Any Easy To Complete Country Out There?

I'm sorry, but I just don't get why anyone would want a country that is easy to complete. The thrill of stamp collecting is the searching, the frustration, the excitement of finding something new.

If all you have to do is walk into Stanley Gibbons with a credit card, buy 4 stamps and walk out announcing that you have completed Kionga, what is the point?

If anyone told me to collect Kionga, at the very least I would want to find used copies showing every known cancel-type and post office, some prewar covers from German East Africa used in that region, a complete set of Lourenco Marques stamps to show the connection, and a long trail of used Mozambique stamps and covers to mark the postal history of Kionga to the present day.

I collect East Germany/DDR as part of my German collection. I'd say it would be pretty easy to acquire a complete collection.

I think easy is subjective. When I read the post, I thought affordability and number of issues so I suggested Haiti for two reasons. The stamps are relatively available and they are relatively inexpensive. I think only one set catalogs (Scott) for over $100, but it is under $200.

But in another sense, there are a lot of overprints, forgeries, Haitian stamps never issued by the government and therefore not authorized for postage, and quite frankly, just some shoddy printing. When working on the collection, particularly the older aspects and some of the air post, semi postals, etc., I have to do so with a catalog and other reference materials handy.



And that doesn't include postal history.

There is Carpatho-Ukraine, 1 stamp!
Maybe West Irian has a single set. I have both.
Complete still feels good.

Graham Land, South Orkneys & South Shetlands

South Vietnam should be a good country to collect. It is a "dead" country and it has a little over 500 stamps to put together as a complete collection. After that, if you decide to go further, collect the current Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which swallowed the South Vietnam at end of the infamous Vietnam War. Historically and politically, vietnam is very interesting country.

What about some of the countries which gained their independence after the collapese of the USSR? Kazakhsan? Azerbaijan?

I checked Tokelau on ebay but their stamps doesn't have any beauty.

19th century airmail should be pretty easy.

I'm with Bamra1 on this: there doesn't seem much point to just ticking countries off a list.

There are short, easy to complete countries that still have a bit of meat on their bones. One of my favourites is Bhor, the source of my avatar.

Bhor consists of two





or three stamps,



depending on whether you think the last stamp was issued legitimately, or after the State Post Office closed. Total Gibbons catalogue value £12 or £31 mint, and you can certainly find them a lot cheaper than that.

But look beyond that: there are endless numbers of shades of the first two.





There are different types of papers. Extend to used, and the CTOs of Bhor Town



are easy, but just try finding an obviously commercial cancellation of Bhor Town, or some of the half dozen types of village cancellations



And of course, there are the delightful vanity cancellations on the dubious third stamp:



Then, for a real challenge, try for covers




and usages in the British Indian PO at Bhor




And then there's sheets of the first two issues (surprisingly hard to find), revenues,


1960s Indian Refugee Relief overprints ... and you get the picture.

Is it true that there are more shades than the total number of stamps printed?

Well, don't quote me. Cjd, but ...

I need to politely disagree with Classical Stamps who suggested Faroe Islands as an easy to complete country. The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized catalog lists values for Faroes #1; issued in 1919; at $1,400 mint hinged, and $475 used. It also warns of forgeries.

Faroes #s 2-6, issued in 1940-41 during British administration, as a set, catalog $575.00 for mint hinged and $507.50 for used. While the catalog doesn't mention anything about these issues being forged, all are surcharged Danish stamps. #5 mint catalogs $300.00 and #6 used catalogs $250.00. The price for the latter is in italics, which means infrequent sales. If I was to buy any of #s 1-6, I'd think getting certificates of authenticity would be advised.

All in all, if one wants to get a complete Faroes collection, starting at the beginning, the task won't be easy.

Steve, you have the option of starting in 1975, where the Faroe Islands issued their 'first' own stamps. You can buy a complete MHN collection from 1975-2000 for less than 100$.

Or you can include the earlier issues, which like you mention, are a bit more expensive.

I don't have my Danish catalog with me at the moment, but I believe it starts the numbering from 1975 instead of 1919.

Anyway, Scott #1 used can be bought for 60$ with a certificate. The ones issued under British Administration (Scott #2-6) - this set can be bought for 80$ used. Forgeries are not a problem with these.

The above prices are from Danish auction sites, where you can buy at the above mentioned price-level every week.

Do give the Faroe Islands a look, they are very beautiful stamps

(Note: I visited the Islands last year, and they are just as beautiful in real life as their stamps)

I agree with Bamra1's post: there's not much challenge if it's easy. A few months ago I got a complete pre-1941 collection of Latvia and Estonia (both easy countries) and my next thoughts were ...well, what's next...? Keep in your budget or, if you see what the auction market is doing, save up and put two or three months' budget on the "key" stamp. Iceland is a good example: most stamps are comparatively easy and cheap to get a hold of but a few (e.g. the first Skilling issues, official millenia overprints) are a little more difficult but not so expensive as to be way out of budget if you plan it well enough; Greenland is similar.

You have to think "why do I want to collect a certain country?" but try to set yourself a wee bit of a challenge. Remember to be patient; I have waited many years for certain stamps to come onto the market, as they will do, and for many stamps I am still waiting (British South Africa Company 7/6d duty plates, fine used, for example). It's like waiting for a bus: one will come along soon...

Hope this helps, Rgds, Tim H in Cairo