? That would be the first step to weed out the myriad of forgeries of this issue, which tend to be lithographed (Source: Michel). In addition, yes, on the originals of the 2-Real the steamer is headed east. That the ship on the 2-Real is facing in the other direction is not pictured or described in Scott. In any event, all 2-Real with steamer heading west, like on the 1-Real, are fake. Finally, Serrane gives as the only cancels Lima, Callao, Chorillos, and the number 4 in a barred oval.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 05 Dec 2015 06:37:05pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
I've never had any doubt that most all of these were forgeries. In fact I think there are only two that are genuine. I imagine that all of the 2rs had the ship facing right/East because that was the rate for mail traveling in that direction. However I'm not sure if any of the 2r forgeries showed the ship facing that direction. The Brown 2r is engraved and I'm quite sure it is genuine although in poor condition. Actually, Scott World Specialty catalog does note the 2r facing right/East, something that I had overlooked at
first.
I just won this cover a few minutes ago. It was made to commemorate the 25 anniversary of NASA. It was the 3rd of the ten missions for challenger. I imagine most of us knew where we were on the ill fated mission ten. This was the first night time launch for a shuttle and one of it's passengers was the first person of the Black race to enter space. I would think with around 2.5 million miles traveled, these covers are possibly the longest traveled philatelic items? There were 250,000 covers that made the trip so the weight of these would have been a big consideration for the flight.
Obviously it is not that rare but It looked like a must have for my collection even though I rarely collect covers. $12.00 well spent methinks.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 06 Dec 2015 02:03:35am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
John, That would be great but the auction house did not provide a scan of the back. Be a couple weeks before I get it, then I'll see what the numbers are.
The more I think about the cover the more I am thinking it should be a must for any U.S. collection. It just has so much going for it. It's even got that kewl high value Eagle on it, which would be nice on a cover by itself but that's probably the 5th or 6th best thing about the cover.
Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector 06 Dec 2015 06:43:39am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Mitchell- The thing I think is great about the cover you can get one from anywhere between $10-$20 dollars as there are about 250,000 covers out there. Makes them very affordable. The copies of the Linns articles is forthcoming. Here is a scan of a flown cover.
I've been busy picking up some new cancels for my US fancy canel collection.
The first group are geometrics from New Orleans.
The next group are various patent cancels.
The next group are mixed letters and geometrics.
The third stamp on the top row is a letter "R". The letter "W" and clover canceled stamps took a bath in peroxide and it brought out the vermilion color a little bit.
The last group are a few Hawaiian stamps and second and third stamps on the top row appear to be patent cancels but I haven't been able to confirm that.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 07 Dec 2015 10:23:39pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Yesterday, I won the Black 1845 9X1 in a mixed lot of world wide stamps. It is of course cut into badly but who knows I may never get another better one. Cost me about $10 which I'd pay anyday. It's funny that I also won the Blue TCP in a mixed world lot also, around 15 years ago and it has been one of my favorite items, Just shows you never know what you might find in a mixed foreign lot.
I also won 5 of the 1870 banknote grills, one being the 10 Cent which I did not have. Also in that lot were most of the 1873 and 1879 sets including a couple mint upgrades for my collection. At under a $100 the lot should pay for itself a few times over.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 12 Dec 2015 05:26:52pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
I thought I had found all the items I was going to bid on this weekend, until I spotted this card about an hour ago. Although I do not collect covers, I could not pass this one up. The hammer fell a couple of minutes ago and I got it for $42.50.
It is the first official air mail stamp in the world on a first flight-first day of issue postcard. I have never seen one of these before but Scott has it listed on flown colored postcard for $100 and White postcard for $1,250. Since the card has no colors on it I think I am safe in assuming it's the much better one.
I also just won two semi postals I needed, last two in set below
These, especially the card make great additions to my nearly complete Italian collection!
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 15 Dec 2015 07:09:12pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Other than trading, my only source for stamps for the last 7 years has been a foreign auction house. It always has many more stamps than I need or can afford, so I haven't had any need to look elsewhere. Last week I tried another auction site and won a few items at very decent prices. The important item is the sheet below. It is from Croatia 1944 and is entitled 'Men of Storm Division" The sheet and separately issue stamps are by far the top key items for Croatia. I obtained the three stamps earlier this year but thought I would probably never get the sheet. It catalogs for $1,450.00 and I thought I would probably have to lay out $300 to $400 to get one. Well happily, I couldn't have been more wrong (as is often the case). I ended up winning the sheet for a ridiculous $34.00, 2.3% of catalog. No doubt I hit it on a good day when there were not even any semi serious Croatian collectors. The sheet itself has a couple faults including a couple small folded corners and a small thin. However the stamps are NH and by themselves catalog for $400.00 each. Note: The issued stamps vary from those of the sheet in that there is a Red imprint at bottom right on those from the sheet and the singles do not have an imprint.
