Hello Guys And Gals . I'm New To This And Have A Few Questions.

1).. What is the name of a catalog to find info. on stamps including prices? Where can I purchase this catalog?

2)... Just purchased a Penny Red . My Question is What are the margins numbers? What does this mean?

3)... Just want to thank everyone in this community.

In the USA, we use the Scott Catalogs for stamps. A new set of catalogs is several hundred dollars so your best bet is to find a used set. ebay, Amazon, other book sellers will have them. As most of your questions seem to be about classic stamps 1840-1940, Scott makes a one volume classic stamp catalog. That might be a good choice for you.

I can't help with question 2.

enjoy the group.

Hi, Brett, welcome to the forum. To answer your second question about "margin numbers", I assume you are referring to the Great Britain stamp listed as Scott catalogue number 33, which had the plate number incorporated into the scroll work at the sides of the stamps. The Royal Post Office used over 150 different plate numbers for this issue, because it was the workhorse issue for general mailings for well over a decade, and several billion were printed. The plate numbers used ran from 71 to 225, and all numbers in that range were used except 75, 126 and 128. Plate number 77 was printed and not officially issued, but a tiny number (maybe 6 or 7) are known to exist. Most of these are pretty cheap,you can pick them up for a few pennies. A few of the higher plate numbers, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, and in particular 225 are worth more. Here is a picture of the stamp I think you mean, with plate number 100 clearly visible on each side, note that the number is colorless, rather than printed in the color of the stamp. There are many ways of collecting these, you can try to get a complete set of plate numbers, or collect all the corner letter combinations from AA to TL, or collect the different types of cancellations, good luck and most of all, have fun

Many public libraries also have copies of the Scott Catalogs. Maybe check your local once they re-open?

Thanks So Much Guys . About the Penny red this is the Tite to the ebay listing. Its not perforated . GB 1841 QV 1d. Red-brown,,QF,, blue paper 4 marg.VFU-Maltese Cross ref.GB-05

Brett, hi again. With your second post describing the stamp in question, I realize I misinterpreted your original question regarding "margin numbers". I assumed (incorrectly) you were referring to the plate numbers at the edges of the penny red stamp, but apparently your question refers instead to the notation about margins of the early imperforate British stamps that often accompanies the descriptions on ebay. For about the first fourteen years of British stamps, they were all issued in imperforate format, ie there were no perforation holes separating the stamps. In addition, the spaces between stamps was quite narrow, so when you wanted to remove a single stamp, or a small group from the main sheet, which was a 12 X 20 grid comprising 240 stamps, you had to cut them apart with scissors. Unless you bought and took home the entire sheet, you would of course then have to rely on the post office clerk cutting off the amount you wanted, and again, because the gaps were so narrow, it was very difficult to get a nice clean cut and preserve the integrity of any individual whole stamp, and so the designation of one, two, three or four margin stamps came into being which refers to how well the stamp was separated from its neighbors to right, left, up or down. Here are a couple of examples, a three margin ( below, top) and a four margin copy (below, bottom). Note that the three margin copy almost clips the design at top left, while the four margin even includes a tiny bit of the next stamp over to the left. That one also shows how narrow the gaps were between stamps on these early issues, and so, how easy it would be if you were trying to cut a few stamps out of an entire sheet, to cut too close to the next stamp over, which of course the next customer in line might end up with. And, of course, that next stamp over which would have the letters OA in the lower corners would be missing part of its right hand side, and so today would be a less than desirable copy if by some chance it survived all these years and ended up in a collection.

Welcome, Brett. Here you see that no matter what question you have, someone on this forum (and probably more than one) will have the answer and gladly share it with you. Really enhances enjoyment of the hobby.

Also, I second the recommendation above. For older stamps, Scott's one volume Specialized Classics, 1840-1940, is a great way to start. And no need to buy a new one. Even one ten years old will do for a long while. I got mine on ebay: not expensive at all.

Stay healthy, Eric