Most of my worldwide stamp collections end 46 years ago...i do need something more modern to play with..I have been noticing that Mexico has so many stamps relating to art..pre Columbian to modern and honoring artists. It would probably be easier to collect the country than start an Art topic collection !
Some Mexican stamps are very beautiful and many depict historical events and are very nicely done. The definitives will give you headaches with the types and watermarks, but that's all right. Also pay attention to the Scott catalog notes regarding poor perforating on many modern stamps. That is normal and not considered damage.
I have never paid much attention to Mexico so I cannot judge how difficult it is. The remark intrigues me though: what makes it so difficult to collect? And is it harder than for instance Brazil or Argentina aith all their watermarks.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 17 Oct 2015 09:14:52pm
re: Starting to sneak glances at Mexico
Mexico is much more difficult than Brazil or Argentina. Both my Argentina and Brazil are close to 99% complete thru 1970. My Mexico is less than 80% and I doubt I will ever get to 90%. There are a great many more variations as to perf and watermarks and for the most part are expensive and or difficult to find. Another big reason is that Mexico issued about three times more stamps up to 1916 than did either Argentina or Brazil. A comparison of issues and catalog values for these countries should tell the story.
Links for the three countries are below. NOTE: there are about 10 pages of early Mexico that are not shown because they are very sparse.
The method that ikey outlined is a second way to use the link function. The result will look like the way I edited your post to make the links live to just show the country names rather than the entire URL.
Conventional wisdom from some philatelic gurus used to be- only collect Mexico if you plan to make it your ONLY interest. It's too complex to tackle as a secondary interest.
Good advice, if you get into the whole enchilada, district overprints, etc. I have a 'one of a type' collection on Scott pages that I still add to once in awhile. I belong to the MEPSI and their sales books are on line and contain great value. Their journal is terrific, even if it is sometimes over my head.
John Apfelbaum gives a good overview of Mexico, with all the reasons that make it such a difficult country to collect. Here is the link: Specialization Area: Mexico
Not to put you off on the idea, though, collecting Mexico is still interesting and rewarding, if you want to keep it more casual, as Apfelbaum explains in another post: Philatelic Specialties
I like the Exporta series, and collect them as I come across them. I haven't delved too deeply into them, yet, but I have bookmarked a couple of web pages for reference.
I'd like to find out something about the early work of the engraver Jorge Peral, now working in Canada. He was born in Mexico, and worked there engraving banknotes for about 17 years from 1978 or so till he relocated to Canada in 1995, I think.
He engraved the recent high value Canada stamps - the grizzly, the moose, deer, polar bear etc etc from 1997 till 2008. He also worked on the big whale $10 stamp - though as I understand the actual engraving was done by computer.
What I'd like to know is, did he engrave any stamps in Mexico? I've checked my SG Central America catalogue, but no indication there.
And what's he been doing since 2008?
Cheers - Strider
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