Although I already spend a lot of time viewing the auction lots each week from my main source, I'll be keeping an eye on this new one. Can't afford to let things like this slip by me.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 16 Dec 2015 05:39:43am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
WOW!
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
" I ended up winning the sheet for a ridiculous $34.00, 2.3% of catalog."
I don't know whether to feel ridiculously happy at your good fortune, Antonius, or insanely jealous!
I am complete on wartime Croatia except for this MS and its three stamps. In my album my tight-lipped comment, in small writing, is:
"A large landscape-format MS was issued (SG MS144a) retailing at €2000 (2011 price) for which no space has been left on these pages. The above set {i.e. the three stamps} was offered at €450 (2014)."
Well done! (I don't suppose I can offer you $35 for them? No.)
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 16 Dec 2015 03:01:51pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Well, like I said I never thought I would get them either. Ever since I first saw them they became one of my favorite WWII issues. I was surprised how large the sheet was when I go it, it nearly takes up a whole large format page. I believe I paid around $45 for the singles earlier this year. It just goes to show that great deals can be found out there if you look but you're not going to find anything remotely close from Ebays top sellers. In the last week I won several auction lots with catalog values of $6,000-8,000 for less than $200. I'll have to wait until they arrive before I can correctly I.D. and value the U.S. Banknotes in one of the lots. This sheet and the first flight post card above catalog for $2,700 but I only paid $70.00 or 2.5% of cat for them and that's from two different sources.
These deals are not uncommon but I am often surprised what items, like this sheet, can go so low. My point in this ramble is not so much aimed at you but all of the people that buy from high priced dealers and those top sellers on Ebay. There are much better ways to build your collection, faster and much cheaper.
This card is from The HagueCongress, considered by many as the first federal moment of the European history, was held in the Congress of Europe in The Hague ( The Netherlands) from May 7–11 , 1948 with 750 delegates participating from around Europe as well as observers from Canada and the United States. It is the cancel that's the important item on the card. Yes, it fits nicely in my Europa collection! Thank you Santa
stampmanjack APS Life Member 24 Dec 2015 11:35:09am
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
I have the Croatian souvenir mentioned above. I bought it some years ago for $25 when it catted $600. The dealer who sold it to me said he could not promise it as genuine as most of these sheets are forgeries. I don't know if it can be expertised but for $25, I did not feel it was worth it. I only need several more items to complete old Croatia. They are affordable but I just haven't taken the time to look.
Jack
Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant 24 Dec 2015 12:39:54pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
@Antonius:
"I received this stamp (Scott #158) today after winning it at auction a couple weeks ago. It is one of the scarcer stamps from Venezuela. I was surprised to finally get one as I cannot remember ever seeing one before."
Seeing this stamp again made me want to get back to my Latin America collection, which has been dormant for years.
But first, I need to put away (for a while) the 27-2inch binders of my extensive Europa collection... I am saturating with Europa!
So I dug out some of my recent accumulations, and this is what I found. Surprised by the straight edge on the RHS
And saddened to see the trimmed perf on the upper LHS, but cannot complain as it was in a cheap lot of "penny stamps"..discarded or just not well identified.
So Antonius, what do you make of the RHS? trimmed or unperfed? Sorry about the out-of-focus iphone camera close up image.
Rrr...
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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 24 Dec 2015 05:50:08pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Sorry, but I would not worry about the clipped perfs as the stamp only catalogs for 55 cents. It is not a #156 but a #161 which has the additional "Resellada" overprint. See here for examples of the two issues.
I do not believe there are any natural straight edges on these.
Lately a lot of people are getting in to Latin America. It's always been one of my favorite areas and did not understand why most collectors did not feel the same way.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 24 Dec 2015 06:08:52pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
" ... It's always been one of my favorite areas and did not understand why most collectors did not feel the same way. ..."
And I do not understand why I have so much difficulty firing up the enthusiasm machine for South and Central America either, but it seems to me more like a chore than fun.
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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
In stamps having the same design on all values and printed from two plates, the key plate prints the general or common part of the design leaving space for the duty plate to print in the value. It is also known as the head plate.
Sheepshank has done a good job of informing us about the meaning of Key Plate. Thanks.
Bermuda, and goodly number of other members of the British Commonwealth, issued two series of high value stamps that were used for both postage and revenue – but given their high value, primarily for revenue (taxing) purposes. The first series was issued during the reign of King George V and the second during the reign of King George VI. All of the stamps were printed in England.
