What Did You Do Philatelically: Today Or Recently?

angore,

Do you have the Raytech Versalume 10-024? 4 watts? There was only one review and the reviewer gave one star. He was using it for minerals and rocks. Which one do you have?

Jack

I have the dual (LW,SW) version (no longer sold). I have some SAFE brands (LW and SW) too but the Versalume is more powerful although the unit feels a little flimsy. It got a good review by Rudy de Mordaigle in US Stamp News. It works better in normal light compared to my other units. The wattage is one aspect but the filter over the lamp seems to vary since it attenuate the light output.

Angore,

Thank you for you input. It looks like the Versalume is the contender. Anybody else care to chime in?

Jack

I made another visit to the APS on Monday...picked up some online ordered stuff and went through Iceland and G.B. circuit books. Need to leave home earlier so I can have a bigger block of time there. Picked up the early Finland Lindner pages and album off the Bay...less than half price, not too shabby. Now, all I have to do is fill it with rarities.

Yesterday I mailed three packages with gifts for friends and family.

I used ALL 32 cent and 37 cent Christmas stamps from a few years back, using USPS Priority Mail Tyvec-type envelopes....it was nice knowing that if the package was 13 ounces or less, and was not over one inch thick (or fifteen inches long) I could drop the items in the mail box, avoiding what looked like an hour's wait. Probably about thirty people in line with their mailings.

Hopefully my young relatives will receive their gifts by Saturday December 23, as promised by the USPS computerized scale weighing my package.

I hope they enjoy the multicolored holiday postage as well as their gifts!

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681

Scanned some New Zealand duplicates and a few covers I had laying around; I will put them online and sell them soon!

I always find things I didn't even know I had along the way, and it clears off my messy stamp table somewhat too!

Pictures to follow.

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681

Re Post office wait time. When I lived in Troy, MI, a northern suburb of Detroit, I experienced similar lines. Now in Rochester MN the local grocery store has postal services and I rarely have more than two customers in front of me, which is a God-send since I have mail to send almost every day. For packages they cannot take, I use the downtown PO and there again, rarely more than four or five in line, even pre-Christmas. The USPS in big cities is definitely NOT customer friendly.

Recently picked up a collection of post-war stamps from Lebanon, and have been transferring them to leaves. These are attractive stamps, often stylistically similar to Syrian stamps, particularly from the mid-1940s to mid-1950s. Next I need to fill the yawning gaps in my French mandate-period Lebanon.

Geoff, those are beautiful stamps and your page layout is very sharp.

Thank you - I'm usually messier! I like black leaves, and had a few left. They tend to be relatively expensive, so I use them sparingly!

Completed my US non-denominated stamp collection.

Nice page, GeoffHa, of beautiful stamps - I like your black leaves (you call them) !

Today, I am sorting out the stamps in Part 5 of my WWII collection, 189 stamps of "Axis Puppet states" like Manchukuo, Bohemia and Slovakia and Croatia. These are in unopened glassine envelopes since my dad had bought the 6 part collection in 1974, from H.E. Harris for $144.95 (1360 stamps)and never had the time to touch them. For some members, I might have repeated some "stuff" - sorry

A S/S from Croatia, Sc B81 - 1944 - Croatia became part of the Yougoslav Federation in 1945 after being Independent 1941-45

I finally removed stamps from an old album I had purchased (British Commonwealth) to Vario sheets that had been around for a while. It had handmade type pages and it seems to have been done around 1961. Some of stamps must have been prior collections since most had at least one prior hinge marks. Some stamps had faded beyond recognition. The owner had valued some at 10 cents so not sure if Scott had that as a minimum value.

It looks like the KG VI era engraved issues look to be affordable and beautiful. Most colonies had unique local designs.

Geoff- gorgeous Lebanese stamps! I am completely addicted to the definitives of Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, and French Morocco (among others). Working very hard to complete some of the sets- only need 2 stamps to complete the 1917 Fr. Morocco. BTW- congrats on finding those 1917 engraved stamps in your 1923 grouping. Usually sellers fail to see the "Helio Vanguard" and assume they are holding the rarer, more expensive 1917 issues. Imagine that. For the opposite to happen must have felt great upon discovery.

Back to the French Colonies- aside from the 2 stamps needed from Morocco 1917, I am down to scattered missing values from Syria, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Algeria is basically complete. For whatever reason, the Lebanon definitive issues in 1947 (Scott 203-9) has been basically impossible to find complete, so I started trying to assemble it. Pretty tough though it shouldn't be. Still need several values including 208. The toughest task in these countries has been the Syria 1931-33 airmails (per my post in a different thread). Scott only values this set as hinged (for less than $25). For NH I'd certainly pay $30 (>133% of Scott)- if only I could find a set to buy.

Along these lines, I spent a good amount of time today looking online for new sources of French Colonies. Wulff's stamps in California seems to have a good working stock, but I find their prices astronomical. They have the Madagascar C1-24, 1935-41 airs set complete for $195; I found a dealer in France selling it for about half that price. Wulff's has the Syria airs set hinged for $22- full Scott for mint hinged!

Marcel Philatelic, also in California, has an ad in my Scott's France listings, however they have no online presence whatsoever aside from an email address. Would be nice to browse around first to see how they do things.

Albany Stamp Company has some Dom-Tom stock but it appears to be mostly used. Henry Gitner advertises about French Colonies but only have a very limited selection online. Their strength appears to be in the mother country and FSAT. Perhaps I will try them sometime with a want list. Just for fun I checked out Mystic but they also don't list much stock from Dom-Tom.

Phil-index in the UK has a very good stock listed by singles, but has no MNH stock. They cross-reference Scott, Gibbons, and Yvert together which is extremely useful. For Mint HInged and Used they are probably a very good resource.

One seller I have recently bought a lot from is Disler in Switzerland. He lists everything as singles including MNH and his stock is searchable by Yvert, Michel, and Scott. He also has separate pages for 5 different languages so the site is very user friendly.

Still have a few European sellers to peruse but was surprised to only find 3 in France proper. There must be a list somewhere of French Colonies sellers in France, but apparently Google can't find most of them.

angore,

You are right on. The KGVI stamps are beautiful. I collect MH country by country. I just received my final Jamaica stamps just today. On to Kenya!

Jack Kelley