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THE UK’S NUMBER ONE STAMP MAGAZINE
Volume 42 Number 3
August 2011
37
Crown Jewels: Eight new
stamps
109
77
86
104
A Philatelist Abroad:
Michael Round in
Malaysia and Japan
British Library:
David Beech
selects favourites
Canada – The Official
Pitfalls:
John Hillson
The Last British
Postal Agency:
Rufus Barnes
Shore to Shore – Alderney
Red Cross Uniforms:
Island Hopper
Contents
NEWSDESK
7 Newsdesk
Mauritius record; Error of colour sold; Greenland
withdrawal; Auctions; Seminars; Exhibitions
22 Society News
Reports from philatelic societies
26 Diary Dates
Forthcoming Fairs and Auctions
30 Around the Houses
News of recent auction results
55 The Great Britain Air Letter 1941–2011
Peter Jennings FRPSL, FRGS, presents a miscellany from
his collection to celebrate 70 years of the air letter
60 GB Specialised Catalogue
A supplement to the Great Britain Specialised Catalogue
SPECIAL FEATURES
64 Australia’s Abandoned Royal Visit Stamps of
1949–52
The background to three attempts at producing a Royal
Visit issue is provided by Richard Breckon
68 The Philatelist Abroad
Michael Round visits Malaysia and Japan
72 Spanish Cathedrals and Churches on Stamps
Anthony New, FSA, FRIBA, MIStructE, concludes his tour
77 The British Library Philatelic Collections
David Beech FRPSL selects six more items from the
Library’s collections
82 The Cape Triangulars
Paul Brittain continues his examination of some of the
world’s most famous stamps
86 Canada – The Official Pitfalls
The OHMS overprints have been extensively forged – John
Hillson FCPS provides advice on detecting them
91 Hanuman – The Monkey God
Eli Moallem looks at a Hindu epic, the Ramayana
95 Miniature Works of Art
Paintings in the Hermitage are discussed by Barry Floyd
99 The Postmarks of Nyasaland Within the
King George VI Period, 1937–1953
More difficult postmarks are revealed by David Horry
BRITISH STAMPS
37 GB News
Eight stamps depicting Crown Jewels are issued on
23 August; a commemorative sheet for Prince Philip
38 Ambulance Bags
An unusual addition to a postal history collection is
outlined by Pauline Luscombe – the bags used for
forwarding damaged mail
41 Machin Watch
John Deering offers advice on collecting cylinder blocks
and reviews Horizon labels and Security Machins
47 GB Postal Stationery, Postal Labels and Postmarks
A report on recent developments by John Holman
50 Brilliant Britain
The Stamp Active Network’s one-sheet competition for
youngsters is reviewed by Paul Brittain
52 2011 RDP Ceremony
This year’s Philatelic Congress and RDP ceremony
4
G.S.M. August 2011
Dear Reader
15 years ago this month, I moved house. My wife thought it was because
the children were growing up and needed rooms of their own; I knew it
was because the stamp collection was growing and needed a room of its
own, preferably with a north-facing aspect for good shade-sorting light
and in a centrally heated house, where its environment could be better
controlled!
My wife engaged the services of a removals company and when their
representative called to give a quote, he asked her if I had a hobby which
might impact on the cost of the job. When she told him I was a stamp
collector, he said ‘oh that’s all right, if he was a golfer he would have some
heavy clubs to move—but stamps can’t weigh much’.
Needless to say, once the move was complete, he told us that if he ever
had to quote for a removal which included a stamp collection again, he
would add a substantial premium to the figure he first thought of!
What he had not realised, of course, is that a stamp collection does
not only comprise a few albums, a stamp catalogue and some accessories.
There are also all the things which we acquire over the years and do not
dispose of because they might be useful one day. Reference books, boxes
of old
GSM’s
and other magazines, old auction catalogues, etc. In my case
there were (are) lots of old collections from which I’d taken what I wanted,
not to mention boxes and boxes of covers, acquired over the years and
was (am) going to sort one day—including all my Bureau first day covers
from the 1960s and things which I didn’t really collect, but thought I might
become interested in one day—postal stationery, postal mechanisation
covers, slogan postmarks, revenues, forgeries, forces mail, foreign stamps
and perfins. All this was housed in the loft, which was getting quite full—
another reason why we had to move.
