Stanley Gibbons Catalogues

I'm currently looking for a good catalogue for:

- France + Monaco
- UN

I came across the SG catalogues of 2010 for France + territories (includes Monaco), so it sounds perfect, and the inaugural 2010 UN catalogue.

What I'm trying to figure out, and it doesn't mention anything on the website, is up to when these catalogues go?
I've noticed, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is the release date of the catalogue (ex. 2010) doesn't necessarily mean it contains the issues up to the year before (2009).

Any ideas if these 2 catalogues go up to 2009, or how I could find out?

And does anyone have any alternatives for these 3 Postal Administrations?

Thanks!

Stamp catalogs by Scott are released the year BEFORE (i.e., 2011 catalogs released in 2010). Factor in the time needed to prepare for printing, and you can general assume a YEAR-1 lag time. If the catalog was released very late into the year, you might get a few Jan-Feb stamps listed.

If you are a general collector for stamps of France/Monaco/UN, then the standard catalogs will suffice. However...

SPECIALTY CATALOGS
France-Monaco, I would go with Yvert or Ceres as you will typically get much more info (but they are in French).

UN, the Gaines catalog contains everything and anything with UN philately. Not cheap.

[EDIT: math/type, changed to YEAR-1]

Depends what you want - I tend to get second hand copies of SG specialised when they come my way because they're generally reliable and the numbering system is widely followed. But if you're really into a country it's probably best to get the catalogue that that country's collectors use, eg Edifil for Spain.

The France 2010 catalogue came out in April so probably it will only include, at best the beginning of 2009.
The UN catalogue came out in May so the same applies.

What I'm trying to find is a catalogue with all stamps, preferably with images, and a small description of the stamps / theme.
I've been lucky with Facit for Scandinavia and NVPH for the Netherlands.

French is not a major obstacle, and I've already seen that the 2 2011 Yvert catalogues for France + Territories that just came out is cheaper than the SG version. And is probably more complete.

As I've never bought an SG catalogue, I'm not sure what to expect.

For UN, I can't find the Gaines catalogue. But from searches, it seems Arleigh Gaines passed away and they stopped printing the catalogue.
I might go with the Michel catalogue UNPA sells on their online store. Seems to be in both German and English, and in color.

Edit:
Actually, Yvert has split the first volume into 2 books, and the 2nd book also includes UN and Europa stamps, along with the French Territories and Monaco.
I may purchase these 2 books and see how complete the UN part is, and decide if it's worth getting a specific catalogue for UN.

http://www.yvert.com/p-20165-tome-1-2011.aspx
http://www.yvert.com/p-20166-tome-1bis-2011.aspx
http://unstamps.un.org/unpa/product...n/index.html
http://www.stanleygibbons.com/onlin...on-2010.aspx

Hi Andrew,

I don't have the latest SG Part 6 catalogue, the 7th edition, which was issued in April 2010 but for what it's worth the 6th edition was published in May 2006 and includes French stamps up to the the 3rd December 2005 issue and Monaco stamps up to the 7th October 2005 issue.

I've seen the SG UN catalogue for sale but not looked at it yet. I use the Michel UN Specialised Catalogue 2010 which includes for example the New York issues up to the 2nd October 2009 issue.

Thanks Nigel.

I'm still slightly undecided but leaning more towards getting the Yvert catalogue and checking if it's worth getting the Michel UN one as well.

Hopefully my request doesn't violate copyright laws but if anyone has an example scan (or know where I can find images) of the SG, Michel and Yvert catalogues, it would be great!

It's a shame these companies don't show page previews on their websites.
Living in Portugal, it isn't easy seeing hardcopy previews in the stores. Most of these catalogues are only available by special order.

You didn't ask about this, but the 2-volume Maury France is nice, and inexpensive here in the US, where Henry Gitner claims to be the sole importer. A club member has one, and I've thought about getting one from time to time. When you go to Gitner's website the link is just a pdf, so here is the pdf...it has a page sample...

http://www.hgitner.com/linns/linns_080210.pdf

Is the Maury a successor to the Ceres?

Also, I think the Maury only matches the Y&T catalog numbers up to around the 1980s(?).

Maury is subtitled Ceres and Dallay. Yes, the Yvert numbering runs to 1980.

I bought both a Y&T and SG for France before Christmas but they have not arrived yet.
They are not the most recent with the Y&T being a single volume and the SG the 2006 ed. They were both very reasonable priced on ebay.

Look forward to hearing your opinion about the 2 catalogues!
Even if they're the previous editions, they don't change their layouts and formats that often.

I'll let you know as soon as they arrive. I'm not interested in recent issues or value so these are great for me.

They have both arrived.
The Y+T is as detailed as I expected. It is in A5 format which is handy and has info on postmarks, numbers printed etc and covers France inc. revenues etc, Andorra, Europa, Monaco, UN and Colonial overprints (no images).
Images are colour and small but clear. I would recommend picking up a copy if one comes along at the right price. Mine was €5 delivered.
The SG contains details for the same as Y+T minus the BOB revenues etc but details for all colonies. This is A4 sized with larger images. This one cost £10 delived from SG ebay store.
I would say that both books are necessary to cover all bases.

Thanks for your comments Anthony.

The size of Y+T makes it a bit more handy for me and since it is quite complete, as you mention, I'm going to give it a short for France, Monaco and UN, and see how I manage with 3 in 1+1 (since the new version is divided into 2 volumes).