Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW) 06 Apr 2016 09:30:02am
re: Australian Specimen Collection
"That is a very comprehensive set. Is there a 'specimen list' somewhere that you use as reference?"
There is no "official" or "unofficial" specimen list I use as a reference, I don't think any exist.
I use the Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue of Australia which shows all stamps from 1850 to 2015. and the Brusden-White Australian Commonwealth Specialist Catalogues of King George V, King George VI (2015). Elizabeth II 1952-66. 1966-1975, 1975-1991, 1992-2001.
The Brusden-White catalogues are extremely important as they include all the newly listed pre-decimals that were previously unlisted, varieties, errors and shades.
Now here is the time consuming bit. I write down on excel all the stamps from Queen Victoria to the present day, bold red means they are missing, black means I have them and bold black is used to highlight 'Specimen' or other important notes for me to know about certain stamps.
It took me months to compile my own catalogue, whenever I obtain a red it changes colour to plain black. My personal catalogue can easily be updated.
Here is a partial image of my catalogue with the 'bold red bits', 'bold black bits' and plain black.
Out of frame is the auto-number of the stamp made by excel, the condition is first (all must be mint unhinged), next the year, next is the Stanley Gibbons Catalogue number, next is the Brusden-White Catalogue number, the description of the stamp, stamp denomination, perforation (if any), watermark (if any) and other info.
Here is the top of the page in bold italic and underlined font (notice the auto-numbering), all I do is subtract "1" and I have the amount of stamps currently in the collection.
And bottom where each monarch is categorised as well as the varieties, errors and the military issue B.C.O.F. stamps etc. I also have a separate excel catalogue for other Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries.
A lot of hard work to start from, at the end of the task it makes adding stamps much easier for me, and I also have a personalised up-to-date stamp catalogue.
I can also print out the catalogue and use my book binder to create a hard copy catalogue to take to stamp fairs, expos and specialist stamp dealers and cross out any stamps purchased.
There you have it, tedious time consuming work but it pays off in the end, and from this catalogue I can find my Specimens, find the scanned stamps (all my stamps are scanned in high definition) and add them singularly to Google Drive if the display is too large to upload to Stamporama.
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"Specialised Collector of Australian Pre-Decimal & Decimal Stamps"
Just a suggestion, put 'Specimen' in a column of its own and put an 'x' for every issue that complies. Then you can sort on that column for an individual list (all 'x's at the top).
Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW) 06 Apr 2016 07:52:49pm
re: Australian Specimen Collection
"Just a suggestion, put 'Specimen' in a column of its own and put an 'x' for every issue that complies. Then you can sort on that column for an individual list (all 'x's at the top). "
Did that and placed an "S" instead of an "X" for "Specimen" and it looks good, I'm going to do that with the other collections, thanks for the suggestion.
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"Specialised Collector of Australian Pre-Decimal & Decimal Stamps"
"Did that and placed an "S" instead of an "X" for "Specimen""
You can also freeze the top row(s) as well to keep it as a heading.
Excel 2007: Select column 'A' of the cell directly under the row that you want as the heading (do not select the row of the heading). Then in the 'View' tab of the ribbon, select the 'Freeze Panes' drop down list and select 'Freeze Panes'. Everything above and to the left of the selected cell remain locked. Simply select 'Unfreeze panes' to reverse.
Some specimen sets were produced for collectors, some for distribution to the UPU (or earlier equivalents).
James Bendon has a fantastic book about distribution to the UPU: http://www.jamesbendon.com/
Kellow, Turner and Macreadie produced a fantastic book about the Specimen Stamps of Victoria: http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Specimen-Stamps-of-Victoria-/301919970451?hash=item464bd52493:gxMAAOxyaTxTU6mK
My collection of the distribution of New South Wales and Australian Postage Due Stamps is attached
Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW) 07 Apr 2016 03:24:33am
re: Australian Specimen Collection
"You can also freeze the top row(s) as well to keep it as a heading.
Excel 2007: Select column 'A' of the cell directly under the row that you want as the heading (do not select the row of the heading). Then in the 'View' tab of the ribbon, select the 'Freeze Panes' drop down list and select 'Freeze Panes'. Everything above and to the left of the selected cell remain locked. Simply select 'Unfreeze panes' to reverse.
Any chance of making the specimen list public?"
I'll try that and see how it looks. I can make the Specimen list public, it contains all the Specimens (to my knowledge) issued from the Colonies to 2014 (last issue)
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"Specialised Collector of Australian Pre-Decimal & Decimal Stamps"
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