15 years later, the stationery, and all the forgeries are no longer in the
loft but most of the rest still is (there must be quite a few Chinese stamps
up there—perhaps I ought to dig them out). The interesting thing is that
one’s interests expand and develop and items which were once of no
interest begin to take on a new significance; I was able to put together a
fair ‘starter’ collection of GB postal stationery just by checking through the
boxes in the loft, for example.
This expansion and development usually follows seeing a display or
reading an article such as the one by John Hillson on the ‘O.H.M.S.’
forgeries of Canada in this month’s issue. This is another case where many
of the forgeries are ‘better’ than the real thing—and John shows you how
to spot them.
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, my reluctance to dispose of anything
which I did not necessarily need at the time is totally vindicated—and
although the new loft is getting full again, the children are grown up now
and may leave home one day—so we may not need to move this time
(please don’t mention this thought to my wife!)
Who knows, I may one day become interested in foreign stamps,
postcode covers, revenues and perfins, etc, and once again may find that I
have enough to get me started up in the loft. I have to admit that I’m less
confident of a new enthusiasm for all those Bureau first day covers—but I
suppose you never know.
Your £1 Stanley Gibbons
Voucher can be found on
page 146
1
04 Abu Dhabi – The Last British Postal Agency
Although the stamps of Abu Dhabi were short-lived they
offer plenty of interest, as Rufus Barnes shows
1
11 Foreign Postal Stationery P–V
Geir Sør-Reime concludes his survey of foreign postal
stationery with countries from Poland to Vatican City
1
22 The Unissued Stamps of Queen Elizabeth II
David Horry reveals the story behind an unissued stamp
Catalogue Column
Hugh Jefferies reports on varieties from New South Wales,
Bahamas, St Helena and Dubai
REGULAR FEATURES
33 New Collector
John Holman looks at colour in philately and Universal
Mail stamps
61 GSM Bookshelf
Reviews of recent books
84 Dear GSM
Readers’ correspondence
85 Stamp Hunting
Stamps worth looking for from the French New Hebrides
Competition
Your chance to win a £50 SG voucher
EDITORIAL OFFICE
01425 481 042
gsm@stanleygibbons.co.uk
Editor
HUGH JEFFERIES
Assistant Editor
DEAN SHEPHERD
News and Art Editor
MICHAEL BRIGGS
Editor’s Assistant
LORRAINE HOLCOMBE
First published in July 1890 as
Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal
ADVERTISEMENT SALES
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advertising@stanleygibbons.co.uk
Sales Executives
EDWARD WIDDUP
HARRIET WALDRON
ALANDA KEMPTON
NEW ISSUES
109 Shore to Shore
Island Hopper reports on stamps depicting Isle of Man
Postal History, Red Cross Uniforms from Alderney and two
issues from Jersey; National Trust Landmarks and Historic
Coins
1
16 Stamp News in Brief
A summary of recent and forthcoming issues from around
the world
120 Panorama
Dean Shepherd investigates some recent new issues
1
23 Catalogue Supplement
A 9-page update to the Stanley Gibbons Catalogue
NOTICES
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G.S.M. August 2011
5
Newsdesk
NEWSDESK
Australia Post
unveils ‘post
office of the
future’
Australia Post is to trial a
new type post office which
will ‘revolutionise the way
customers transact with the
company.’
The first two sales of the
Chartwell Collection, on 28
and 29 June, produced some
spectacular results, including a
record price for a stamp sold in
the United Kingdom.
The first of the nine sales
scheduled for this extraordinary
collection, formed by Sir Cyril
Humphrey Cripps, was devoted
to British Empire and included
a number of major rarities.
