Stamps On A Shoestring By "The Rover"

The "Rover".
A beacon of light for the cash strapped collector.

I had planned the attack for some days now,
it was to be a dawn attack on The Red Cross Stamp Shop
Bolstered by a belly full of Weetbix, and a strong black (no sugar)
we mounted our trusty jalopy and headed for Wellington Street.

Disarming the lass at the front counter with our best beaming stamp grin,
the loor was unlatched, and it was down the hallway and into the inner sanctum.
Using a subterfuge of casually inspecting postcards, I took possession of the
cinderella bin, and rescued some very rare specimens, including the $1 Lego stamp,
and the very scarce nvi Reader's digest pair ( error of no date slug)


I took 40 or so postmarks [cut squares] , slogan marks, and sundry etiquettes.

I took a packet of 7 Czech CTO's reduced from 2 rupees (packaged for sale
in Karachi Pakistan) at 8c each, not bad ..(those stamps had needed rescuing,
they had been around the world still in the packet, they were lonely)



Next came a bag of sundry etiquettes and Bible stamps (total 20c)



Then came the mint UH set of President Sukarno 1951 for (15c)



I had a hard time refusing 80 stamps from Vietnam for $2 (3c each)



I lifted a nice Dorothy Wilding 2d Postcard from Truro England (20c each)
with a fascinating auxilliary marking...Is that a postage due mark on a postcard?? Bingo!



I selected a further 70 odd stamps, gaps in my Cuba and Romania, we scrounged
4 "Gibbons Stamp Monthly" magazines and 4 "Aust Stamp Professional magazines"
(No covers~seconds)

I left, lighter in the wallett by about $14 (I left more as a donation)
I had spent the equivalent of about 3 meat pies and a can of coke,
....and there was enough work to keep me busy for a fortnight.

Happy scrounging... "The Rover"

The Red Cross Stamp Shop
Wellington Street Perth Western Australia
Open 9:00am --12:30pm Mondays, wednesdays and Fridays.

very cool

Nice haul! I wish we had philatelic thrift stores. Closest thing I know of is the Stamps for the Wounded table at Napex and Balpex shows (run by the Lions International) and the Goodwill Book sale in Washington DC.

Would you believe the Red Cross Stamp Shop had been
there for years, right under my nose, and I didn't know it.
It was recommended to me by a fellow collector
on a newsgroup, who lives in Gloucester Ontario!

That has to be a Ripley's :)

Either those Readers Digest stamps are very small, or those are some huge perforations. Great stuff!

Am also a shoestringer...could I spend more ? Absolutely ! Would it be more fun ? I doubt it !!

What's going on????

I thought the kangaroo people ate Vegemite for breakfast every day.

BTW, Nice haul!

Not sure about modern Australia,
we have in the past, adopted a fairly mundane palate,
a left over form our English past,
Weetbix and Cornflakes were the staple brekky, Vegemite
is a snack for mid afternoon, or a cop-out when you
have exhausted everything else for your kids sandwiches (sangers)
Bung him a Vegemite sandwich, and pat him off to school.

Today there is a mind numbing array as you saunter down the
brekky isle of the supermarket, even muesli comes in ten different shades.

Phil,
nice line, I like it. :)

Battlestamps...when we go to the Orapex show in Ottawa..Oxfam has a large area just before you actually enter the show where they sell donated stamp and covers from 5 cents and up..you should see the shoestringers...my wife heard one older well off looking gent actually asked if he could get a DISCOUNT ! well I understand they explained the facts of life to him very plainly ! NO !