Determining A Stamp's Timeline ..................

Hi !
In collecting WW stamps "from the beginning to 1955", I'm at the point now where I am buying country collections. Most of these come on album pages and are easy to place, but some of the collections are on stock pages or glassine envelopes.

Of course some stamps give denote dates or pics that give a clue as to the time frame, but others just don't.

The "newness" appearance of a stamp is a clue, but of course there are many, many stamps that look brand new - but are from the early 20th century.

My fallback has been a 1955 edition of Scotts Cataloge, and it has been a significant help. But, as it doesn't show a pic of every stamp, if I don't find it there I still can't be sure if its post or pre 1955.

Of course one solution is to get a more recent edition of Scotts, but I was wondering, is their any other help out there?

Thanks all, for putting up with my "newbie" questions.....

Mobilman44


<duplicate posts deleted--moderator>

This site, coupled with your current catalog, may help you get in the ballpark.

http://antonius-ra.com/mward/collection/

If you have a number of other stamps of that country, you can sometimes guesstimate if you can see a pattern in the postage rates for a certain era, e.g if you have a few airmail stamps from a certain decade at 20c, and you are trying to id an airmail stamp at 15c, you can be fairly certain it is an earlier stamp.

If I am at a complete loss I try www.postbeeld.com or www.ebay.com/b/260/" rel="nofollow">ebay and use their search functions to narrow down the search by factors like country, denomination or topic, and see if I can spot the image of my stamp. The accompanying information will usually give the date, and/or cat number.

WOW, that "Antonius-ra" site is amazing! Thank you!

And, I forgot to mention that I have used ebay to identify stamps as well too.

Also, "postbeeld" is a site new to me, and I'll have to check it out.

Thanks all!

Oh, I apparently did a "duplicate post", thanks to a hang up on my internet service.

I am speechless...the antonius-ra site is
Thanks so much for sharing the info...

Glad to have been able to be of help. If you check the SCF member roster, you'll see that Antonius Ra is a member of the forum.

Now I just feel really dumb!

Oops! Wrong button...
I also meant to say that the site is still awesome!
And I still feel dumb...

Hi,
Well, I did a concerted effort to pick out the post 1955 stamps (just received a large selection from Panama, Paraguay, and Nicaragua) and used the Antonio Ra site (!!) and ebay. I was pretty successful but still have several to sort.

In looking at ebay auctions, I found a 4 volume softcover set of 1991 Scotts Cataloges. Believe it or not, it was a "buy it now" for $15 with FREE shipping. Yikes, I jumped on that one real quick.

Assuming it is what it I expect, I'll just put the 1955 set back on ebay this fall.

hmm - On the Scott Catalogs - I think the best ones are probably post-2002 or so? - These come with Color Pictures which helps alot

Yes, color pics would be a help. I guess the next set I buy will be "post 2002".

Just thinking, where would the hobby be without Scotts?

Hi again,
I can't say enough about the Antonius Ra site. It has been a real help in my determination of a stamps timeframe.

Hi again !
Had to follow up on the thread - thought you would enjoy the latest..........
As I wrote, I got a terrific deal on ebay for a 4 volume Scotts 1991 catalog. The price was $15, free shipping, and from a reputable seller. Last afternoon the doorbell rang and it was the mail carrier. He was not happy, and gave me a beat up USPS priority box that was obviously empty and stamped by the post office as "delivered without contents".

Yup, somewhere between Florida and Houston there are 4 nice Scotts volumes - likely scatter over the road somewhere.

The good news is the seller gave me an immediate refund, and I sent him pics of the box to file a claim. Now, I'm just looking for another set of books................
Mobilman44