Foremost among them was a
used example of the 2d. ‘Post
Office’ Mauritius which, in spite
of minor damage and some
restoration, is still considered
to be the finest example in
private hands. Sir Humphrey had
purchased it in 1972 for £29,000
but in 2011 it was expected
to sell for between £400,000
and £500,000. In the event,
it was finally ‘knocked down’
after some spirited bidding
PHILATELIC NEWS
World
Great Britain
Local
Society News
Mauritius Record
Error of Colour Sold
Greenland Withdrawal
Confederate Printing Plate Acquired
Royal Philatelic Society News
ABPS Events
NPS Seminar
Last Post Exhibittion
Stuart Rossiter
Memorial Lecture
£1 Million Mauritius
for £900,000—over £1 million
including premium! A new
record for a stamp sold at auction
in the UK.
Other highlights of the British
Empire sale included Bermuda,
where there were three examples
of the celebrated ‘Perot’ stamps,
two on covers, ex Sir Henry
Tucker (hammer price, £110,000
and £55,000) and a single, ex
Claude Cartier (£95,000). The
sale also saw the finest known
example of the famous Virgin
Islands 1s. ‘Missing Virgin’ sell
for £120,000.
The following day the first
part of the Great Britain
line-engraved, section of the
collection come up for sale and
again strong prices were achieved
throughout, with no less than six
lots being knocked down for six-
figure sums.
Foremost was the Penny Black
plate 2 corner inscriptional
plate number example, used on
cover dated 13 May 1840, which
is considered by many to be
the finest Penny Black cover in
existence. Estimated at £150,000-
200,000, this sold for £290,000.
Also over the £200,000 mark
was the plate 7 corner block of
four Penny Blacks shown on the
cover of the sale catalogue, this
achieved £250,000.
Lot 1024, a die proof of
the Penny Black with corner
stars sold for £190,000 and the
imprimaturs from plate 1 and
plate 2 made £180,000 and
£150,000 respectively. Finally,
in the ‘big six’ a corner plate 4
block of four of the 1841 2d. blue
sold for £110,000.
Also worthy of mention were
lot 1061, a Penny Black first day
from Bath, which made £22,000
and the block of 24 Penny Blacks
from plate 9 on cover, the largest
known (lot 1145), which made
£75,000. The 2d. blue bisect
cover, however, did not find a
buyer, in spite of the fact that is
probably the finest of the three
known.
With the first two sales
bringing in total realisations of
over £4,200,000, the expected
£20 million total for the whole
collection is certainly achievable;
the next sale in the series takes
place on 12 October and features
Great Britain surface-printed
issues.
Hailed as the ‘post
office of the future’ the
new type of store will offer
six dedicated zones for
customers, including a
specific area where online
traders can fulfil their
postage needs. Other
zones include a 24/7 zone
with parcel lockers where
customers can pick up their
parcel at any time, and
a vending machine with
packaging products and a
self-service terminal where
they can weigh, and post
parcels.
Managing Director and
CEO of Australia Post,
Ahmed Fahour, said that
this was the first of many
changes planned that will
transform Australia Post
into a more customer-
focused organisation. ‘The
community is changing and
we are changing our stores
to meet their needs,’ said
Mr Fahour. ‘Our customers
have told us they want
more options in how they
interact with us, so we will
be providing them with
greater access, convenience
and choice in how they do
business with Australia Post.’
The first post office to be
converted into the new type
of store will be the Brisbane
GPO, which is expected to
be open for business by the
end of the year.
Spot The Difference – Post Greenland
withdraws its new defintives
On 9 May 2011 Greenland issued two stamps for a new definitive series
showing an engraved portrait of Queen Margrethe II. However, Post
Greenland decided that the printed stamps do not deliver the high
quality it insists upon and made the decision to withdraw them from
sale on 26 May—a mere 17 days after they were released.
Many stamp collectors with standing orders for Post Greenland’s
new stamps (including
GSM),
will have received the two stamps before
their withdrawal. According to Post Greenland’s press release, as so
many collectors will already have received the two withdrawn stamps
they will not become ‘rare and sought after issues’.
