Are Stamps From These Countries Actual Postage??

To clarify my post a bit, this is my golden rule in stamp collecting (stolen in the night from Janet Klug)

"If you are having fun, you are doing it right."

Everybody should, and will, collect what they enjoy. Whether it is precancels, countries starting with an L, CTO's or dust under the bed.

That doesn't change that many countries issued a lot of stamps for collectors, not postage, and then its just a piece of pretty paper for me. But thats just me, not you.

Each to their own - A lot of countries certainly produce stamps that very rarely end up being "postally used" but that to me is the fun of the game - trying to find those "postally used" stamps - an example is Equatorial Guinea - how many have seen or possess a genuine "postally used" cover from that country?

I agree wholeheartedly. I went off stamp collecting for a while about 5 years ago because I only collected what was in my Michel Germany catalogue, yet I was seeing stamps I liked and not picking them up because I didn't have a catalogue for them.

Now I collect whatever takes my fancy. I decide what I collect, whether it is catalogued or not, based solely on whether I like it.

The collection I currently enjoy the most is a collection of overprint varieties. I'm still picking these up for 10c each and it has recently expanded into its 10th ringbinder folder. The other day I got an Argentinian "Servico Oficial" overprint with half the overprint missing and I have almost half a page of different varieties of a Ghana overprint (which had very poor quality control - see pic below) and I love collecting these oddities.

Nells250,




If I could read the texts on your scan, I probably could identify it. Is there a year printed anywhere on the stamps?

Mongolia - real postage issues, I got cover sent from there to prove it.

I don't really care much for the "pop culture" stamps especially designed for collectos (like the Michael Jackson stamp fad from awhile back). I doubt many people from the countries which issues these things would even know what they were. Unless I've got postally circulated copy of them (ex. The Jamaican Bob Marley Stamp), I really don't care to collect them. How can a band like AC/DC have anything in common or be culturally relevant to the country of Chad? :)

A few years ago I subscribed to some Pacific islands, West Indies and some African countries Philatelic Bureaus... mainly to get stamps that were genuinely used and not CTO stuff. Sometimes they included SPECIMEN stamps along with their leaflets and information. I'm not sure that today you would get this as they probably now use metered postmarking. Worth trying though

It's a slippery slope. You start by writing off the CTOs. Then you write off the 'wallpaper', by which I mean all the zillions of stamps issued by obscure countries which were never intended for postal use (such as the Disney stamps, the Diana stamps etc). Then you start wondering why the good old USA is issuing SO MANY commemoratives, and so many varieties of the same definitive. And then you decide to stick to pre 1940 stamps! (But Google Nicholas F. Seebeck)

Speaking of CTO... is this the Royal Mail's first CTO? I don't think the USA stamps were postmarked in the USA. I believe Tallents House in Edinburgh was responsible for both postmarks. Unless someone know differently that is

joe1225us said : It's a slippery slope

How right you are. Then we get to the stage when we can get ERRORS TO ORDER ... oh, that has already been done Was it the printers who did Tuvalu stamps who printed thousands of sheets with deliberate errors to sell to collectors?

Yes, that was Tuvalu. They tried sued the agents but lost. They never recovered philatelically...

http://tuvaluislands.com/stamps/LOW_story.htm

I know there is a following for the sheets and topical stamps of Antigua and Barbuda..some people like the colorful material..you can tell by the bids on the net !!

Quite correct Philby, there is a following for all of them, that is why they are being printed, and that is why countries like Canada and the US are starting to print the same type of stuff - there seems to be a big market for items that are guaranteed to depreciate greatly in value.

I bought $175.00 face value of Tuvalu on ebay for $14.00

I just read this whole thread yet again as I have been looking through Scott catalogs from the library. What I have seen in them makes me ask the question again: do all those small countries really use those Michael Jackson and Mickey Mouse stamps as actual postage??

I am trying to go about this topic from an academic viewpoint. I understand what everyone is saying about collecting what you like. But I myself don't like stamps that are printed just to look good and cost a premium for no valid reason.

So then I ask a new question, WHY do some countries print stamps of American pop stars, or American presidents? What do they have to do with their own country? It seems they are only intended for collectors, not actual use by their country-folk. I actually saw in Scott a few notations about lots of stamps that were printed and sold, but declared counterfiet by the government.

ALSO, I noticed most of these "suspect" stamps have the same value listed for mint and used. That is another flag that my brain has raised...

Definitely not !

That cover is one of many that have been cancelled-to-Order. And it is not even addressed.
It is most likely worth about a ½ of it's original cost, if that.
Very nice to look at, but expensive.

That cover, and millions like it produced all to often by RM and other Postal services of this world, have never seen the inside of a Post Box...except from the warmth of an outer envelope !

Londonbus1......I won't start now on Nells' bogus issues, it's too late !