FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 21641, 9 February 1934, Page 2

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

LBy R.W.W.]

DUNEDIN PHILATELIC CLUB. The first monthly meeting of the new year was held on Thursday, February 1, in the Y.M.C.A. rooms Mr J. M'Ara presided over an attendance of some thirty members. Lecturettes were' given bv Mr R. W. Willett (, The Wilberforce Centenary Issue of Sierra Leone’) and Mr P. M. Lusk ( The German Wagner Stamps ). Both speakers illustrated their remarks by exhibits of the stamps in question, and 'were accorded a hearty vote of thanks. A Dutch auction followed. NEW ISSUES. . ■ U.S.S.R.—The Commissariat for Communications is issuing two new postage stamps of twenty and forty kopeks to commemorate the 350th' anniversary of the printing of the first Russian book. The two stamps will bear a reproduction of the Moscow statue of Ivan Federov, the printer of the first Russian book. French Guiana.—The new air mail stamps have now appeared, also the ordinary issue of another French colony. New Caledonia, has been overprinted with an aeroplane and “ ParisNoumea Premiere liarson aerienne sth Avril, 1932,” to commemorate the first air connection of Paris with Noumea. Holland.— Charity stamps, new design of a child holding a huge star on a .pok. The star is in the second colour as well as the scroll label containing white letters, “ Noor Het Kind.” Perf. .12). Four values. Also a new 30c triangular stamp has appeared in connection with the, JavaAmsterdam Christmas flight. ; JOTTINGS. Wilcox, Smith and Co., the wellknown dealers, is moving into, fine commodious offices in Manse street. A lot of attention has been paid to fittings in the new premises. By the way, the firm is celebrating its jubilee this year. Fancy fifty years of continuous dealing in stamps, and what tales they could itellt.bf the bargains of tlje old , days. ■ lit 1 the film ‘ Laughing' at Life,’ Victor M’Laglen, while sick in hospital in .1917, received a letter from his young son stamped with a United States bicentennial stamp of 1932. ‘Stamps,'. Aviation congress stamps issued by Egypt are, not air mail stamps, but a usual poftage as the previous Egypt commemorative issues. The Egyptian Press, in announcing this set, states that.it has been prepared by the Government with great secrecy, and the designs only announced after the stamps were ready The tenders were not invited, as is usually the case. At the'annual banquet of the St. Petersburg (United States) Stamp Club, the menu was printed on the reverse side, of sheets of unused German stamps issued during and at the close of the World War, in panes of 100, and having a face value of 100 million marks each, or a, total of ten billion marks for each sheet. Each guest received one of these menus, a memento of the inflated era of German currency. One of the menus was forwarded to President Roosevelt.— 1 Stamp and Cover Collecting.’ It is rumoured in the United States stamp journals that a new catalogue will soon be announced in loose leaf form. £IO.OOO FIGHT ABOUT id STAMP. A woman is fighting a legal battle over a faded bit of paper worth £IO,OOO, and in London recently a man spoke of his plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean to secure it for himself (reports the ‘ Daily Express ’). The duellists are Mrs Arthur Hind, widow of a Bradford-born American silk millionaire, and Mr Bela Sekula, of Lucerne, Switzerland. The prize is the British Guiana 1856 one cent stamp, the only specimen in existence. This bit of paper, which is drab brown and black, and probably the ugliest stamp in the world, will be put.up for auction, and Mr Sekula will be the keenest bidder for it. _ But Mrs Hind has brought a lawsuit to have it excluded from the sale of her late husband’s world-famous collection. Mrs Hind wants to keep the,£lo,ooo stamp as a precious memory of her husband, who died this year aged seventy-seven POLITICS AND PHILATELY. Commissar Maxim Litvinoff was dining at the White House for the first time. The whole world awaited breathlessly the flash of American recognition of Russia. Ranged down the table in the order named were President Roosevelt, Litvinoff, Secretary of Interior lekes, and M. Umansky, chief of the Soviet Press bureau. And while the wires palpitated the first word of the momentous decision these four gentlemen animatedly discussed their stamp collections.—‘ Stamp and Cover Collecting,’ JAPANESE PHILATELIC EXHIBITION Philatelic exhibitions on a small scale have been held from time to time not only in Tokio itself, but also in the provinces. This- present exhibition, although not of an international nature, was nevertheless much larger in scale than ever before. Moreit was held directly under the auspices of our Department of Communications. which has charge of the entire postal administration of the Empire. Naturally, we realise that both European and American authorities have a far greater regard for philately than our own seem to possess. From every point of view exhibitions receiving sucb official support usuallv produce bonny icsults. \Ve Japanese philatelists have always been envious

of you others, hut wo now feel, having had our own exhibition, held under the auspices of our own Communications Department, that we may justly claim at last to have stolen a march upon you I The exhibition was odd in the Government’s Postal Museum from the first of November to the seventh. During this period a temporary post office was set up, and special date cancellation and commemoration picture postcards were issued. In addition, the slogan cancellations were changed every day. and all letters and pestcards mailed at the exhibition were cancelled in violet instead of the usual black. During the exhibition current ,1 i sen. and 3 sen. stamps joined leugthvise (perforated horizontally) were put on sale experimentally from stamp vending machines of English construct,ion. These stamps actually turned one to be as popular as if they had all the attractiveness of the exhibition commemovatives themselves. Indeed, we might consider that they will probably attain the same when cancelled with the special postmarks. Among those wlio attended were tne Minister of Communications. Mr Minami, his Vice-Ministers, Messrs Makino and Chashi, and many other high officials. The visitors, who included many foreign residents in Japan, amounted to more than ten thousand. The Japanese newspapers published various reports on the exhibition. and its success surpassed all expectations. 1 Australian Stamp Monthly.’ '