What Was In Your Mailbox Today??

Well, there are only 3 houses on this street and only 1 this could be. Looks like a good/real address in a very 'toney' neighborhood. No clue why it was returned unless rejected by the occupant.

It could be one of life's little absurdities. I had one of these once. USPS efficiently returned it from California. I put it in a new envelope with the same address, sent it off again and it was duly delivered.

That house is a mansion.

Today, a 102 card with Hungary Scott 7-12.

Yesterday, a 2020 Scott Volume 4. I'm hoping to slowly acquire the rest over the next few months to accompany my 2020 Classic Specialized. I have not yet decided on whether I'll also try to pick up the US Specialized. If I can find one cheap enough, then probably even though US is just another country in my collection.

Dale

Yesterday around 8:00PM a UPS driver dropped on the stoop the 2022 Scott Classic Specialized> It's the first one I purchased (& probably the last). I wanted this item so I would be able to differentiate some of the finer details in the printing of early issues of not only the US but of some WW that I have in an Ambassador album from HE Harris. I immediately went through the pages & was somewhat disappointed in the content. It is a fine reference for 1940 issues & prior & possibly the only reference needed if you are a true 'classic' WW collector, (without any post 1940 issues). I guess there is a little more detail for US classics & possibly several of the larger countries collected. we shall see as I get more into my classics. it's a nice piece and will look like I'm heavily into the detail of the hobby. It is what it is, a specific reference tool for very early issues.

@eligies,

Out of curiosity, what were you hoping you would find in the latest version of the classic catalogue that you did not see?

Dale

Left a note and a gift card for our postal carrier the other day and got a nice Christmas Thank You back today, thanking us for our kindness. It made my day that she appreciated it!

On the 23rd I rec'd a package which made it to my mailbox on the east coast of the US from France in 7 days.
First up, here's the postage applied - unfortunately not a bunch of pretty stamps.



Inside were some French airmails, issued June 17 2021, celebrating the life and work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944). The stamps' design is drawn directly from the 1948 airmail semi-postal designed and engraved by Gandon. Sc. CB1 (Y&T PA21).

One sheetlet includes Y&T PA 86,87, and 88. That is shown first below.
Six stamps, all 4 Euros, but in three different colors.



Next is a sheetlet including Y&T PA 89, 90, and 91.
Here we have two at 1.5 Euros, two at 7.50 Euros, and then a significantly larger stamp at 12 Euros. These are covering some international rates. The sheetlet marked with silver and a quote from his 1931 work Night Flight. My scan below does not do it justice.

This sheetlet came in a relatively limited edition (ed: purchase was through a lottery system), packaged in a nice little folder including a translucent overlay bearing another quote. While I got mine at a reasonable price, I have seen them on eBay and Delcampe for twice or nearly three times as much. It's a gorgeous souvenir sheet, so very few collectors or dealers will break one up to use the stamps for postage. Decades from now, a used PA 89-91 will probably be worth far more than an intact MNH sheet.



Note re Y&T numbers (and Scott). They are so recent I do not have a catalogue that lists them so I pieced this together from various sources, so I do not know which colors are which numbers in either Scott or Y&T..
A catalogue that shall not be named says these are:
Michel 7933 black violet 4 Euro, 7934 yello green 4 euro, 7935 green blue 4 euro, 7936 olive bistre 1.5 Euro, 7937 olive green 7.50 Euro, and 7938 is the big indigo 12 Euro.

StatesmanStamper: I thought that there would be a little more DETAIL (especially with US issues) on some of the markers that differentiate one printing or issues for another on almost identical design.. It appears that (at first glance) there is very little additional information (with the US issues) than from the Scott US Specialized as far as detail goes. I surmise that this catalog is for pre-1940 collectors & that allows them 1-reference book rather than the 6+ issue Scott catalog for WW collectors post 1940s. A good reference & nice hard cover item just thought it would have a little more.

As this covers the world, isn't the logic that there would be the same or less in the US than in the specialised US volume, rather than more?

My son purchased a new 2022 US Specialized catalog (plus 2 other smaller supplements) for me this Christmas. Very nice indeed - I'm sure I will wear it out with use in no time!

GeoffHa: I guess it all depends on the advertisement for the item & how I interpreted that. I thought I was being provided a reference with some additional information on all classic issues (US & WW). I specifically thought (assumed) that the earliest years of a Postal Administration that more detail would be provided in a Specialized specific time frame not available in a General catalog which covers 'to-date' issues. Again, it provides a one-book reference for a specific timeframe worldwide. So that said I need to purchase no future issues/printings.

I don't know Scott's Specialised catalogue, but I assume that, for countries outside the US, it provides detail roughly equivalent to what you'd find in other publishers' (Gibbons etc) area catalogues. You can also find catalogues that will provide much greater detail about the classic (i.e. pre-1900) period for specific countries, eg Yvert's pre-1900 volume for France, Gibbons's Queen Victoria Specialised etc.

Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840-1970, 2022 Edition Stamp Catalogue

Robert

Robert, that sounds fantastic. The binding on my 2016 hardcover is starting to rip.