The key plates were issued in various denominations: 2 shilling, 2/6d, 5/, 10/, 12/6d, and £1.
The timing of a number of the KGVI issues corresponded to the Second World War. As a result of the war there were shortages in paper and ink. These shortages resulted in a number of printings that used different paper, different inks, different paper coatings, and different perfs. During the war years these were printed in relatively small batches, both because of the aforementioned shortages and because there wasn’t a good deal of demand for their high values.
The one value that received a good deal of usage was the 12/6d. That value represented the cost of an exit visa from Bermuda during the late 40s and early 50s. The stamp was affixed to travelers’ air or ship tickets and often canceled by punching a hole through it.
Additionally, there are literally dozed of printing errors in both the KGV and the KGVI series (fly specs) owing to plate cracks, etc.
There is an out of print booklet entitled Bermuda King George VI High Values: A guide to the flaws and printings, by Robert W Dickgiesser that was published circa 1980. It does an excellent job of delineating every aspect of the KGVI series. This book can often be found on EBay. (I saw a used, and overpriced, copy, at a gift shop in Somerset Bermuda this past summer).
Santa Wife brought me this catalog. Yes I don't speak French, but google does.
Today I learned Dahomey had 31 post offices in 1913, and it cost 5c to send a postcard between them.
Lots of nice stamp photos, plus some variation not show in Scotts.
Tom
I've added three stamps to my worldwide airmail collection:
Left to right, Newfoundland C2c, Ecuador CO6a, Mexico C93A
The Newfoundland stamp was issued for the Alcock-Brown flight to Ireland in 1919. They made the trip in a Vickers Vimy bomber, an open-cockpit aircraft. It was the first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight. The pair won a £10,000 prize put up by The Daily Mail of London.
Statue of Alcock and Brown at Heathrow Airport
This stamp is one of three varieties of C2 listed in Scott. All are shifts in the overprint. In this case, The "A" of Air is under the "a" of Trans. It was supposed to be under the "r." So there!
The stamp on the right honored Francisco Sarabia, who flew from Mexico City to New York nonstop in 1939. Sarabia made the trip in less than 11 hours, breaking Amelia Earhart's 1934 record by 3.5 hours.
Francisco Sarabia
On his return, Sarabia stopped in Washington to have his plane serviced. On takeoff, his engine stalled and he plunged into the Potomac River. Sarabia drowned. Investigators later found a mechanic's rag in a carburetor. It had apparently been left in the engine compartment and was sucked into the carburetor.
Only 2,100 of these stamps were printed, 400 of which were overprinted "Muestra" and sent to the UPU. The low numbers made the stamps expensive, and their sale financed the flight. Many were placed on covers and carried by Sarabia. These also were sold. The same game was played by Earhart in 1934. Collectors were not happy.
There's no particular story behind Ecuador CO6a, as far as I know. However, "OFICIAL" is upside down. Whoops! That raises the Scott value from $4 to $240.
I purchased this cover yesterday on eBay from a dealer in Vietnam:
The stamps, picturing Ho Chi Minh, were issued May 7, 1975 by North Vietnam for the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, just a week after communist forces captured Saigon. The cover was postmarked May 29, 1975, in Chau-Doc, M.N. Viet Nam (Mien Nam Viet Nam / South Vietnam), a city on the border of Cambodia west of Ho Chi Minh City. South Vietnam and North Vietnam would not be unified officially until July 2, 1976, when the Socialist Republic of Vietnam came into being, so the cover isn't really South Vietnamese or North Vietnamese, but provisional.
Covers franked with these and other stamps printed for the provisional government of South Vietnam aren't rare, but you don't see them all that often. This one is in terrible condition, representative, perhaps, of the terrible postwar conditions in Vietnam. I would rather have it in my collection than a pristine philatelic cover.
Can't show you what I got, because it's still on the way from two different dealers. However, I finally hunkered down, scoured eBay and found the last three sets that I needed to complete Rio Muni. Small country, yes, but try to find the stamps MNH!
Here is an Australian Kangaroo that I received today in the mail from Roy's new stamp store. It is Scott #49 (SG 73a) and has the "broken leg" variant. I was not aware of this variant until I saw it in Roy's store. I then Googled it and there is a lot out there about it.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 08 Jan 2016 10:05:24pm
re: Let's see your most recent acquisitions
Croman, I cannot say why, but I have always loved that particular set.
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
I got this one recently. It was ending and the price was low so I grabbed it. I especially like the centering. I had been looking for a complete set, but all I saw had several with bad centering of the stamp or the vignette, or straight edges and thins... and they wanted more than I cared to spend.