The stamps will be replaced with new printings featuring the same
portrait of the Queen, images of which were included with the press
release. Comparing the two versions side-by-side, there doesn’t initially
seem to be a lot of difference between them. However, a closer look
reveals that the withdrawn design does appear to lack some of the
sharper detail of the proposed new stamps, especially on the Queen’s
coat and facial features.
If you have any questions about the issue, you can contact Post
Greenland‘s Philatelic Manager, Allan Pertti Frandsen at apf@tele.gl,
or by calling +299 341 810.
Withdrawn version above, new
printing below
G.S.M. August 2011
7
Newsdesk
PHILATELIC NEWS
The Stuart Rossiter
Memorial Lecture
2011
The Stuart Rossiter Trust
has announced that its 2011
Memorial Lecture will be held at
5.00p.m. on Friday 4 November
at the Royal Philatelic Society
London. This year’s talk, entitled
‘The More the Rail the Faster the
Mail’, will be presented by Colin
Tabeart FSPH, and illustrated
with maps, pictures, and covers
from his collection.
Colin is a Fellow and Past
President of the Society of Postal
Historians, a member of the
Postal History Society and Forces
Postal History Society, and edits
the quarterly Journal for the
latter. He has written eight books
on postal history topics, the latest
pair of which cover all the packet
ship mails between the UK and
Australia and New Zealand in the
19th century.
The Royal Philatelic Society
London is located at 41
Devonshire Place, London,
W1G 6JY. Free admission is only
by non-transferable ticket on
application to the Corresponding
Trustee: Rex Dixon FRPSL, at
rexdixon@btinternet.com. Early
application is advised.
The Smithsonian’s National
Postal Museum has acquired
a Confederate postage
stamp printing plate that was
confiscated during the Civil
War. The plate contains 400 5c.
Jefferson Davis stamp images
typographed in copper. The plate
was ordered by the Confederate
States of America and
manufactured by De La Rue &
Co of London in 1862. However,
the ship carrying the plate to the
Southern States was captured by
a federal vessel and the plate was
taken to Philadelphia and sold. It
was never used to print stamps by
the Confederacy.
The National Postal Museum
recently bought the Confederate
printing plate from The Franklin
Institute, who had purchased it in
1954 when it was actively building
a philatelic collection.
Smithsonian’s National
Postal Museum acquires
confederate printing plate
In Brief
Namibia Post
launched
personalised
stamps
NamPost has become the
first nation in Africa to offer
Personalised Stamps. The service,
introduced on 7 June, will
allow Namibians and tourists to
have their faces put on stamps
alongside some of the country’s
famous natural landmarks.
Five stamps have been
produced for the service, which
have been designed by acclaimed
Namibian artist, Helge Denker.
The stamps depict scenes of
the Fish River Canyon, Etosha
National Park, Sossusvlei in the
Namib Desert, Twyfelfontein—
famous for its prehistoric rock
engravings, and a rhino in a
communal conservancy. The
stamps can be obtained from
Namibia’s post offices or at
Gondwana accommodations,
where the buyer’s photograph is
taken and the stamp is printed
within minutes.
‘This spectacular acquisition
will be a centrepiece in the
display case of three-dimensional
objects from the National
Philatelic Collection to be
featured in the new William H
Gross Stamp Gallery’, said Cheryl
Ganz, chief curator of philately.
‘The 5c. plate provides a
wonderful connection to the first
philatelic object ever collected by
the Smithsonian Institution—a
pane of the Confederate States
of America’s 10c. blue Jefferson
Davis stamp.’
Upcoming ABPS
competitions and
seminars
Pos Malaysia minds
its language
Autumn Stampex will take place
on 14 to 17 September 2011
at the Business Design Centre,
Islington, London. A full FIP
national competition for the
following classes will be held at
the event: Traditional Philately,
Postal History, Aerophilately,
Postal Stationery, Revenues,
Thematic Philately, One
Frame Class, Open Philately
and Literature: Handbooks,
Catalogues, Periodicals and
Articles. The exhibition will
also host non-FIP Cinderella
Class and Picture Postcard Class
competitions.
