Isn't it great to have friends in France! As thanks for a very small favour I received this fantastic date block!
Which set me off thinking about blocks of stamps, part sheets, etc. I quite like them and when you're mainly focussed on stamps (rather than covers), they can lighten up your collection/page/display no end. The good thing is that in that way, you can show more information about the stamps. These date blocks are obvious examples as they show you when the actual stamp was printed. Now does that mean that we have to go for every date block we can find? I once tried that with my Machins but there are so many that that is just not a financially sound prospect. I suppose one way to collect them is to get first and last printing date of a stamp and all the date blocks that have any significance on the stamp. Again on Machins (I've done those the most you see), you could eg try and get the first date block when fluor was changed from yellow to blue. In that way, the date blocks included in your collection basically tell the story of that stamp. Great!The same goes for cylinder/plate blocks.
Again, it tells you from what cylinder a specific stamp is printed. And again, you don't always have to go for all the blocks that exist. This D1 dot block tells you that there's also a "no dot block" and that therefore a double pane cylinder was used. A new cylinder/plate number does not always constitute a change (that is to say, if you don't over-specialize) but new changes (like the deeper engraved Machin head on the current stamps) do usually constitute a plate/cylinder number change. I must admit though, that after finding out that with the Dutch Beatrix plate numbers, different plates keep the same number, the point of collecting these has somewhat paled.Sometimes, blocks are just great to look at, especially with older stamps, such as this Wilhelmina block from WW2.
It doesn't tell you much, only that there are counting numbers on the side (although it is nice if you have an example from the other side of the sheet too, so you can illustrate that they run from 1 to 10 or 20 on the left and from 20 or 10 to 1 on the other! Perforation types are usually nicely illustrated on blocks too.Varieties always look better in blocks, like this San Martin definitive imperf at right.
But that's basically just trying to impress! If you really want to do this properly, you have to have a positional block, that is to say, you can see where on the sheet the variety is. But with the marginal side imperf, I think it is pretty clear where this bit was situated on the sheet!Ah well, look at my rambling on, and all that to thank Eric for his gift!
:-)
Adrian
Picturesque, isn't it?! You will of course know that New York used to be Dutch and called Nieuw (New) Amsterdam. But then the English took it from the Dutch and renamed it New York, after the then Duke of York who would later become King James II. The following Treaty of Breda (this stamp is actually part of a set commemorating that Treaty) ratified this takeover and New York remained in English hands. Imagine what would have happened to the world if this hadn't happened and the whole of America would have spoken Dutch!
The more I'm working with these, the more I like them! It's such a simple concept but it works wonders. Hope they will continue and expand this set for a long time!
I quite like the bright colours of them (they do look better in real life, though).
The stamps were isued in February so maybe they were issued in honour of Juliana's 70th birthday (which was in April) or maybe they were issued in honour of her forthcoming abdication but I don't think that had been announced yet at that time. Hmm.
Booklets often provide varieties and the main variety on these booklets were the imperforate sides. The example shown here is from the bottom part of the booklet and has therefore three imperforate sides, whereas all the other stamps in the booklet only have two imperforate sides.
I must admit though, that such varieties may be interesting, but as single stamps they don't look as nice. Take note, Sweden!
:-)
It's based on a painting by J. B. Madou. There is a lovely miniature sheet with all four portraits on, but I haven't got it so I can't show it. I hope to one day lay my hands on it as it's really worth having, I think (just to please the eye, mind). So if and when I do, I'll let you have a look!
This Battle of Chacabuco (depicted on this stamp) was basically the end of the royalists hold on Chile and on 14 February 1817 San Martín was appointed Governor of Chile. He resigned immediately and handed over the post to Bernardo O'Higgins who then became Director Supremo del Estado de Chile. Sounds good, doesn't it?!
On this stamp, which is part of a set to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death, we see San Martín looking out over the sea at Boulogne-sur-Mer. (Although I must admit it does look a bit like Gulliver standing on the white cliffs of Dover!)
In 1821, again thanks to San Martín, Peru was declared independent. San Martín became Protector of the new nation. But on 26 July 1822, a secret meeting was held between San Martín and Simón Bolivar (the two men depicted on the stamp), after which San Martín immediately withdrew from Peru and returned to Argentina. 'Til this very day, historians are still puzzled as to what was discussed between the two!
This stamp was issued in 1980 to commemorate the fact that a century before, in 1880, the remains of San Martín were brought home from France to Argentina! You see, when San Martín left South America, because he no longer wanted to be involved in the political process of liberation, he went into voluntary exile in Europe and that's where he spent his final years. And yep, you guessed it, the depicted vessel Villarino brought his remains home on her maiden journey.
And these are my favourites. I especially like the Tiffany lamp!
Our friend Paula, who lives in the US, has been sending me stamps ever since she found out I collect them (thank you, dear!). We received another letter from her yesterday, and it had a value on the envelope which I did not have yet and which I like very much.
I just had a look at the US Post website and noticed that there's one more value to complete the set, a 3c with a silver coffee pot on. It's a bit of a shame, though, that they're self-adhesive (apart from the 1c value). This makes 'em so hard to collect as mint singles! Used copies always look pristine though, so that's a bonus!
Take for example Maria Sibylle Merian (1647-1717), depicted on the 40pf stamp. She was an artist renowned for her very realistic painting of insects and flowers. The United States issued a set of stamps in 1997, reproducing her flower paintings to mark the 350th anniversary of her birth.
I only have used copies so I can't really do justice to her work, therefore I tried to find some images of her artwork on the net. Funny to find that most works of her can be found as mirror images as well! And there are even copies of her pineapple print without the insect at the top!
The portrait on the stamp is very much like the portrait used on a German banknote.
Take care