Printing Runs Of Stamps

Hi, I collect mainly queen victoria commonwealth stamps
most of my collection is brought from ebay,

i've seen advertised stamps where the seller has the number printed
for instance there is a BECHUANALAND 1888 QV £5 handstamped SPECIMEN fine mint only 345 produced !!

Where does the seller get this info on how many where printed ect
i've search for catalogues, i've googled it am I missing something ?




If anyone knows of any catalogues out there that would supply me with this information I would be very grateful.

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Stamps73: try contacting John Barefoot in York. He may have the information that you are seeking.

www.jbarefoot.co.uk

Climber Steve : Thanks for that link,

Hopefully I might get somewhere, if all else fails I might try emailing the seller on ebay and asking where he got his info from.

But i'll try that link . Thanks again

According to my SG part 1, this is not a rare stamp.

It says 10s/21s H/S SPECIMENT set of 12 £900. Which is the complete set of 12 stamps.

So the specimen overprint devalues the stamp considerably. The £5 without specimen overprint cats at £3500.

No numbers are given for the amount produced.

This kind of information is available in Specialized catalogues and thru Philatelic originations publications.

I think they want too keep it a secret? You might just check out
colony by colony and maybe stumble on quantities printed like these
from Trinidad !Of coarse you will have to take their word for it.
http://www.jamesbendon.com/specimen...TRINIDAD.HTM
One of the main references for QV material is Marcus Samuel...
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/283...6_issue.html

If you want the Marcus Samuel book, there is one on Amazon UK for £77.80.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Specimen-S...p/0900631082

Printing information for British Colony stamps comes primarily from the Crown Agents records for the stamps supplied by them, or from the various Post Offices in the Colonies for things like overprints.

I am always looking for this information because it helps me figure out if something is really valuable or just popular.

There doesn't seem to be a central database for this information, so you have to find it in a piecemeal fashion.

The old Commonwealth Five Reigns Catalogue which was published by Bridger and Kay, Ltd in 1980 has a lot of print quantities listed for older stamps. This is out of print so you will have to find it in used condition. That is where I initially learned how rare some of the King Edward VII high value stamps are.

I have also found this information posted by various specialized clubs. Try getting on their websites and seeing if they post old journals for the countries that interest you. Eventually you may have to join but it never hurts to know more about your stamps.

Be sure to let us know if you find some better sources.

KGVIStamps

Thanks for that info,

i just typed Five Reigns Catalogue by Bridger and Kay Ltd into ebay and there was a copy for £10 with free postage.

I've just brought and paid and hopefully i'll have it by the end of this week
wether it has the information I need or not for that price i'm sure it'll be a good read . thanks

I had a 1980 Bridger & Kay catalogue. Good info but doesn't list Australian States.

stamps73, if you need any info on that area please let me know