Gibbons Stamp Monthly.2012.01.pdf

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The first choice for stamp collectors since 1890
a
Stanley
Gibbons
publication
Gibbons
January 2012 £3.60
Monthly
Famous
Firsts
The stories
behind five
of the world’s
first stamps
US Liberty
series:
The most popular
US definitive series
of the later 20th
century
Singapore’s
Flora and Fauna
definitives
Discover
a colourful
world of
collecting
possibilities
inside
The amazing
story of the
Transvaal
Republic’s last
stamps
Pietersburg
Postmarks
0 1
Solomons
British Solomon Islands postmarks
during the reign of King George VI
of the
9 770954 808151
PLUS: Machin Watch · New Issues Information · Diamond Thematics · Diplomatic Bag Labels
tamp
S
Gibbons
Monthly
66
61
82
THE UK’S NUMBER ONE STAMP MAGAZINE
Volume 42 Number 8
January 2012
Singapore’s Flora and
Fauna: Len Stanway
49
British Private Posts: John Holman
98
94
The Transvaal Republic:
Joh Groenewald
US Liberty Series:
Peter Martin
Famous Firsts:
Paul Brittain
The Story of the Diamond:
Josef Charrach
Contents
NEWSDESK
7 Newsdesk
Medal success for SG catalogues; Royal Mail revenue
figures; newly discovered Japanese rarity to be auctioned
22 Society News
Reports from philatelic societies
26 Diary Dates
Forthcoming Fairs and Auctions
30 Around the Houses
News of recent auction results
SPECIAL FEATURES
61 Singapore’s Flora and Fauna
Len Stanway looks back at the colourful 2007 issue,
which offers a variety of interesting elements for
collectors
66 Pietersburg
Joh Groenewald, Honorary Life President of the Anglo-
Boer War Philatelic Society, tells the amazing story of the
Transvaal Republic’s last stamps
72 The ‘Definitive’ Theory of Evolution
Barry Floyd offers some advice on creating your own
Darwinist stamp collection
76 South Africa and Indonesia Launch Joint
Stamp Issue
A special report from Peter Jennings FRPSL, FRGS, in Cape
Town, South Africa
78 2011 Yearbooks
A round-up of annual products and special releases from
philatelic bureaux from around the world
82 The US Liberty Series
Peter Martin provides an overview of the Liberty Series
that heralded the modern era of US stamp production
88 South Along the Ring of Fire—Macquarie Island
Steve Pendleton turns his attention to the southernmost
member of the sub-Antarctic isles—Macquarie Island.
92 A Stamp Collector’s Guide to IT
Hints and tips for perfect scanning results
94 Famous Firsts
Paul Brittain looks at the stories behind five of the world’s
first stamps
BRITISH STAMPS
38 GB News
Royal Mail’s Kings and Queens series closes with five
monarchs from the House of Windsor
40 Those Magnificent Diplomatic Bag Labels
Brian Kearsley FRPSL and Arthur Weston, report on several
new examples in this update to their previous article
46 Stamping on with 1066 and All That
Inspired by the classic
1066 and All That
Alan Sacks
presents his own potted philatelic history of Britain
49 British Private Posts
John Holman presents the recent issues and
developments from Britain’s private postal operators.
53 Machin Watch
John Deering reflects on a year crammed with Machin
firsts, before discussing recent new issues
58 GB Specialised Catalogue
A supplement to the Great Britain Specialised Catalogue
4
G.S.M. January 2012
Dear Reader
I have to admit that I’m not a great one for making New Year’s
resolutions – many years of failure persuaded me that, to a great
extent, they were a complete waste of time a long time ago.
My wife prompts me to make a couple every year, no doubt in the
hope that it might lead to some of those longstanding jobs-around-the-
house being done, but I always hark back to a resolution I made back
in the 1970s that I would do something
every day.
I’d better not say
what it was, but I do remember that we were well into the 1980s before
I managed to do it
for the first time,
and I very seldom manage to do it
even now! (Well, if you must know, it was getting to work on time!).
One resolution is easy – although it doesn’t do anything to make
my wife any happier – and that’s the one about trying to make this
magazine better and better every year, which I shall, of course be
making again this time round. We have lots of plans for the year ahead
and I hope that you will feel that we have achieved them, come the
end of 2012. It is not always easy to appeal to everyone with every
article and I’m guilty of having my likes and dislikes as far as the
content of
GSM
is concerned – but I try not to let that influence me
too much, for obvious reasons.
Philatelically speaking, there are lots of long-delayed tasks to be
done; tidying, sorting, remounting and, I have to admit, a certain
amount of (surely the most feared phrase to any stamp collector)
getting rid of ‘unwanted’ bits and pieces.
