In Search Of Virgins

I have these 3 sets of stamps all from around 1970-1973 I am guessing. The first set is obviously from the British Virgin Islands, but I looked under "Virgin Islands" in Scott and I couldn't find it. The other 2 sets I am not sure about. They could be another GB territory, but they could also be the Virgin Islands as well. Can anyone please point me in the right direction in Scott for these?







Cheers... Marc

i found them in volume 6 of scott.. under Virgin Islands

Cheers. I think my virgin eyes are not so good :)

Can you please tell me years or Scott numbers possibly?

I looked through the Virgin section in Scott volume 6.

By the way, are all 3 sets from Virgin Islands of just the first pair?

Cheers...

The first set is a common design set shared with other countries and colonies which you'll find in the beginning section of each catalog. That section will tell you which Scott numbers to look at.

The omnibus, or common design types, are rarely (if ever? can't think of one...) pictured in the country listing in Scott. It just has a text reference to the issue (e.g., "Peace Issue of 1946"), and then sets out the listings. It is definitely worth looking at the common-design pages frequently to familiarize yourself with them...saves flipping back and forth through a country for twenty minutes, looking for the picture.

For that matter, if you don't find a British Commonwealth stamp on your first pass through the country, it is probably worth heading to the common designs before going back and forth over the individual-country listing.

None of the others are V.I. They are all listed under the respective "countries" named on the stamps (i.e., Falklands, B.A.T., etc.).

Thanks Cjd. But, as for the other 2 groups, they are sets as far as I know. They were kept together in sets by my father so I am assuming they are 2 sets each from one country/territory, no?

Nope...they just share the relationship of being part of sets issued around the world at the same time for two events. Collecting all of the sets issued for a certain omnibus design from all the Commonwealth issuers frequently runs well over 100 different stamps.

Wow, I see. So then how would someone buy or sell them? Or should I say, how does one value them? I doubt they are worth much anyway, but just curious.

Lots of collectors get tripped up by assuming that omnibus issues are all common and have little value. There is no substitute for looking them up to be sure, because the odd one here and there can have some significant value. The recent thread on the Int'l Cooperation Year issues of 1965 is an example of that, where some sets would set you back less than $1 and some would set you back $30 to $50, perhaps.

Just to confuse matters, there are stamps that are considered to be part of the omnibus issues, but the issuing "country" varied from the common design, sometimes completely. Those outliers are pictured by Scott. An example is the recent Hong Kong Peace stamp posting, with George VI and the phoenix and lions. It was in the "bats" thread, and one other. Completely different from the regular Peace design.

Thanks Cjd. Looks like I got some more hunting work ahead of me on a rainy day :)

My guess though is my dad did buy them as sets and did not compile them himself. I'll ask him about them and see what he might be able to remember about them as you got me curious now.