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Maury does not present, it seems, all sub-types for any given denomination - I wonder why such a good reference is incomplete ?
Yes, that is exactly what has been frustrating for me as well. In general I am very pleased with my Maury and for most issues it is listing a wealth of varieties, printing errors, curiosities etc, much more than I will ever need. And the catalog keeps doing this up to recent issues, tons of information. I have been working with the various main-types and subtypes of the Seumeuse / Sower series now for 2 weeks, and the Sowers are listed very detailed. Example given the Sower 25c blue, Maury #140 (Sc. #168, Michel #119).
This stamp is listed in 4 different 'main'types (I-IV) - and 5 sub-types (IA, IB, IIIA, IIIB, IIIC ). In total Maury is listing 68 varieties of this sower, which in comparison is listed in Scott with only 1 imperf variety and in Michel with 2 varieties.
But for some reason Maury treats the marvelous Sage issues with 'disrespect'. My catalog does not even mention that there are sub-types at all, it simply define the two 'normal' main type I or II - similar as Scott and Michel does - but that's it.
I struggle to understand why Maury put so much effort in describing the semi-modern and for the most cases low-value Sower sub-types - and ignores the more classic Sage. The Sage issues are much more valuable and as such more interesting. The identification of sub-types are of 'crucial' interest for anyone wondering if they have the 1c on Prussian blue paper (as described earlier in this thread) but still no mentioning about it.
From another perspective, Maury is devoting no less than 23 pages alone for extremely detailed listings of the 'Bordeaux' issues (9 stamps) and all their plating differences - that is far too much for most! These 'Bordeaux' issues are expensive and hard to find in large amounts as they were only printed in limited numbers between 1870-71. The Sage issues on the other hand were the only 'working horses' for the postal services from 1876 until 1900 - 42 different stamps - and these were printed in 1000' of millions. Both the ink color and paper colors are all over the charts, there are endless printing differences etc that are easy to see, still these are devoted 'only' 13 pages. Something does not add up.
I could understand all this if Maury is also publishing a specialized classical catalog - but as far as I know they don't. (?)
Well, that my frustration out, thanks for bearing with it!
Guess I should stop this fruitless despair and get myself a Yvert specialised
Posted 11/01/2017 3:30 pm