For those wishing to improve
their chances of competition
success, at 11.30a.m during the
final day of the event, the ABPS
will be holding a seminar on how
to construct the introductory
and final pages of an exhibit.
This will be followed by a further
three ABPS seminars at Spring
Stampex, which takes place
from 22 to 25 February 2012.
The seminars will cover Open
Philately, by Christine A Earle and
Birthe King; Postcard Class, by
Seija-Riitta Laakso; and Thematic
Philately, led by Wolf Hess, RDP.
Full details and competition
application forms can be
obtained from abps.org.uk
No less than 23 collectors who have signed the Roll of Distinguished
Philatelists presented material at a special meeting of The Royal
Philatelic Society London on 9 June.
The meeting was in celebration of the 100th meeting of the Board
of Election to the Roll, and the displays were co-ordinated by the
Honorary Secretary to the Board, Chris King (below
left).
The Board of
Election first met in 1922 under the chairmanship of B Goodfellow.
The current Chair is Jane Moubray (centre).
Over half of the Distinguished Philatelists who participated were
from overseas. The most senior of the Distinguished Philatelists who
displayed, Patrick Pearson (right), signed the Roll in 1974, nearly 40
years ago.
Distinguished philatelists show at
The Royal
The Post Office in Malaysia
has decided to withdraw a
set of stamps released on 13
June, which celebrate Virtues,
after complaints were made
over the stamp representing
Thankfulness.
The offending stamp in the
set reproduces the Malayan word
Kesyukuran
(Thankfulness). The
stamp shows the word translated
into several other languages
including English, Bahasa
Malaysia, Mandarin and Hindi.
However, complaints were made
after it was discovered there was
no translation of the word into
Tamil, the language spoken by
significant minorities in
Malaysia.
In a statement Pos Malaysia
said that the inclusion of the
Hindi word depicting
Kesyukuran
was an inadvertent error on the
part of the issuing committee
and that the set will be reissued
with an amended stamp that will
include a Tamil translation.
G.S.M. August 2011
10
Newsdesk
PHILATELIC NEWS
The Royal Philatelic Society
London has announced the
recipients of its awards for 2011.
The Lee Medal, for the best
Paper read before the Society
supported by a display, went to
Cheryl Ganz for ‘Come Take a
Ride on the Hindenburg’; The
Tilleard Medal, for the best large
display given to the members,
went to Brian Brookes for ‘The
Stamps and Postal History of St
Christopher and St Kitts-Nevis’;
The Tapling Medal, for the best
article published in the Society’s
journal,
The London Philatelist,
was
presented to Peter Fernbank for
‘De La Rue Sheet Numbering’;
The Crawford Medal, for the
most valuable and original
contribution to the study and
knowledge of philately published
in book form, went to Robert P
Odenweller for
The Postage
Stamps of New Zealand 1855–1873:
The Chalon Head Issues.
Finally,
The Royal Philatelic Society
London Medal, for outstanding
service to the Society, was
presented to Rosemary Green
for her help over many years,
especially with the photographic
archives.
The Royal’s awards
for 2011
India and China perform well
at Stanley Gibbons auction
Indian errors
were a highlight
of the sale: 1976
Wildlife missing
black and 1992
Birds of Prey
error of value
In Brief
Kettering PS
announces its latest
fair
The Kettering Stamp and
Philatelic Society has announced
that it is to hold a stamp fair
on Saturday 8 October 2011.
The event, which will take place
between 10.00a.m. and 4.00p.m
at the Ise Lodge Community
Centre, St Vincents Avenue
(off Deeble Road), Kettering
NN15 5DR, will offer stamps,
collections, covers, postal history
and accessories.
Entry is free and free car
parking is available. For more
information telephone 01536
746 800.
Stanley Gibbons bi-annual public auction, which took place on 15
June at 399 Strand, has revealed continued strong interest in Indian
and Chinese stamps. The auction got off to a strong start with all
Chinese lots finding buyers, with 60 per cent of lots selling for double
or more their pre-auction estimates. High performing lots included
the ever-popular 1964 Chinese Peonies 2y. miniature sheet (SG
MS2199a), which sold for £2760, including premium.
