New Member From Sweden

Hello there,

Tomorrow it will be two weeks since I registered as a member of this forum.

Expat Dane living in Sweden
Have collected postage stamps since 1977, specialized since 1993
Collection interests: Latvia
- 1990 onwards, solo on piece, postal rates
- 1918-1941, solo on piece, postal rates
- 1941-1944, Riga in Ostland, solo on piece, postal rates
- Lettonica - related to but not issued by Latvia

Member of the ArGe Baltikum in Germany (not that active) since at one point I would like to attend with exhibits at philatelic exhibitions (not there yet).

Many of the images I upload with covers have their addresses hidden due to privacy concerns.

Baltija,

Enjoy having fun with stamps! That is the name of this game. Wonderful you are carrying on your father's collection. You are the next steward of a family treasure you can pass on to future generations. Its value as a family heirloom wil always surpass it monetary value.

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences.

My personal bias is a used stamp loses the story of its journey in the postal service when it is removed from the cover it transported to its destination. Collecting postal history adds a whole new aspect to your journey in our hobby.

Wishing you many enjoyable future days in our hobby. Russ

Welcome to the forum. I am a new member myself. Ironically, I am going through some Latviya stamps on paper. Mostly from 1990-early 2000. Anything to keep an eye out for?

@17stamps, many thanks for the welcome.

Perhaps I am not the right person to ask since I collect postal history - that's the "solo on piece, postal rates" thing in my introduction. Stamps on paper to me is what becomes of covers that are damaged.

What I could imagine would be interesting are stamps with all or most of the postmark visible/readable and of course high value denominations and then souvenir sheets. The latter is also very interesting on cover. Then there is perforation to look out for - some of the definitives have known variations.

@hoosierboy, many thanks for your welcome




Sorry to disappoint you - I am not carrying on my father's collection. I started off from scratch.




Perhaps, if I'll have any kids. Fortunately as a male of my age that is still possible.




Bingo, got that one right.

Thanks for clarifying. I agree, sadly I have acquired a lot of the "stamps on paper" that are damaged... however, some of them have full postmarks and have been cut out from the cover with that in mind. I want to preserve some of those on paper. I have not done that before, but I will get a guillotine cutter and do my best.

What do you mean by "solo on piece, postal rates"? One stamp on an envelope/cover, and postal rates specifically means the cancellation mark?

@17stamps,




One (solo) postage stamp postally used and still on a shipment (piece), which is franked according to the proper postal rate - collected according to the numbers of the Michel stamp catalogue. Some postage stamps have been used to cover fiscal rates, i.e. taxes and fees not relevant to mail service, which is why I use the terminology "piece".

Most postage stamps are issued to accomodate for actual postage rates, some postage stamps are issued as "supplemental" stamps, they were never intended as solo franking of a shipment - those I collect "on cover", i.e. postally used any witch way.

It is highly important that the postmark is fully readable - the date and place, to know whether the postage stamp was postally used in the correct period.

Hi Baltija,

are still on this forum.

I have some questions re. your postal cards from Latvia