The trouble is that in my job you are always reading about things
which you are not currently collecting and realising that; a. you’ve
got some of them somewhere, b. they are actually very interesting
and should not be disposed of. So maybe I shall resolve to start a new
collection and see where it takes me – there’s certainly more chance of
me doing that than finishing decorating the bathroom!
One area of our hobby which I’m afraid I parted company with a
long time ago is collecting new issues. Regular articles, Len Stanway’s
study of the recently obsolete Singapore definitives is a case in point,
remind me that there is huge potential interest in some of these sets,
but I have to admit that I am still waiting for some of the world’s postal
administrations to make a sensible new year’s resolution about the
quantity and cost of their new issue programmes.
In my job seeing the output of most of the world’s postal
administrations, it is notable that some formerly prolific issuers have
dropped back to just one or two issues each year (presumably they have
already killed their ‘golden goose’), while others are still desperately
producing more and more, in the hope of wringing out last drop of
blood from it, before it goes the same way.
More responsible administrations are trying to keep down the
number of their issues (often disguising things by adding extra stamps
or increasing face values), but finding new products miniature sheets,
prestige booklets, machine labels, etc, which we are ‘free to ignore of we
chose to do so’. This may appear to be a benevolent approach, but we
collectors seem to have an in-built desire to have ‘all or nothing’ and the
danger for post offices is that when ‘all’ becomes too
much we will simply opt to
have ‘nothing’.
So how about it Post
Offices? Why not make a
new year’s resolution to
help stamp collectors in
2012?
Your £1 Stanley Gibbons
Voucher can be found on
page 146
98 The Story of the Diamond
Josef Charrach traces the fascinating history, industry and
usage of the diamond, as told through stamps
104 The Postmarks of the British Solomon Islands
David Horry reveals several rarities to look out for within
the King George VI period, 1937-56.
112 The Unissued Stamps of Queen Elizabeth II
David Horry reveals the story behind an unissued stamp
Catalogue Column
Hugh Jefferies talks imitation recess-printing from Jersey
NEW ISSUES
107 Shore to Shore
Island Hopper reports on the latest stamps from Jersey
that tell us why we should make it our next holiday
destination,and the Isle of Man pays tribute to The Queen’s
upcoming Golden Jubilee
108 Stamp News in Brief
A summary of recent and forthcoming issues from around
the world
110 Panorama
Dean Shepherd investigates some recent new issues from
around the world
113 Catalogue Supplement
A 14-page update to the Stanley Gibbons Catalogue
REGULAR FEATURES
33 New Collector
John Holman looks at the stamps of Montenegro and the
stamps issued by Great Britain 50 years ago to mark the
centenary of the Post Office Savings Bank
85 Stamp Hunting
Stamps worth looking for from Brunei
Competition
Your chance to win a £50 Stanley Gibbons voucher
101
GSM
Bookshelf
Reviews of recent books
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
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NOTICES
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Published by: Stanley Gibbons Limited, 7 Parkside, Christchurch Road, Ringwood,
Hampshire BH24 3SH
G.S.M. January 2012
5
Newsdesk
NEWSDESK
Several Stanley Gibbons
catalogues earned coveted
awards during the international
Literature Palmares held at
Chicagopex 2011 in November.
The
Stanley Gibbons Great Britain
Concise Stamp Catalogue 2011
received a gold medal in the
competition, closely followed
by the
Stanley Gibbons Stamp
Catalogue Commonwealth and
British Empire Stamps 1840-1970,
which earned a vermeil. Stanley
Gibbons flagship catalogue, the
newly revamped
Stamps of the
World,
received a silver medal.
The Grand Award for
Philatelic Literature went to
Detained, Interned, Incarcerated US
Enemy Noncombatant Mail in World
War II
by Louis Fiset
PHILATELIC NEWS
World
Great Britain
Local
Society News
Auction Sales
•
Philatelic Exhibitions
•
Farewell to Long-standing
GSM Team Member
•
China’s Post Office in Space
•
Stanley
Gibbons’ Medal Success
•
Holocaust Postal Items Go On Display
More literary medals
for SG Catalogues
Dorset
Castle to
host a major
philatelic
exhibition
A Grade 1 listed castle in
the heart of Dorset will play
host to a major exhibition
of stamps and philatelic
material to celebrate the
Diamond Jubilee of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The exhibition, which
has been organised by John
Davis FRPSL, will be on
display from Wednesday 1
to Friday 10 February 2012
at Highcliffe Castle, near
Christchurch, Dorset. The
display comprises 12 double-
sided frames making a total
of 24 frames with 382 sheets
of stamps and philatelic
material on show.
