I Cannot Seem To Find These Stamps Anywhere-- It's As If They Came From An Alien Planet!

I cannot seem to find these stamps anywhere-- it's as if they came from an alien planet! I am new to the forum, by the way . My uncle recently gave me these stamps, in which he found in some old house. But, I just can't seem to find some of them, as if they never existed in modern society until I had them, haha.

Could you all share your expertise with me?









Thanks!

Seventh grouping

Great Britain, 1970.

Scott 620a, block of four (Scott 617 to 620, inclusive)

Also exists as (high value) imperforate block.

Sixth grouping

Botswana. 1970. Souvenir sheet.

Scott 65a. (Inclusive of Scott 62 to 65)

Second grouping

Dominica. 1970.

Scott 307a. Souvenir sheet. Inclusive of Scott 304 to 307.

Sharjah and Fujeira stamps.

Suspect c 1969 or 1970.

Recommend checking Stanley Gibbons catalogue.

Gibbons doesn't list most of the "Dunes" issues, as they weren't valid issues - I think Michel lists them.

TIP:
Before asking, try searching our huge database.

Type in FUJEIRA
Search in : Select SUBJECT ONLY

There will be whole wonderous stamps and information available to you.

Example:
https://goscf.com/t/50699

Practically all Sharjah and Fujeira stamps (two of the seven Trucial States) are not properly included in Stanley Gibbons, as they did not see postal use. In that catalogue, the sets are literally listed, without illustrations, descriptions or values. There are specialist catalogues for them, but most stamp collectors do not recognise them as postage stamps.

Morning all,

When is a stamp a "postage stamp" and when is a stamp a "postal label"? The latter may be useable for postage on a commercially mailed item but was never widely distributed and used for that purpose. Both are collectable but should a stamp catalog differentiate between the two?

Some collectors like holding a stamp in their hand that they know has actually been in the country it was issued in...

But I agree that whether or not a stamp gains 'catalog worthiness' appears to be arbitrary with plenty of gray areas to debate. I think many collectors fall back on the 'postage test', can legitimate postally used examples be found?
Don

What would you all say the value of these stamps are (in your opinion)? I find it odd that they were never issued as postal stamps.

Also, should I open the envelope? I wonder what is sitting in it for so long....

Those brown spots on the First Day Cover envelope is some kind of alien mold, you should not get this near the other stamps. This condition makes it virtually worthless since collectors would not want to introduce this problem into their collections. Inside is typically just a stiffener of some kind.

The value of the other stamps is not significant, demand is limited to mostly 'topical' collectors (i.e 'space on stamps') and only to collectors who tolerate stamps from these countries.

People who strongly disagree with the practice of countries issuing stamps 'for profit' call them 'labels'. They resist the idea of a country issuing a stamp with subjects that do not relate to the home country or are obviously trying to simply generate philatelic sales. A problem with this position is that many, many other countries do this to some degree. <shrugs>
Don

The Sharjah and Fujeira you've shown are listed in Michel's Naher Osten (Near East) catalog, so they made that hurdle. I'll try to look them up later on for you if no one else gets a chance to before then.

Minkus, when it was an independent company and competitor to Scott, also made albums and even issued a catalog for them (the catalog just once, I think).

I've found that collectors in countries that typically use Michel catalogs as their primary reference are also more likely to collect the Trucial States countries, so it seems to me that the attitude towards these stamps varies from 'catalog culture' to 'catalog culture', with those from the English-speaking Scott and Stanley Gibbons cultures far less likely to embrace them (although I personally know a few collectors here in the US who do collect them comprehensively, as opposed to just for certain topicals).

Ok. Was able to take a break sooner than I thought.

My source is Michel Naher Osten 2013.




Fujeira, Michel Block (souvenir sheet) 86 (listed after hypothetical stamp 818), issued 31 March 1971. Cataloged mint at €22.00

Recent 'sold' listing...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FUJEIRA-06...352632256886

Don

Sharjah Mi Block 70B (after 708), issued 1970 (nothing more specific), €12.00