The highlight from the British Commonwealth offering was a very
strong section of India, where errors were strongly fought over. A 1976
Wildlife 25p. with black omitted (SG 825a), which has a catalogue
value of £500, reached £1610. However, this was quickly outshone
by the 1992 Birds of Prey error of value (SG 1525a), which realised
£11,500 against a catalogue value of just £1000.
Kent Federation
seminar
weekend
Last Post exhibition on show at the
Royal Engineers Museum
A new exhibition, exploring
the vital role played by the
Post Office during the First
World War, has opened at The
Royal Engineers Museum in
Gillingham, Kent.
Last Post: Remembering the
First World War, which is curated
by The British Postal Museum
& Archive (BPMA) and the
Churchill Museum & Cabinet
War Rooms, tells the stories of
postal workers at war and on the
Home Front and examines the
essential role played by postal
communications.
Over 75,000 men left their
jobs in the Post Office to fight in
the First World War, with 12,000
joining the Post Office’s own
battalion—The Post Office Rifles.
Commenting on the exhibition,
Adrian Steel, Director at the
BPMA said, ‘The role of the Post
Error of colour stamp
sells for €1.8 million
A rare Sicilian ‘error of colour’,
issued in 1859, has sold for
€1.8million (£1.6million) at an
auction in Basel, making it the
world’s second most expensive
stamp after the famed Swedish
‘Treskilling Yellow’. The �½g.
stamp, which was printed in deep
dull blue instead of the usual
orange, was the star lot of a four-
day auction by Galerie Dreyfus in
June. Only two examples of the
error are known.
Other big results from the sale
of philatelic rarities included a
German stamp featuring film
actress, Audrey Hepburn, which
fetched €126,000 (£113,000).
The corner marginal comes
from the unique mint block of
ten, formerly owned by Audrey
Hepburn’s son, Sean Hepburn
Ferrer, which sold at auction in
2010 for £380,000. 14 million
examples of the stamp had to be
destroyed after Ferrer refused
to approve the design because it
showed his late mother smoking.
The mint block of ten stamps
sent to Ferrer for approval
remained in his possession until
its sale last year.
Office in the First World War is
an exciting story of bravery, spies
and resilience against all odds,
told through this fascinating
exhibition.’
The Royal Engineers Museum
will also be displaying some of
its rarely seen Postal & Courier
Service items, including elaborate
maps detailing how postal lines
were maintained, items from
the Western Front (including a
‘hard tack’ biscuit that was sent
from the front through the post),
alongside photos, special Royal
Engineer envelopes and stamps,
and the war diaries of those who
put their lives on the line to
maintain this vital service.
The exhibition will run until
1 September 2011. An online
version of the exhibition can also
be viewed at www.postalheritage.
org.uk
On 21 and 22 October 2011, the
Kent Federation will be holding
a two-day event aimed at those
who have mainly displayed
at club and society level, who
now wish to consider the more
formal disciplines associated
with exhibiting. Four workshops
will address: Philatelic Research,
Treatment, Presentation, and
Judging.
Further details of the
event, which is also open to
participants from outside
Kent, can be obtained by
contacting Bill Hedley at
ewlhedley@yahoo.co.uk or
Maurice Flack at mauriceflack@
hotmail.co.uk
German Philatelic
Federation
announces IPHLA
2012
The German Philatelic
Federation will be hosting
an International Philatelic
Literature Exhibition between
2 and 4 November 2012.
IPHLA 2012 will take place
in Mainz, Germany, at the
Mainz City Hall, with additional
exhibitions on display at the
city’s Gutenberg Museum.
The international exhibition is
open to any author, journalist
or publisher who would like to
submit one or more exhibits
(which can be in print, CD/DVD
or a website) on condition he/
she is a member of The German
Philatelic Federation or an
association affiliated with FIP or
FEPA.
More information and a
downloadable registration form
for the exhibition is available on
www.iphla.de
G.S.M. August 2011
14
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