Asking About Usage Of Catalogues

Hello

Most of the members here use catalogues: Scott, SG, Michel and more.

1) Only Scott and SG are in English?

2) Can I manage using a catalogue in a language that I don't know?

3) How important is it to have an updated catalogue? If I compare a catalogue from 2017 and 2007, will there be a difference regarding stamps before 2007?

4) Do full Scott and SG consist of 6 volumes each? How many Michel has?

Thanks for any info.

Hi Rob Roy,



SG and Scott are only the worldwide catalogues that I'm aware of in English.

Many specialised catalogues for particular countries are in English or in multiple languages including English.

For example, Facit Special is the leading catalogue for Nordic countries and is in both Swedish and English.



It depends how you feel about working out what is in a foreign language.

The Michel catalogues are in German. They are very good and a lot of information is easy to understand once you've got used to their conventions, symbols, abbreviations etc.

You do need a dictionary (or Google Translate) to get some information.




I like to have lots of different catalogues but I can't afford to keep them all up to date.

If you are mostly interested in price information then I'd suggest getting the latest edition of your favourite catalogue.

Catalogues do add information over time on older stamps but it's a slow process.




This is not as simple a question to answer as it might seem!

I believe Scott is still in six volumes but is increasing the number soon.

SG publishes three main sets of catalogues:

1. SG's "Stamps of the World" is a set of simplified catalogues covering the whole world in a number of volumes. My 2008 edition is in five volumes but I think there are now six.

These is basically an illustrated catalogue of "face-different" stamps ignoring watermarks, perforations, shades, minor design differences etc.

2. The main SG catalogue is broken down into a very large number of (30+) volumes each covering a number of countries. These have a lot more detail than "Stamps of the World".

I use these as my main catalogues.

3. A set of specialised catalogues for Great Britain (Queen Victoria, Four Kings, QEII Pre-decimal etc.)

Michel's catalogues are also split up into country groups. Once again, there are many more than six of them.

Thanks for your fast and detailed answer.
I saw several offers at ebay of eBook catalogues and wanted to be sure that they might actually tell the truth about offering a complete catalogue.
As for updated catalogues - I'm not looking for price, but for info about stamps, their marking, the difference between series and so on. So if someone offers Scott, SG and Michel from the last 5 years for less than 20 Euro - it might be sufficient starting point for a general collector like me, I hope.

Basic (simplified Michel) is currently in 28 volumes. If you add specialized catalogs, then number of catalogs triples.

-k-

2) You can manage using a foreign language catalogue. While it is at times challenging when you start digging into specialized terminology, it is not insurmountable. For example, I use Michel for some cataloguing of my German/Austrian stamps. It takes a little more effort at times (darn plate flaws!), but I enjoy it and feel that I am learning throughout the process. Plus they usually are better at the countries I stated above.

Rob Roy: the only non-English catalogue that I use is Afinsa, for Portuguese colonies. I can navigate it fairly well, since I have some background in Spanish and the languages are similar. But did buy an English-Portuguese dictionary a few years ago. The dictionary has been helpful.

Yvert also covers the world in the manner of the more specialised catalogues published by Gibbons. It also has a single-volume catalogue for 1840-1940 and a two-part catalogue for 1940-60. What its catalogues lack are the pages of translations of philatelic terms, colours etc that used to be, and may still be, at the front of the Gibbons specialised catalogues, but it isn't too hard to work out the equivalents.

Yvert provides a printed free booklet that lists the essential terms in 5-6 languages. At least I got one with my Yverts...

-k-

Hi scb,

I've never used Y&T catalogues (apart from their French revenue catalogue which I was a bit disappointed with).

How do you rate them compared with Michel?

Apart of the French catalog they are on the same level as Scott or Gibbons Stamps of The World. Some useful tidbits here and there, but no comparison to Michel.

-k-

Thanks for the quick reply.

scb - Messrs Yvert et Tellier were obviously nodding when they packed my catalogues, although they did send me a Y&T miniature led light and a USB stick. Fortunately, I had the foresight to produce a fluent French speaker in my daughter.

nigel - I've been quite surprised that Yvert can often contain less information - eg on precise issue dates and designers - than my old Gibbons French area catalogues. Their books are lovely things, however. Maury is at an altogether higher level, but its publishing schedules are opaque and its distribution (aside from the main France catalogue) limited. Perhaps this will improve when Spink gets into the swing of a wider French area publication strategy.

Hi Geoff,

Yes, I have the 2009 two-volume Maury France catalogues and they are an absolute delight!

There is so much information in them and it set out in a very clear way.

The sections on postmarks, postal rates by weight, class and destination, the training stamps, the pricing of stamps on cover in combination and many others were all eye-openers for me.

I look forward to buying more Maury catalogues some day. I hope they flourish under the Spink umbrella.

I used to visit London regularly and drop in to look at the catalogues in Vera's Trinders and I often came away with an unplanned catalogue or two.

I don't know anywhere now in the UK where you can see such a large range of international catalogues for sale.

I do miss that shop!

How do the catalogues differ? Does one omit revenue and tax and the other not?
As for language, in my line of work (chemistry) there are professional words that are the same in most languages, so the other day I saw a Morrocan scientist going over a Polish abstract and able to learn what he needed. Hope it's the same here too, though one of my Achilles heels are the many shades of colour, even in English.

Nigel

In a very brief period, Vera Trinder closed its doors, and so did a little stamp shop at the bottom of St Martin's Lane. Very sad! The only other Maury catalogue I have is the African Colonies volume - like you, I wait for new volumes, rather than shelling out on the older copies that pop up on ebay from time to time.

Geoff

I picked up the Michel specialized for my Germany collection in German and I struggle with German.