Designed to attract new
collectors to the hobby, the
exhibition will use British,
Commonwealth and foreign
material to cover eight
themes including: The
Queen’s ancestry; a time-line
of royal visits and a family
tree of European royal
monarchs.
Highcliffe Castle opening
times for this exhibition
are Sunday–Thursday
11.00a.m.–5.00p.m. (last
admission 4.30p.m.)
and Friday and Saturday
11.00a.m.–4.30p.m. (last
admission 4.00p.m.).
Admission for the castle
and exhibition will be £3.00
(entry for accompanied
children under the age of
16 and season ticket holders
is free).
Contact details for
the castle are Highcliffe
Castle, Rothesay Drive,
Highcliffe, Dorset BH23
4LE, Tel. 01425 278807.
www.highcliffecastle.co.uk.
For more information on
the display please contact
John Davis at j552davis@
btinternet.com.
Royal Mail revenues
rise to £4.6 billion
Royal Mail has reported a Group
revenue increase of £200 million
to £4.6 billion in its half-year
figures.
Despite the impressive
announcement the company did
admit that although its financial
performance is beginning to
improve it still has ‘…a great deal
to do to return Royal Mail to
sustained financial viability.’
The leap in revenue is mainly
due to Royal Mail’s lucrative
parcel and Post Office businesses.
In the half-year period to 25
September Royal Mail Group’s
express parcels business, General
Logistics Systems, made £58
million profit and Post Office
Limited made a healthy £55
million profit.
However, Royal Mail also
reports that letter volumes are
down 6 per cent from last year
and that the business unit that
provides the core Universal
Service remains loss-making.
However, as a result of tight
cost control and price increases
introduced last spring, the loss at
the half year was £41 million—
compared to a £55 million loss
for the same period last year.
G.S.M. January 2012
Michael Briggs (left), who retired as
GSM
Art and News Editor in
November, with
GSM
Editor, Hugh Jefferies
End of an era at
GSM
GSM
staff and friends said a fond farewell to the magazine’s long
(long) time Art and News editor, Michael Briggs, who retired on 17
November after an amazing 47-year career with Stanley Gibbons.
Michael first started to work for Stanley Gibbons in July 1964 and
in 1970 began an epic career in the company’s magazine department
which would span more that 40 years.
His devoted work on
GSM
has been vital in securing its place as
the premier philatelic title in the UK. His well-honed design skills,
amazing attention to detail and, not least, his encyclopaedic philatelic
knowledge, will be missed by all. From everyone at
GSM
and Stanley
Gibbons, we wish Michael a very long and happy retirement.
legislation that postponed a
payment of $5.5 billion to pre-
fund retiree health benefits.
Speaking after the results were
posted, Postmaster General and
CEO, Patrick Donahoe, called
for even more support for the
ailing service, ‘The Postal Service
can become profitable again if
Congress passes comprehensive
legislation to provide us with a
more flexible business model
so we can respond better to a
changing marketplace.’
To return to profitability the
USPS must reduce its annual
costs by $20 billion by the end of
2015
US Postal Service
ends 2011 with $5.1
billion loss
The US Postal Service has ended
its 2011 fiscal year (1 October
2010 – 30 September 2011)
with a net loss of $5.1 billion.
According the USPS figures, the
total 2011 mail volume declined
by 3 billion pieces, or 1.7 per
cent, from 2010, with first-class
mail declining from $34.2 billion
in 2010 to $32.2 billion in 2011 (a
fall of 5.8 per cent).
The loss would have been
approximately $10.6 billion
had it not been for passage of
7
Newsdesk
PHILATELIC NEWS
Stanley Gibbons opens its
new Hong Kong office
Stanley Gibbons marked the opening of its new Asia office with
a champagne reception for clients and dignitaries at the British
Consulate General in Hong Kong.
The reception marked the culmination of more than 12 months
preparation by the company to open the new premises in order to
strengthen its position in the strong Asia market. In addition to the
new Asia office the company has also recently launched a China
Rare Stamp Index which tracks the change in prices of rare Chinese
stamps. The index has shown an average annual growth of 44 per cent
between November 2006 and April 2011.
Examples of rare stamps were on display throughout the event, as
well as a selection other high-end collectables traded by the Group,
including a signed, hand-written Mozart manuscript, an original
Einstein letter and Bruce Lee’s martial-arts manual.
In Brief
Mail call for US
National Postal
Museum
The Smithsonian’s National
Postal Museum has opened a
new permanent exhibit which
explores the history of America’s
military postal system. The
‘Mail Call’ exhibit allows visitors
to discover how military mail
communication has changed
throughout history, learn about
the armed forces postal system
from the American Revolution to
the present day and experience
military mail through an array of
artefacts and letters.
