What Countries Are The Best?

My 2 cents says Early US Commoratives, and the Canadian Pictorials IE: Bluenose, Quebec series, etc. The US Comms. such as the Trans-Mississippi, Louisiana Purchase, Pan-American, Columbian, etc. Are in my humble opinion some beautifully engraved sets.

@Puzzler: 2010 release



These stamps have actual texture (like emboss) to them, representing the minerals.

@Rod222: Wish I had someone.. anyone.. dropping of a box of stamps to me :))

Agreed! The problem is, there are so many of them to collect!

Yeah, but taht's what makes it so fun!

If you are passionate about anything, watch it rub off on people.
You gotta let people know you love and collect stamps,
then it will happen I bet.

When I lived in the city, I used to put my duplicates
in a glassine, and tuck them into the stamp
catalogues at the Library, with a note
"free for you" :)
(random acts of kindness)

Almost every country has engraved beautiful pre-1900 stamps; I personally love the Art Nouveau flavour of the Italo-English De La Rue!

Let's get down and get funky. Choices, until I change my mind: 1) native issues of Portuguese India (read the write-ups in the Scott catalog) 2) other early Portuguese colonials through the 1914 Ceres issues 3) 19th century Mexico; got to love all those district overprints 4) any country's issues prior to 1965, with watermark, perf, shade varieties that offer a challenge in identification.

Climber Steve, I love all those stamps which are hard to identify, with all their variations, until I stare at a color so long that it changes to a rare carmine from a carmine rose. Then a get a headache and I start loving all the stamps that are easy to identify.

Look away at a soda-pop bottle and read the text on it. Then look back.

Right now I am having great fun with the French colonial issues. Amazing design at a fraction of the cost compared to contemporary British Colonial stamps. And if you are able to read French, access to the colonial volumes of Yvert et Tellier or Maury can open up degrees of specialization beyond what Scott or Gibbons indicate, with the chance you can find rare varieties lurking in dealers stocks undiscovered.

I particularly like Aland. They keep the number issues down and they try to produce works of engraved art. For example they currently are selling a souvenir sheet of engraved sheep. The engraving was done by Swedish engraver Martin Morck and Chinese engraver Liu Minghui, and printed by Bureau of China Post Group. It is beautiful. They are also selling a limited to 5000 issue print of just the engraving.

My scanner is disconnected at this time when I get it hooked up again I will scan the limited engraving

Bacchus

Thanks for the tip on Aland, Bacchus. I collected them (and most of Scandinavia) years ago when they first started issuing, but my interests changed and I started specializing in Ireland. I do miss all those awesome engraved Swedish stamps by Slania - he was the BEST!

It has a nice windmill on the sheet also!

Here is the advertisement from Aland Post . . .
http://www.posten.ax/department.con?iPage=3&iLan=3

Which country is best? The ones we each enjoy collecting. For me, it is the US, Canada, Newfoundland, and any classic Zeppelins.
regards, Theron.

What's rekindled my interest is a belated discovery of Persian stamps. This is now the focus of my hobby, although my collection is still small. Their definitive sets 1909-1966, for me, are the most attractive stamps issued - although as said, so many countries have beautiful stamps. I particularly like those West Indies university omnibus stamps, and also some of the engraved Austrian sets.