Collecting By Engraver

One of the nicest things about belonging to a stamp club is that we get to know each other's interests and look out for items to give to each other. I can't pass an elephant, a dog or a train without thinking of the member who collects these.

This week, one of our members, who knows of my passion for engraved stamps, brought me a large box of Swedish stamps. Apparently, he has a friend in Sweden who sends large quantities of Swedish stamps to him and on going through the box, I found fifty or so stamps that I did not have. This included a few Slania stamps and as my Slania collection is large, I rarely come across ones ot those that I need.

The real gem, however was a "test" booklet from 1999 with Martin Morck's ships from that year. The real bonus is that the eventual stamps are printed in red and black with a combination of recess and offset but on these, the offset is omitted so you can see exactly what the engraver added to the stamp. They are also imperforate.









It makes you wonder why they even bothered to add an offset colour.

1947 - Centenary International Philatelic Exhibition
Label/Cinderella stamp

Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved by Elie Timothée Loizeaux (1873-1956)



Cuba 20 Pesos (first series issued in 1944)
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Antonio Maceo portrait
Engraved by Elie Timothée Loizeaux

Philippines - 1935
Landing of Magellan

Printed by BEP

Vignette engraved by Carl Theodore Arlt (1883-1956)
Lettering engraved by Edward McClellan Hall (1862-1939)



1935 - 20cts
Printed by BEP

Vignette engraved by Carl Theodore Arlt

Venezuela - 1945
Revenue stamp
Maternity Social Security

Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Engraved by Leo C. Kauffmann (1899-1970)






Turkey - 1946
1000 Turkish Lira
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved by Leo C. Kauffmann

Vietnam - 1954

Prince Bao-Long

Engraved by Jules Piel (1882-1978)

Railroad Station
Seaboard All Florida Railway Co.
Coupon Bond

Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved in 1925 by Arthur C. Vogel (1893-1959)





The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Co.
Coupon Bond

Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved in 1926 by George Robert Lambert (1864-1946)

Philippines, Philippines...Philippines!

1946 - Proclamation of Independence
Printed in USA by BEP

Engraved by Carl Theodore Arlt (1883-1956)



1947 - Bonifacio Monument
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Engraved by Joseph Keller (1903-1987)



1956 - The 2nd. National Eucharistic Congress and the 100th. Anniversary of the Feast of the Sacred Heart
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Engraved by John Hay (1908-1989)

Trio from Togo
1st Anniversary of Togo's Autonomy 1957

Scott# C23 Pierre Gandon-engraver


Scott 332- Rene Cottet-engraver


Scott C21- Rene Cottet-engraver

Last month jjarmstrong47 (pg 196) posted a cindrella sheet that was produced in Paris in 1943 as part of the Aid For Intellectuals...in my pursuit in finding more about the issue I was able to find and acquire another cinderella sheet in Aid for Musicians issued in Paris 1944.
Again an all-star cast of French engravers.
I find the engravings are a bit crude and not as refined as other stamps engraved by this stellar cast of masters....then again Paris was under the occupation of the Nazis at that time.

Interesting that the format of these stamps is very akin to that of the art series that the French issued from 1961.

I felt the same about the previous sheet but my opinion is that the difference comes in the printing rather more the engraving. I suspect that because paper supplies were limited at the time, the quality of the paper had an effect on how well the engraved lines were reproduced.

That's a great sheet, all with well known engravers this time. Now to go looking for another one.

After having collected several hundred stamps depicting famous artworks, I've come to realize that I am probably more interested in collecting by engraver, since engraved stamps are so aesthetically superior to most others.

I'm very grateful for the knowledge compiled in this thread. I apologize if this is a redundant question, but does anyone know if any literature has been published on stamp engravers, or whether a published catalogue exists on this topic?

Hello Angreeley, welcome to the "club".

As far as I know there is no catalogue of engraved stamps which is one of the reasons we have this thread. I've been told that there are about twenty thousand different designs of which I've added about seven thousand to the database I started a couple of years ago but it is a slow job.

A lot of the information is still in secret archives and as you browse this topic you will find that members such as jorgesurcl have been able to bring to light information that has been lost up until now, due to his passion for index cards and proofs.

The good news is that many of the engraved stamps are not expensive, allowing a good collection without an enormous outlay. There are some where only the high values were engraved and which command a high price but they can always live on the wish list until you chance upon one in a neglected old album somewhere. Believe me, it happens!

The best thing about engraved stamps is that the closer you look, the more you see unlike many modern stamps that dissolve into dots on close inspection. For this reason, most of the scans you see on the database when you click on the "more" button are at 9600dpi and all can be freely downloaded. A file of these makes a great screensaver.

Thank you, JJ! This is all very helpful. ATA doesn't happen to have a checklist on this topic, do they?

You might be partial to Yvert's Musee Imaginaire album, which brings together the French art stamps

http://www.issoire-philatelie.com/p...re-de-france