FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 21381, 7 April 1933, Page 2

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[By Philatelist.] ( f- ‘ . f Any new* and note* of philatelic rjnterost,,' will »lway» be appreciated. gAddret* care Editor. T:p CORRESPONDENT. G.H.S.” (Invercargill).—The interpretation of the different overprints iij the Republican Government ot tiain on the stamps showing the exing Ajtffinso,. as- follow?:—ihe aiagonaf OTerprint^' 1 Republipn’, is'the Madrid Kirge ldmred’',dne 4s' .the,;; Barcelona fty dstablisUii'an v, v repubric ,in (Batalonis>*-' I’heMi'are ■ vUr ions'. reports iff fused tis Scfcndifcledge '• ■tbps; ■ that/, apdthe otheKissile/bilt -I- tnipt :the above) £nd al^m^#st.ing-^. ? Rsp.ubli.fa .Rspanol^Band.'later pvetprmte. OMLp$, Madrid)'>;hiv'e-beeki;* accepted 'by JnOst Sealors.i’':y'Aß'\ißuaC I 'in' ) titfs^of7 n atibiial MpheavaJlwe-; ha.bb Vthis>tfroU.blevo\;er,;th9.. Marions ; overprints: f /Thank's \ -for' yout notes, mak,e use pf in tHeTiljar aPP^cmt«| jjrour interest. in; tjhe .epluinn. • , •'.■■> . i /fe j k DUNEDIN PffILATE|iIO -CLUBi The iffpitbi^-sWeeting:'qf|’tbe'above idlub Thursday jVMarch'.SP'.vA'Mr's -Ay] Maedonr aid in r th& *■ '-'^lr M‘Ara, f ?over Fan’ attendance.,/of ’'some thirty ■4nieinh6«rf. , Th^ , ■ ijccupiea fby- JecJurettps; Jm>. itfembefsv.pf /the Watf; ‘Embossed StampsVofNew Zealand^*;. r . jWillett, i-; ‘ Staffips.' off. pflngfe?. j. % P» M. Luskri yAEvciliition, of. •• the Aeroplane 6. L. tastgate, 1 A Pnge at Random.’ The speakers illustrated their remarks by exhibits from their ■Collections. .New issues' were,, also on View, and stamp sales were conducted %t the close of the programme. 4 This Was jine* of the best nibef digs The club fh as lsd this, year., and it is up to members ,'to kdejf 'the' “ ball foiling;” s Tii6 Jkieeting* closed at 10 p.,m. , ¥ April 27 the evening Will bo ck>'t’otedi to the stamps of Parma.': Solotinon and New Hebrides, so ;bringi along your collections from the ■above,' places; also,.bring that .friend of ■/vourlj who can see nothing in stamp ■■'collecting—-he will enjoy, it and become 1* collector. ,

i: - THE -NORTHS APE.» ; ' "■ ' • ' Perhaps you will remember that •beautiful series of stamps that was issued by Norway seme years ago. llipv showed .i'a view of the famous North* ■ Cape,”, "'with-a toffrist steaifter sheltei*;'ing in the lee'of tsb Cape, piking very 'interested , at' thet’’tiniq, . the _ writer' ;“dug up ” a few notes about it, and -you yourself may find them interesting. i This celebrated promontory, .form-, ling the most northerly point of Europe, ;is situated on the north of the Island ' •ofc-MagerQe.-.whioh/.is ;■ separated frpm the mainland of Norway by a narrow .ehapnel.* ,Lat„ Tldeg lOmin N.. and long. 25deg 46min E. It consists of a long row of precipitous rocks jutting ■arifl't'lrihinawbig' ah'6V<s' partly in pyramidal peaks and partly in a 'kind of tableland at the height of dbout l)200ft. . it is about three-quar-ters -ofi.a niile’ across, and-consists of grass, quartz, and other crystalline rocks: ; The! quartz,' ; iP particular; lies strewn ’-about' in> 'all!' direction, and Wherever there is a flat spot reflects in dazzling whiteness; but. the face of the precipices exposed to the . dashing of the storm is of a dark colour, according better with* the general wildness of the scene. On the west and north; side the rocks of the cape are so precipitous that np boat can laqd; but on the east side a, small bay hollowed out of, tl\e bosom of the rock gives easy access to, the shore. Here, amid the surrounding sterility, marks. of vegetation suddenly .appear,, and -the forget-me-not, tWld gerahiuiri, angelica, ' and- several Other plants are seen blooming. ■ These stamps were 'issued 1 in’ aftE of the “Come, t° Norway” movement, and w&fe a great success." Now, could not- New-Zealand do the same. A'few stamps with well-designed photogravure view? of our most . famous beahty'spots, sold at a premium, would give some impetus to our tourist traffic. Of course, we are far away from the itefSlTof 'the'''worM!|‘‘ but'that fact makes' the use of our stamps for such a purpose more necessary than ever. Some day we will bvake pp after some other Enterprising ’ country has purchased an alarm clock! COMMONWEALTH NEWS. It is officially announced that O.S. stamps are now 'That some of. these.■ CffS. overprinted /stamps will turn out to be somewhat .scarce, and 11-adviseI 1 -advise- readers to complete their sets before they bump up. Nobody apart from those, who have -benefited in the past will lament thendeparture. Recently the State GovernVment departments in South' Australia jvere issued with ordinary stamps, while in New South Wales the reappearance 6f stamps punctured O.S.N.S.W. points to the State authorities in that State having also been supplied with unoverprinted stamps.; : , ; The latest addition.to the C. qf A. .watermark series is the id stamp. This

appeared some time ago with the O.S. overprint, but has only recently been released in an ordinary state.