Highlights of the exhibit
include a camouflaged bag used
to drop letters from helicopters
during the Vietnam War and a
postal handstamp recovered from
the USS
Oklahoma,
which was
sunk in the bombings at Pearl
Harbor in 1941.
‘Mail has always played a very
important role in the lives of our
brave troops and their families at
home,’ said Allen Kane, director
of the Museum. ‘This exhibit
shows how mail delivery to troops
was not easily accomplished
during times of adversity, as
significant obstacles had to be
overcome along the way in many
cases.’
For more information
about the Smithsonian visit
the museum website at www.
postalmuseum.si.edu
Masters of the Post:
The Authorized
History of the Royal
Mail
On 1 November a new book
was released that presents a
detailed look at the whole
story Britain’s postal service.
The book, written by Duncan
Campbell-Smith and published
by Allen Lane (part of Penguin
Books), charts the history of
the service, including a fresh
slant to many of the most
famous episodes in Britain’s
postal history—from the origins
of the royal monopoly, to
the Great Train Robbery. In
addition, the book recounts
several hitherto neglected
stories hidden in the pages of
the service’s history. The book
also brings a rare perspective
to the two great political
themes of Britain in modern
times: trade union power and
privatisation.
The 768-page hardback book
is available now for £30. Look out
for a full review in
GSM
soon.
Super Stafford
Unseasonably fine weather
helped the Stafford Stamp Show
to maintain a good attendance
during one of the last two-day
stamp fairs of the season. The
show, which took place on 11 and
12 November at the Staffordshire
Agricultural Showground, is run
by Jane and John Rice of JRS
Fairs. The pair took a gamble
in setting up a major fair in the
south Midlands. In just a few
years, they have turned a venture
into a great success, thanks to the
support of dealers from around
the country.
Mrs Rice informed
GSM
that she is currently talking to
societies about the possibility
of holding meetings in one or
more of the spacious committee
rooms available at the venue,
thus broadening the appeal of
the show.
The next Stafford Show is will
take place on 22 and 23 June
2012. For further details contact
John Rice on 01785 259 350.
New postal rule for
India
A report in the
Times of India
has
revealed how new legislation, put
in place by the Department of
Post in India, plans to curb the
relentless flood of requests for
commemorative postage stamps.
The postal authority has decided
that anyone who requests a
commemorative stamp to be
produced would have to commit
to buying at least a one lakh’s
(100,000r.) worth of the stamps
featuring the new design after it
is printed; that’s a commitment
of £1234.
The plan, which is now
mandatory across the country,
was put in place to bring down
the number of requests for
commemoratives, as well as to
raise revenue for the department,
said postal officials.
Once the proposer of a
commemorative design agrees
to the clause, the idea will be put
in front of a committee who will
decide if the stamp should be
released.
G.S.M. January 2012
Swinpex 2012—a
correction  
Despite stringent checking, an
unfortunate error crept into the
year planner given away free
with the December 2011 issue
of
GSM.
The organisers would
like to clarify to readers that
Swinpex 2012 will, in fact, take
place on Saturday 9 June 2012
and not Sunday 10 June 2012, as
indicated.
The event, which takes place
St Joseph’s School, Ocotal Way,
Swindon, SN3 3LR between
10.00a.m. and 4.30p.m., will
features 45 to 50 dealers,
specialist societies, table top
sales, and a raffle. For further
information on Swinpex 2012
please contact David Gibbon
on 01793 813 484 or email
gibbon35@gmail.com.
Federation of
Northern Ireland
Philatelic Societies
The recently formed Federation
of Northern Ireland Philatelic
Societies, part of the Association
of British Philatelic Societies
(ABPS), held a very successful
two-week stamp exhibition in
Northern Ireland, which was
designed to promote stamp
collecting to a wider audience.
The exhibition, which took
place in Bangor Museum from
25 October to 4 November,
included various displays from
the collections of members of the
North of Ireland, Lagan Valley
and Portadown and District
Philatelic Societies. As well as
the displays, the exhibition also
provided a programme of talks
and a valuation day, organised by
stamp auctioneers and valuers,
Corbitts Ltd.
Members of the Stamp Active
Group, were on hand to offer
advice to junior collectors and to
give out free packets of stamps
and starter packs over the course
of the well-attended two day
exhibition.
The final evening of the event
consisted of a civic reception
hosted by the Mayor of North
Down Borough Council with
visitors and representatives of
ABPS attending from Dublin,
England and Scotland. This
was followed by a lecture and
an excellent display from David
Sweeney entitled ‘Italy and the
Great War’.
10

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