Comoros Stamps Information

Hi StampCommunity members :)

Step by step I'm found interesting (for my mind) stamps at Belarusian local market. And once I was found a batch of Comoros stamps and bought them.

Can you, please, explain me, how to find information about stamps, what are the methods and resources of this research?

Look at the top of your stamps. There is a good reason to assume these stamps are from ca. 1977.
Go to stampworld.com, click on 'catalogue,' go to 'Africa,' select 'Comoros,' select years '1970-1979,' select 1977. You will find the stamps commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Peter Paul Rubens (apparently a famous 16th-century painter from the Comoros ;-) ).

Date of issue : September 1978

Always good to look at approximate years, especially for countries that issue these 'wallpapers' as they can release these sets over time or add stamps at a later date.

Your stamps appear to be cancelled-to-order (CTO). Some countries made stamps available to collectors but cancelled the stamps. Stamps that have neat cancellations in a corner may be CTO, especially if they have full gum.

OK. Thanks a lot for your reply. Really it a new world for me.
If it possible, can you provide an example of "Wallpaper"? And "full gum" what does it mean?
Can I find a special dictionary for this?

https://www.stanleygibbons.com/coll...atelic-terms

https://www.stanleygibbons.com/prod...th-edition-3


'Wallpaper' refers to stamps issued primarily to make collectors part with their money and see little postal use. Many developing countries issue a lot of stamps when there is very limited demand for stamps in the country. Often, the stamps are thematic. An example is an African country that has a national football team that loses each match by 10-0, but issues hundreds of stamps depicting European and South American football players - sometimes very mediocre ones -. 'Wallpaper' is a derogative that reflect the opinion that those stamps are more valuable when covering a wall than as a stamp. The Comoros issuing several sets commemorating a 16th-century painter from the Low Countries, raises the question if the stamps were directed at thematic collectors without ever being seriously intended to prepay postage.

Full gum refers to whether the stamp has been hinged. A stamp bought from the post office, normally - some have been issued without gum -, has full original gum. This is strange when the stamp has been used and cancelled. Some unused stamps have been hinged at some time. The hinge can damage the gum. So, the amount of (original) gum says something about how much damage the hinge has done to the gum. However, a stamp that has been cancelled and has its (full) original gum is almost certainly either a pre-cancelled stamp or a CTO stamp.
The Soviet Union often made CTO stamps available to collectors, especially from abroad. They received 'hard' western currency and the stamps could never be used.

In terms of former French colonies, protectorates etc in Africa, I disposed of most post-1970 material because it usually consists of giant-sized stamps whose subjects have no relevance to the particular country. The notable exceptions are Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, where the stamps deal with local themes and have a much higher standard of design.

Thanks all for your reply :)
It is realy interesting to read about anything that you have never knew before.

"In terms of former French colonies, protectorates etc in Africa, I disposed of most post-1970 material because it usually consists of giant-sized stamps whose subjects have no relevance to the particular country. The notable exceptions are Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, where the stamps deal with local themes and have a much higher standard of design."

Is it mean that some stamps can be uncollectable or unusefull for collecting after they have been issued?
For example I know that Belarusian stamps devided in to two branches: collectable and standatrd stamps, but all of them are the same cost at the post office.

Not much is uncollectable, but prices for the "wallpaper" that NSK mentioned are low. Many aren't included in most catalogues because they had had no real sale in their supposed country of origin (equally, a lot of similar stamps are listed despite their dubious background). Their main interest is often to collectors of thematic stamps - space, birds, animals etc.