“ Cynic,” in the ‘ A.S.M.,’ suggests a special commemorative stamp for the late Bert Hinkler. This has quite a fair argument to support it, seeing that the U.S.A. produced one for Lindbergh for a similar solo,flight. Hinkler was the first “ solo ” to Australia, and he is deserving of some honour, which unfortunately would be posthumous. N.Z. AIR MAIL EXHIBITION. The, Air. Mail Society of New Zealand proposes to hold a competitive international air mail exhibition in Christchurch during Cup Week, 1933. An interesting schedule has been drawn up of some sections. , Any readers interested in the exhibition may obtain further information from the hon. sec., Mr H. D. London, care Lands and Surrey Department, Christchurch. THE STAMPS OF GIBRALTAR. Gibraltar’s recent issue of her first pictorial postage stamps calls to mind ,the considerable interest shown in the stamp issues of that colony. Though there are little more than 110 distinct .varieties, the stamps of the Rock are some of the most popular of the Umpire’s stamp issues. The main reason •for this is the fact that there have b(ien no unnecessary specimens issued, ami the value of the items' that have actually seen postal service is consequently higher. As a matter of fact Gibraltar is one, of those rare possessions, where stamps are more valuable used, than unused. ;]M'is a sound rule that once a conntry'starts to flood the stamp market iwitlr unnecessary issues, all her stamps fall?in -vaiug, and generally are little aoiight'alteri" Gibraltar, on the other liand, prevents many collectors from '(‘‘taking-it/up. ” on.account of the considerable! cost of; many of its stamps. ~,. r items, however, ayhifch (sqmeviHto 1 the Hblids of most collectors. The first one is probably the id specimen of the first definitive series, which appeared at the end of 188 G. In July 1889 Gibraltar reverted to Spanish currency for its postage stamps, and'most of the,, provisional surcharged series are somewhat scarce. Most of the definite of - the same year are' met 1 with. The centimes green is one of . the,, commonest ~of Victorian colonials.

The bi-colojired Edwardian f issue makes a’ brave show m Sny album * and look , put, for, the., clifferente -,of watei;-i mai'k between the 1003 and 1904 series. The former have Crown C.A. watermarks, the latter inultiplo Crown C.A. Watermark differences also distinguish the two important Georgian issues The first, which was in use between* 1912 and .1924, had the later Edwardian watermark, the multiple Crown, C.A.; tlio second -series, which first appeared in 1921, was printed on paper watermarked Multiple Script C.A. You will notice two colour differences in the -.first ..two values of the first Georgian series'. \ Towards the end of the Great War, in 1917, . a Jd specimen appeared, a. ' yelipw-greon hue, whereas formerly Hie stamp*rwas bluc-groen. In 19i6 a brilliant scarlet Id was issued to replace the bluish-tinted carmine red specimen which had,been current, uqtil then. Keep an eye open, too, for the two distinct 3d> specimens which have appeared’ during the last ■ few years. They both have the same Multiple Script G;A. watermark, but the difference between them lies in tho wording of their value tablets. In tho earlier item. “ fi Pence” appears below King Georgo ! s head, while the,■ 1930 stamp bears the' words “ Three Pence ” in the value tablet.

»- During King Edward’s reign it was found that the . patent printing inks used wore not sufficiently proof against cleaning by unscrupulous persons, and so they resorted to printing on a chemically-coated chalk-surfaced paper by which, when any attempt is made to remove the obliteration on a stamp, its design is destroyed .also. In conclusion, let.* me advise you to obtain the new Gibraltar'pictorials. They are very beautiful- stamps, and improve the appearance of any album page. nodes’. •' : An excellent addition to air mail literature has appeared in the form of ‘ Field’s Priced Catalogue of Air Mail Stamps arid Air Posts of the World.’ • Its-first, appearance was in serial form in the ‘West End Philatelist,’ but this book now represents a revision of the whole series, rewritten, up to date, and illustrated. The catalogue is well illustrated with maps of routes, pictures of original covers and post marks, besides all the air mail stamp reproductions. To the air mail collector this is the most • important work that-has yet appeared, ‘ and is a production worthy of the greatest praise. It can be said, that it supplies that long-felt want —an authoritative book of reference on air mails. It is common philatelic talk that now that the O.S. Commonwealth stamps are obsolete, the State Governments are going to perforate the Commonwealth stamp 0.5., with’the name of the State—e.g., 0.5., N. .or, 0.5., Vic. This will bring us hack to the old days of the separate issue for States, a retrograde step. However, collectors are advised to fill up their gaps and put a few O. stamps in their stock hook. There are quite a few, especially those C. of A. ones that will he good. Slogan collecting has quite a hold in the United States of America and Australia, and there are signs of its growth in New Zealand. Our Post and Telegraph Department has been using some interesting slogans of late, chiefly about the telephone; hut wo have quite outstanding ones in Australia—e.g., “ Prevent bush fires,” etc. England also provides a good hunting ground. Readers*who are interested are advised t;o read the latest journals for information on this subject. Next week I will quote some remarks from a few of the journals. Clubs have been formed with a view of pushing on this new typo of ’ collecting, hut wo have not such a club in New Zealand. Any leader may have the address of any such clubs on 1 request from the writer.